UConn Huskies running back Donald Brown made history today by being the highest ever draft pick to come out of UConn when the Indianapolis Colts took him 27th overall in today’s NFL Draft.
Alfred Fincher had been the previous highest UConn player drafted when he was taken in the 3rd round by the New Orlean Saints in 2005.
In keeping an eye on the latest mock drafts from Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, we see they both have two UConn Huskies football players being drafted in the 1st round this afternoon.
Kiper projects UConn running back Donald Brown to be drafted by the New England Patriots with the 23rd overall pick and sees UConn cornerback Darius Butler going 30th overall to the Tennessee Titans.
On the other hand, McShay sees Butler as the first UConn player drafted today by the Miami Dolphins with the 25th pick. He also projects the Arizona Cardinals taking Brown with the 31st pick.
Projections from Kiper and McShay after the jump.
[flash http://ianbethune.com/nesnyanks.flv w=510 h=338]video courtesy of NESN
Yankees’ Mark Teixeira expects heavy boo-birds in Boston [Boston Herald]
Sox prepare for Round 1 with Yanks [redsox.com]
Fizzle or sizzle [Boston Herald]
For the second straight outing, Tim Wakefield was nothing short of brilliant and the offense backed him with three 2-run homers as the Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 10-1 in a rain-shortened 7-inning affair in front of an announced crowd of 37,290 at Fenway Park.
It’s the 6th straight win for the Red Sox who are now 8-6 while the Twins fall to 7-8.
Wakefield only really got into trouble once this afternoon and continued the effort that started this Red Sox winning streak. Wake went all 7 innings, allowing just the one run on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 4.
This was the second straight start for Twins starter Scott Baker giving up at least 3 home runs. In his first start, he was tagged for 4 of them. He went 4 2/3 innings, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits and a walk with 2 strikeouts. Former Sox reliever Craig Breslow went 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout.
Juan Morillo didn’t fare any better than Baker as he gave up 4 runs on a hit and 3 walks while not recording an out. R.A. Dickey allowed two hits before the tarp was called for.
Kevin Youkilis, Nick Green and Mike Lowell all had 2-run homers for the Red Sox this afternoon. J.D. Drew had a perfect afternoon at the plate going 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and a walk. Lowell had 3 hits and 3 RBIs while Green had 2 hits and 3 RBIs. David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury also had 2 hits for the Sox.
Baker got off to a good start in the bottom of the 1st as he got the first two outs of the inning. Big Papi then reached on an excuse me single to left and Youk took a pitch the other way and wrapped it around Pesky’s Pole for a 2-0 Red Sox lead. Drew then hit a double but Baker got Jason Bay to ground out.
Lowell flew out to center to start the 2nd and then Baker issued a walk to George Kottaras. Green brought him in with a blast over the Green Monster to push the Red Sox lead to 4-1. Ellsbury singled and stole second with Pedroia at the plate who ended up flying out with Ellsbury going to third. Big Papi fouled out to third base to end the inning.
More two-out fun for the Red Sox in the 3rd inning.
Baker struck out Youk to start the inning but Drew added his second double of the afternoon. After a Bay line out to right, Lowell brought him in when he took a Baker offering and put into the Green Monster seats for a 6-0 Red Sox lead.
The only inning Wakefield had trouble with was the 5th.
He got things started with a strikeout of Nick Punto. Carlos Gomez followed with a double and then Wake nailed Denard Span with a knuckleball. Green then made his second error of the afternoon that allowed Alexi Casilla to reach and load the bases up for the Canadian Crusher Justin Morneau. He delivered a single that scored Gomez to cut the lead to 6-1. Wakefield got out of trouble though as he got Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer to pop out to first base.
As if they needed any more insurance runs, the Red Sox struck for 4 more before the play was halted.
Morillo took over for Breslow and allowed a leadoff double (almost a home run) to Big Papi. He then issued three straight walks to Youk, Drew and Bay with the last one bringing Big Papi. Dickey came in and gave up a RBI single to Lowell, sac fly to Kottaras and RBI ground-rule double to Green before the game was stopped.
Another solid win for the Red Sox as they are taking advantage of some poor pitching by the opposition. As Ellsbury and Big Papi continue to get hits, the Red Sox continue to win.
And there’s not much more to say about Wake other than that he’s been outstanding of late.
Let’s hope that Brad Penny can rebound in the nightcap (weather permitting of course). He’ll be opposed by Francisco Liriano in a game that is scheduled to start at 7:10 PM on NESN Plus.
[youtube width=”480″ height=”295″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpx1MyygeMM[/youtube]
to Bill S. for the video
With the rainout last night, the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins will play a day/night doubleheader today. The Red Sox are coming off a sweep off the Baltimore Orioles, while the Twins are coming off a weekend sweep of the Angels.
The game this afternoon will start at 12:35 PM and it will be televised on NESN. You can also catch the game on the radio on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.
Tim Wakefield (1-1, 3.00) will look to continue the momentum from his near no-hitter against the Oakland A’s last week. Wakefield has faced the Twins 25 times in his career (22 starts) and is 13-5 with a 4.31 ERA and 2 saves.
Scott Baker (0-1, 13.50) gets the start for the Twins and was he roughed up in his first outing of the season after a stint on the DL with right shoulder stiffness to start the year. Baker has made 2 appearances (1 start) against the Red Sox in his career and has no record with a 0.90 ERA.
If you’re heading to the ballpark today, be sure to wish skipper Terry Francona a happy birthday. He turns 50 today.
Five Things We Learned on a Rainy Day at Fenway [WEEI]
Will Dice-K suffer the same fate as past Japanese flameouts? [SI.com]
Open Letter to My Buds at NESN [Surviving Grady]
Bailey recalled, Hansack let go [Extra Bases]
It’s Tito’s birthday [Extra Bases]
Morning Francona [Clubhouse Insider]
Sox unsure of game two lineup [Projo Sox Blog]
Red Sox release Hansack to make room for Bailey [Projo Sox Blog]
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| 1. Denard Span | LF | 1. Jacoby Ellsbury | CF |
| 2. Alexi Casilla | 2B | 2. Dustin Pedroia | 2B |
| 3. Justin Morneau | 1B | 3. David Ortiz | DH |
| 4. Jason Kubel | DH | 4. Kevin Youkilis | 1B |
| 5. Michael Cuddyer | RF | 5. J.D. Drew | RF |
| 6. Joe Crede | 3B | 6. Jason Bay | LF |
| 7. Mike Redmond | C | 7. Mike Lowell | 3B |
| 8. Nick Punto | SS | 8. George Kottaras | C |
| 9. Carlos Gomez | CF | 9. Nick Green | SS |
| Scott Baker | SP | Tim Wakefield | SP |
And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers.
Boston Patriots: The New England Patriots announced this afternoon that they have named three former Boston Patriots as finalists for the Patriots Hall of Fame. They are defensive tackle Houston Antwine, center Jon Morris, and running back Jim Nance. Fan voting begins today on Patriots.com [Reiss’ Pieces]
During his annual pre-draft press conference this afternoon, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick offered some high praise for Randy Edsall and the UConn Huskies football program.
“They are really impressive. Randy Edsall has done a great job. They have won a lot of games, have a lot of good players. They have them on both sides of the ball… at the skill positions, offensive linemen, both sides of the ball. Safety, quarterback, tight end, wide receiver…A lot of real interesting guys…not all are 1st round picks but they have players. What is the highest player they ever had drafted? Fincher, the linebacker in the 3rd round? I would say that should get shattered this weekend. You don’t usually go to Connecticut looking for first and second round talent.”
It’s been an amazing job that Randy Edsall has done with the program. Belichick’s comments show that UConn is starting to get a little recognition as a football program since we all know most of that goes to the men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams.
Bill Belichick Pre-Draft Presser – 4/21/2009 [Patriots.com]
Editor’s note: His comments about UConn aren’t in the transcript but are towards the end of the video on the link.
After today’s loss to the Boston Red Sox that completed a 4-game sweep, Baltimore Orioles outfielder/DH Luke Scott decided to say some things about the Boston fans.
“Glad to get out of here with negative people,” Scott said. “Just a lot of trash talking, a lot of vulgarity. It just takes away from the game.”
First off, all he did was make it worse for himself when the Orioles visit again in July. Plus, he may hear it from the Red Sox fans who will PROBABLY FILL Camden Yards when the Red Sox go there at the end of June.
Second off, if he thinks this is bad, what does he think of the fans in New York. Well on second thought he might not hear any of the heckling because all of the good seats haven’t been sold.
Sure he’s frustrated. His team was 6-2 when they came into Fenway Park and looked to be on their way to a win on Friday night when the bullpen collapsed and the Red Sox went on to win and then continued that over the next three days.
“We didn’t pitch well, except for yesterday, but at the same time, the last two days we ran into really good pitching,” Scott said. “When we score runs, we’ve got to have guys hold it on the mound. When guys are struggling on the mound, we’ve got to pick up the slack and swing the bats. It’s a tough league, tough game, so we’ve got to make the adjustment.”
Remember this Luke, we don’t forget things up here. If you thought it was bad this weekend, you just wait until you return. You’ll probably end up crying because it seems to me that you’re a little soft.
Fenway Unfaithful-O’s Scott rips fans [Full Count]
After helping the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles on Monday afternoon, Justin Masterson kept himself busy by attending the Boston Celtics 118-115 win over the Chicago Bulls later that night.
Before the game, Masterson delivered an inspirational speech to the Celtics and it’s obvious it worked since they pulled it out on a Ray Allen three pointer with two seconds left in the game.
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