Kansas City Royals @ Boston Red Sox 7:10 p.m. Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Kyle Davies vs Tim Wakefield TV: NESN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 5/28 [SOX & Dawgs]

After an awful start from Daisuke Matsuzaka last night, the Boston Red Sox look to return to their winning ways in the second game of a four-game set at Fenway Park tonight.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Royals television market, you can catch the game on FOX Sports Kansas City. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Tim Wakefield could be making his final start before the return of Josh Beckett to the rotation. Wake threw eight shutout innings his last time out to pick up his first win of 2010. In ten appearances (six starts) Wake is 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA. He’s made one start against the Royals in 2010 and picked up a no decision after allowing two runs in seven innings back on April 9th. In 27 career games (20 starts), Wake is 11-6 with a 3.84 ERA and one save.

Kyle Davies makes his tenth start of 2010 for the Royals and is 3-3 with a 4.53 ERA. Davies also got a no decision in the game on April 9th after allowing three runs in six innings. In two career starts, Davies is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. His lone win came against the Red Sox in MLB debut back in 2005.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

Here’s the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers in their careers:

In case you hadn’t heard, Jacoby Ellsbury was placed back on the disabled list with the same injury that got him there in the first place.

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Ellsbury: “I guess the way it looks now, I came back too soon” [Clubhouse Insider]

Soccer game at Fenway still possible [CSN New England]

Pedroia’s dropoff coincides with injury [ESPN Boston]

Daisuke: Postmortem by the numbers [ESPN Boston]

More on the Matsuzaka mystery [Extra Bases]

Ellsbury back on DL [Extra Bases]

Ortiz pays respects to Lima [Extra Bases]

Boxscore breakdown: ‘Wild Thing’ [Full Count]

The (Almost) Perfect Stolm [Full Count]

Delcarmen answers the questions [Full Count]

Forget April panic: Sky’s the limit for Sox [Full Count]

Ellsbury: We knew I wasn’t 100 percent [Full Count]

Red Sox notes: Ellsbury sent to DL [Full Count]

Farrell on D&H: No knowledge of Daisuke injury [Full Count]

Clay Buchholz Strings Together Three Quality Starts, Earns Amica Pitcher of the Week [NESN.com]

Martinez back in lineup to catch Wakefield [Projo Sox Blog]

Ellsbury placed back on DL, Atchison recalled [Projo Sox Blog]

Chest injury puts Ellsbury back on DL [RedSox.com]

It looks as though Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury will need a little more time to recover from his injuries suffered in the collision with Adrian Beltre.

After feeling a little soreness a couple of days ago, Ellsbury underwent some more tests and it was determined that another stint on the disabled list should allow him to recover as the Red Sox placed him back on the DL this afternoon. The move is retroactive to May 25th.

Scott Atchison was recalled from Pawtucket and will take Ellsbury’s spot on the 25-man roster.

After a busy morning of personal errands, we’re a little bit behind here today. I had thoughts of skipping this post all together but the sucktastic outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka last night makes it a little hard to do.

The enigma that is Dice-K took the mound last night and as has been the case you never know which Dice-K will show up. He was coming off a brilliant 7 2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies and was looking to build upon that success against the bottom-feeding Kansas City Royals.

But when you look at Matsuzaka’s line for last night, you’ll know he was far from good with eight walks. He had serious command issues and had trouble with his release point but the telling part to me was that he said he was dealing with “lower body soreness” from that start against the Phillies.

Now I had thought that if anything was troubling Dice-K, he was supposed to communicate that to the staff. Instead, it doesn’t look like he said anything at all and tried to pitch through it last night.

“I don’t think that’s the most important issue,” Matsuzaka said of his lower body issue. “It might have looked like I got out of those innings OK but in my mind, I still felt there were still adjustments I needed to make. It’s been a long time since my body didn’t cooperate like this. I had to rely a lot on my upper body. My velocity was there but there was no movement or bite to my pitches, not to mention any command.”

Manager Terry Francona, pitching coach John Farrell and catcher Jason Varitek didn’t think to seem it was a physical thing but man with Dice-K, you just never know anymore.

In my opinion, the time has come for the Red Sox to cut their losses with him. He’s been nothing but a big problem for the Red Sox. He shows how good he can be in one start but reverts back to his same old crappy self in the next start. The Red Sox need consistency from their starting pitchers and have yet to see it from him since the 2008 season when he went 18-3.

Sure the Red Sox have made a big investment in him and they can’t just send him to the minor leagues due to a provision in his contract, so what do they do from here? They owe him too much money to flat out release him. I really don’t know what else to say other than it’s just frustrating to watch him pitch.

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Kansas City Star and the Topeka Capital-Journal websites.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

All men’s basketball news involving the alleged allegations of infractions by the NCAA for the men’s basketball program will be upcoming in a different post.

UConn Football links

D.J. Hernandez Speaks – Via Skype – On His New Gig [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

DC was busy answering questions in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

D.J. Hernandez Ready To Get Going At Southington [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Houston looks back [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Tennessee Finishes Ahead Of UConn In NCAA Report On Attendance [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Huskies Going Camping [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Montgomery, Charles lead Sun [New Haven Register]

Sun obliterate Lynx [Norwich Bulletin]

Other UConn related links

Field Hockey: Ten UConn Field Hockey Student Athletes to Participate in High Performance Training Squads [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Huskies Fall to Rutgers 6-5 in BIG EAST Baseball Championship [UConnHuskies.com]

Women’s Lacrosse: Lacrosse’s Ashley Mitchelides Earns IWLCA All-Regional Honors [UConnHuskies.com]

It looks as though the fallout of the Nate Miles investigation for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball program is beginning to happen.

First up is the press release from UConn:

The University of Connecticut is holding a press conference at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 28, 2010 for the purpose of announcing an update to the NCAA investigation of its men’s basketball program.

The press conference will take place in the brick foyer area at the Division of Athletics entrance to the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

Materials related to the press conference subject matter will be available to the media in attendance at approximately 9:45 a.m. and will also be posted at www.UConnHuskies.com.

In attendance at the press conference will be Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun, Director of Athletics Jeffrey A. Hathaway and Rick Evrard, the University’s outside counsel for NCAA-related matters.

And according to Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, two men’s assistant coaches, Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald, have resigned from the program.

While a press release issued Thursday night made no mention of the coaching staff, sources say assistant coach Patrick Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald have resigned from the staff in light of allegations against the program and the NCAA review.

It’s too early too speculate as far as what’s going to happen as far as any punishment for the Huskies but the resignations of Sellers and Archibald do say a lot.

Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com tweets that former Huskies Donyell Marshall and Kevin Ollie are in the mix to take the new openings on the UConn staff. Goodman also tweeted that former Huskies assistant and current Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore “hasn’t been charged in the investigation” and that Moore “is no longer involved in the investigation“.

Stay tuned folks, tomorrow should be an interesting morning.

Kansas City Royals @ Boston Red Sox 7:10 p.m. Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Brian Bannister vs Daisuke Matsuzaka TV: NESN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 5/27 [SOX & Dawgs]

Winners of five straight games, the Boston Red Sox return home after sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays to the friendly confines of Fenway Park to close out the month of May with a four-game set against the Kansas City Royals.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Royals television market, you can catch the game on FOX Sports Kansas City. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Coming off his best outing in a Red Sox uniform, Daisuke Matsuzaka looks to keep the momentum going. In his five starts this season, Dice-K is 3-1 with a 5.76 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Royals since the 2008 season. He’s made two careers starts against the Royals and is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA.

Brian Bannister makes his 10th start of 2010 for new skipper Ned Yost and the Royals tonight. In his previous nine starts, he is 3-3 with a 4.72 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Red Sox in 2010 and is was 0-1 in 2009 after allowing just one run. Overall in his career, Bannister is 0-4 with a 5.87 ERA in four starts. Three of those starts and losses have come at Fenway Park where he has a 5.68 ERA (19 IP/12 ER)

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

Here’s the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers in their careers:

In some quick news, Scott Atchison has cleared waivers and has been optioned to Pawtucket. And if you have NESN, be sure to catch the pregame show at 6 p.m. Kevin Millar will be making his NESN debut.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Francona on Ellsbury: ‘We’ve got to get to the bottom of this’ [Clubhouse Insider]

One-on-one: David Ortiz with Jackie Pepper [CSN New England]

Manager Francona, meet reporter Millar [CSN New England]

Pedroia: ‘It’s not the Red Sox playing Joe West’ [CSN New England]

Ellsbury still tender [ESPN Boston]

Martinez could return on Friday [ESPN Boston]

News and notes from Fenway: Ellsbury’s ribs OK but sore [Extra Bases]

Francona: Ellsbury ‘really tender’ [Extra Bases]

Day later, West not saying much [Extra Bases]

Red Sox notes: ‘Getting to bottom’ of Ellsbury injury [Full Count]

Road trip by the numbers [Projo Sox Blog]

Red Sox making their move [Projo Sox Blog]

Jacoby Ellsbury still hurting, and team doesn’t know what’s wrong [Projo Sox Blog]

Kevin Millar joins the broadcast team, and ends up in Francona’s crosshairs [Projo Sox Blog]

On May 14th, the Boston Red Sox started a stretch of thirteen games against some tough competition in the form of the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays. Only two of those games (Twins) were at home.

It was a stretch that could really make or break the season for the Red Sox. But with some strong starting pitching over the latter part of the 13 games, great defense and an offensive resurgence led by David Ortiz, the Red Sox went 9-4 in those games including three-game sweep of the Rays that culminated in last night’s 11-3 win.

John Lackey wasn’t at his absolute best last night but he pitched much better than he had over the course of his past two starts. There were times when the home plate umpire squeezed him but being the bulldog he is, he got through it and kept the Red Sox in the game. He ended up scattering eight hits over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs with four walks and just one strikeout.

Lackey pitched with a lead from the 3rd inning on as the Red Sox offense broke through against Rays starter Matt Garza, who has owned the Red Sox as of late, especially at Tropicana Field. But Garza wasn’t his usual self as he had some command issues as he walked five. And some of the pitches he left out over the plate, were blasted for home runs by Adrian Beltre (twice) and David Ortiz.

As Big Papi goes, so do the Red Sox. And right now, everything is clicking.

Big Papi’s hot month of May continued as he hit his 9th home run (2-run shot) of the month last night and pushed his RBI total to 27 on the season.

But the big story of the evening was Beltre’s bat. He finished just a double short of the cycle as he added a single and a triple to the two home runs. He also tied his career-high of six RBIs in a game. His most impressive hit of the night was definitely the 3-run homer as Garza left a breaking ball out over the plate that he crushed off of one knee. He has been the Red Sox best hitter this season as his average is now up to .341.

Beltre started out slow out of the gate as far as his power numbers are concerned. After hitting .338 with no home runs and nine RBIs in April, Beltre has belted all five his home runs this month and has 24 RBIs as well while hitting .344. He has made seven errors in the field but he’s also made up for it with some outstanding defensive plays.

With the lowly Kansas City Royals coming into town for a four-game set, the Red Sox need to keep the momentum of the past two weeks going. They’ve narrowed the gap considerably in the AL East standings as they now sit in third place a ½ game ahead of the Blue Jays. They are two games behind the Yankees for second place and 5½ games behind the Rays.

Considering where this season was headed, it’s been great to see them play like the expectations they were given and had. Now it’s time to continue it and finish out May on a positive note against the Royals.

We’ll be back later with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and any news and links from the day but for now enjoy the overnight links.

Sox make it a clean sweep on Tampa Bay’s carpet [Boston Globe]

Ellsbury sits out another [Boston Globe]

Beltre shows off power play [Boston Globe]

Ellsbury remains out with soreness in side [RedSox.com]

Red-hot Papi returns to familiar spot [RedSox.com]

Ortiz ‘crushed’ by Lima’s death [RedSox.com]

Red Sox sweep away Rays [Boston Herald]

True potential rising to surface [Boston Herald]

Adrian Beltre’s having a blast [Boston Herald]

David Ortiz mourns loss of friend Jose Lima [Boston Herald]

Joe West doesn’t back off Sox-Yankee comments [CSN New England]

Umpire West to work Sox series [ESPN Boston]

Video: Here come the Red Sox [ESPN Boston]

Red Sox rising above the chaos [ESPN Boston]

Remy on D&C: Ortiz unlikely to be back next year [Full Count]

Closing time: Red Sox 11, Rays 3 [Full Count]

The Red Sox found more ‘make’ than ‘break’ [Full Count]

Ellsbury questions Sox’ treatment of injury [Full Count]

Boxscore Breakdown – St. Pete Sweet Sweep [Full Count]

Above Tropicana Field’s Catwalks Is the Best View in All of Florida [Heidi Watney – NESN.com]

Adrian Beltre Bashes Two Home Runs, Tallies Six RBIs [NESN.com]

John Lackey Guts Out Strong Start, Defeats Rays [NESN.com]

Red Sox Come Out of Rough 19-Game Stretch As Hottest Team in Baseball [NESN.com]

Red Sox Could Be in Sticky Situation if Victor Martinez Can’t Return Soon [Tom Caron – NESN.com]

Kevin Millar Part of Boston Tradition of Appreciating Colorful Characters [NESN.com]

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.

And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying, head over to the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

UConn And The AAU [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Seats remarkably cool in Big East [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

Who’s in danger opening week? [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

Post-spring position rankings: Linebacker [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Spotlight on Scott Burrell [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Women’s Ice Hockey: Linstad Announces 2010-11 Connecticut Women’s Ice Hockey Schedule [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Mike Olt Wins 2010 BIG EAST Home Run Derby [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: UConn Edges Cincinnati 9-6 in BIG EAST Championship Action [UConnHuskies.com]