Here is a press release from Major League Baseball about Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell being named the American League Player of the Week for the week-ending April 26th:

Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by Bank of America for the period ending April 26th. Bank of America is the Official Bank of Major League Baseball and the only place where you can get your favorite Club logo on checks, check cards or credit cards. For more information on MLB® banking, visit bankofamerica.com/MLB.

In five games last week, Lowell hit .435 (10-23) with an American League-best 11 RBI while compiling 20 total bases, four doubles, two home runs and four runs scored. The four-time All-Star extended his hitting streak to 10 games while posting a .870 slugging percentage. On April 25th, Mike hit a three-run double and a three-run home run to put his team ahead late in the game against the A.L. East rival New York Yankees. The six-RBI performance matched a career-high for the 2007 World Series Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet. Entering play today, Mike leads the American League with 22 RBI to go along with a .324 batting average and a .603 slugging percentage. This marks Mike’s fourth career weekly honors and his second A.L. award as a member of the Red Sox (previous: 8/27/07).

Other noteworthy performances for the week included Lowell’s teammates Jacoby Ellsbury, whose six stolen bases extended his Major League lead to 12, and David Ortiz, who led the American League with five doubles. Also considered was Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge, who put up a .478 on-base percentage and notched three home runs last week. Other nominees were New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who collected seven RBI, and Detroit Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson, who hit four home runs.

Tourneau, the world’s largest watch store, will supply Mike Lowell with a luxury Swiss Tourneau timepiece, suitably engraved, in recognition of his achievement as the A.L. Player of the Week presented by Bank of America.

The moment we’ve been dreading is here as the Boston Red Sox have activated Julio Lugo from the 15-day disabled list. To make room on the roster for Lugo, the Red Sox sent Michael Bowden back to Pawtucket.

During his 4-game rehab stint with the Pawtucket Red Sox, Lugo was 4-for-17 with two walks, one run scored and five strikeouts. He also committed one error.

Lugo started the season on disabled list due to surgery on his right knee after injuring it against the Yankees on March 13th. He had been in a battle with now-injured shortstop Jed Lowrie for the starting shortstop position. Lugo will assume the duty now from Nick Green who has filled in admirably while the pair has been out.

After four UConn Huskies football players were drafted on Saturday, it was thought that Julius Williams and Dahna Deleston could possibly hear their names called on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.

But for Williams and Deleston it wasn’t meant to be as the draft came and went yesterday without a draft call from any of the teams. They did however get some phone calls near the end of the draft and immediately after from teams offering free agent contracts.

The Jacksonville Jaguars called Williams and he will sign a rookie free agent contract with the Jaguars as will Tyler Lorenzen. It’s thought that the Jaguars would like to make Lorenzen a tight end.

Deleston had a choice of the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears. He wound up signing with the Bears as he thought they were a better fit for him and would give him the best chance of cracking the 53-man roster.

Center Keith Gray will be heading to Charlotte as the Carolina Panthers have signed him to a rookie free agent contract.

UConn already has 5 players on NFL teams right now in Tyvon Branch (Oakland Raiders), Alfred Fincher (Washington Redskins), Dan Orlovsky (Houston Texans), Donald Thomas (Miami Dolphins) and Danny Lansanah (Green Bay Packers). The total now stands at 13 UConn players who will have chance to represent the football program in the NFL.

I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again now. This should do absolute wonders for Randy Edsall in regards to recruiting.

UConn Huskies football is now on the map!!

Wrapping up a busy Sunday [Ramblings from The Runway]

Four UConn Players Sign As Free Agents; 2 State Players Drafted [Hartford Courant]

On Saturday evening, Donald Brown made UConn Huskies football history when he was selected 27th overall in the 1st round by the Indianapolis Colts. After an eventful day on Saturday, Brown was in Indianapolis to be introduced to the Indianapolis media on Sunday

[flash http://ianbethune.com/donaldbrwon.flv]

Video: Donald Brown Goes No. 27 Overall To The Indianapolis Colts [SOX & Dawgs]

Donald Brown Taken 27th Overall By Indianapolis [SOX & Dawgs]

It was all about the young kids for the Boston Red Sox tonight as Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden and Jacoby Ellsbury all helped them to a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees in front of 38,154 and national television audience on a stunning night for baseball at Fenway Park.

The sweep of the Yankees (9-9) was the third straight sweep of a team on the homestand (won 4 against the Baltimore Orioles, 2 against the Minnesota Twins) and is their 10th straight win after starting the season 2-6.

What can I say about Justin Masterson? The boy got the job done again. He’s been simply brilliant on the mound filling in for the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka. Tonight, he gave the Red Sox 5 1/3 innings of 1-run ball. He gave up 6 hits while walking just one and he struck out four.

Hunter Jones went 2/3 of an inning striking out 1. Michael Bowden, who was called up for the night, struck out 2 in 2 innings. Takashi Saito allowed just a hit in the 9th to pick up his second save of the season.

Obviously the play of the game and the season so far was the steal of home for Jacoby Ellsbury. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases.  David Ortiz picked up 2 RBIs on the night, one coming on a sac fly and the other on a double while J.D. Drew had an RBI double before leaving the game with tightness in his quad.

Andy Pettitte went 6 innings for the Yanks, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) 6 hits and walks while recording 6 strikeouts, including two of Drew.

Masterson retired the first six batters he faced for Hideki Matsui led off the 3rd with a single. He would go to second on a Melky Cabrera single and ended up at third on an Angel Berroa sacrifce bunt with Melky going to second.  Brett Gardner gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Red Sox quickly got their young pitcher the run back in the bottom half of the inning.

Nick Green reached on an error by Berroa to start the inning and then was forced out at second on an Ellsbury fielder’s choice. With Dustin Pedroia at the plate, Ellsbury stole second and then went to third when Pedroia reached on a Berroa throwing error. It did look like Teixeira was distracted by Ellsbury running as he couldn’t scoop the poor throw.  Ortiz tied it at 1 with a sac fly to left. The inning ended with Kevin Youkilis at the plate when Pedroia was picked off trying to steal second.

Jason Varitek worked a leadoff walk in the 5th. After a Green strikeout, Ellsbury walked. Pedroia flew out for the second out and then Big Papi followed with a double to score Varitek to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead with Ellsbury stopping at third. With a 1-1 count and Drew at the plate, Ellsbury broke for home beating the pitch from Pettitte for a straight steal of home to make it 3-1. The pitch was called a ball and Drew hit the next pitch for a ground rule double that scored Big Papi to provide the final margin of 4-1.

Obviously it goes without saying the Red Sox are playing some really great baseball right now. Other than a few blips in the radar, the bullpen has been outstanding as of late picking up the starters when needed. The other nice thing about the winning streak for the Red Sox is that it seems like there is a different hero each night.

The Red Sox will welcome Julio Lugo back to the team as they head out on a 9-game road trip that starts tomorrow night in Cleveland and ends against the Yankees. Tim Wakefield looks to continue his strong performances of late for the Red Sox and he’ll be opposed by the reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee.

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Boston Celtics: Ben Gordon hit a 3-pointer to force a second overtime and the Chicago Bulls held the Boston Celtics off at the end to win 121-118 to tie the series at 2. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 29 points and Ray Allen added 28. Rajon Rondo picked up his second triple-double of the series with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists but it just wasn’t enough. He had a chance to win at the end of the first overtime but his shot hit the rim. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Gordon had 22 points and John Salmons had 20. The series now shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Tuesday night at 7 PM. [ESPN.com]

As we already know, UConn Huskies cornerback Darius Butler went to the New England Patriots with the 41st overall pick (2nd round) in the NFL Draft yesterday.

Here’s the video of his selection.

[youtube width=”480″ height=”385″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiDehJyu5-8[/youtube]

The transcript from his conference call with the media after the jump.

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It’s been a banner day for the UConn Huskies football program as they now have had 4 players drafted in the first two rounds of this year’s draft.

Defensive End/Outside linebacker Cody Brown made it 4 Huskies when the Arizona Cardinals took him with the 63rd overall pick (2nd round).

Brown played defensive end at UConn but is considered a hybrid player. He’ll most likely play the outside linebacker in the NFL.

What a day for the Huskies. This should do wonders with recruiting in the coming years.

Make that three players drafted for the UConn Huskies football team on the first day of the 2009 NFL Draft.

With the 60th pick in the draft (2nd round), the New York Giants took offensive lineman Will Beatty.

Beatty burst on to the scene at UConn over the last two years and anchored the offensive line that helped now Indianapolis Colt running back Donald Brown lead the nation in rushing.

UConn Huskies cornerback Darius Butler won’t have to go far to play in the NFL as the New England Patriots took him with the 41st overall pick (2nd round).

Butler will give them help at the cornerback position and could also provide some depth on kickoff and punt returns.

He is the 2nd UConn player drafted today. His teammate Donald Brown was selected 27th overall by the Indianapolis Colts. UConn offensive lineman Will Beatty is also expected to get drafted at some point today as well.