If you missed the announcement, the kickoff time for the UConn Huskies football game against the Cincinnati Bearcats was announced yesterday. The homecoming game will kickoff at 12 Noon on October 25th.

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant has some notes from yesterday’s Big East Coaches conference call.

Pittsburgh is sitting atop the Big East Conference right now with a 2-0 record in the conference.

If you’re not doing anything on Wednesday afternoon, head down the East Entrance of Gampel Pavilion to watch the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team partake in their annual Husky Run at 3 PM.

David Gillett has a look at Rip Hamilton’s new look this season.

UConn women’s soccer player Brittany Tegeler was named to the Big East Honor Roll for her efforts last week.

If you were writing the script for yesterday’s Game 3 of the ALCS between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have written exactly what transpired unless you were a Rays fans. A perfect script would have Jon Lester throwing 7-8 scoreless innings while his teammates scored some runs to support him. Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon would’ve come in and closed the door and the Red Sox would be leading the series 2 games to 1 with Tim Wakefield looking to knuckle his way to a 3-1 lead for the Red Sox.

Instead, the Red Sox are now looking at a 2-1 deficit with Wake on the mound tonight as the Rays used the long ball to silence the Fenway faithful early on and take them out of the game. It was so bad at one point, I swear I heard Jason Varitek getting booed. Now that’s not something we ever see at Fenway Park, booing one of our own.

Is the problem right now the pitching? No. Is the problem that Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz are slumping? Maybe. No, the problem is the Red Sox just cannot drive in a runner in scoring position. They left 13 men on base yesterday, 8 of those were in scoring position. They left Dustin Pedroia stranded at second base with 1 out in the 1st inning. They left Mark Kotsay and Jason Bay stranded at second and third with 1 out in the 2nd inning.

The stranded runners in the 2nd inning loomed large in the game in my opinion. Lester had just given up an unearned run in the top half of the inning and it seemed as though the Red Sox had Rays starter Matt Garza on the ropes after the Bay single and Kotsay double. Varitek had the first opportunity to drive them in but struck out looking on what thought was a questionable called strike three. The replay confirmed his suspicion but the ball was actually close enough to the inside corner that he probably should have swung at it instead of standing there and looking like the Statue of Liberty. Garza escaped the jam by getting Alex Cora, who was in for Jed Lowrie, to hit a lazy fly ball to the outfield.

To me if there was a hero of yesterday’s game for the Boston Red Sox, it was Paul Byrd. Yeah he gave up 4 runs in relief of Lester yesterday but he did something invaluable. He saved the Red Sox bullpen for tonight’s pivotal game. Think about it, if Tito Francona has to mix and match his bullpen after he pulled Lester, things could have been rough for the local nine tonight. Instead, Byrd saved the arms in the bullpen and gave Tito the flexibility of doing whatever is needed to get this series tied up for Game 5 on Thursday night.

We all know pitchers are going to have a bad game now and then, you just hope it doesn’t happen in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Lester wasn’t at his best yesterday. By the time he found control of his curveball, it was already too late. And as he said on Sunday, if you fall behind the Rays hitters, they’ll make you pay and that’s exactly what they did.

Links from the assembled media after the jump.

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The Tampa Bay Rays got 4 home runs off the combination of Jon Lester and Paul Byrd to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1 in front of 38,031 stunned fans at Fenway Park. The win gives the Rays a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 ALCS.

Jon Lester could not deliver a win for the Red Sox today.

All season long the Red Sox have counted on the left arm of Lester and unfortunately he just didn’t have it today. He looked shaky at times and the Rays took advantage of him as he went 5 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7.

If you could take anything from Byrd’s 3 1/3 innings where he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits, it’s the fact that he allowed Terry Francona to preserve the Red Sox bullpen for what is now a huge Game 4 tomorrow night.

Dustin Pedroia continued his recent hot streak as he was 2-for-3. Mark Kotsay chipped in with 2 hits as well while J.D. Drew, Jason Bay and Alex Cora had the other hits in the losing effort. It also didn’t help when as a team the Red Sox left 13 runners on base, 8 of them in scoring position.

It looked like it was going to be a dominating outing for Lester as retired the Rays in order in the 1st on just 5 pitches.

Rays starter Matt Garza kept the Red Sox hitters off balance all night with his fastball and mixed in his other pitches as well.

He got Jacoby Ellsbury to fly out in the bottom of the 1st before a Pedroia double high off the wall. Garza left Pedroia stranded there though as he struck out David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis to ground out to short.

Lester walked Evan Longoria to start the 2nd and then struck out Carl Crawford. Wily Aybar followed with a single and both Longoria and Aybar moved up 90 feet on a passed ball by Jason Varitek with Dioner Navarro at the dish. Navarro grounded out to second but Longoria scored to put the Rays out front 1-0. Lester struck out Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli to end the inning.

The 2nd inning brought another inning of missed opportunities for the Red Sox.

After Garza struck out Drew, Bay followed with a single and Kotsay stroked a double to right center. Garza escaped the jam by striking out Varitek and got Cora to fly out leaving both runners stranded in scoring position.

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Ahhhhh, some afternoon playoff baseball between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays and you couldn’t ask for a better day weather wise. Temperatures will be in the low to mid 60’s with a NE to ENE wind of around 7-10 MPH.

It’s a pivotal Game 3 for both squads as the Red Sox will be looking to keep a firm grasp on home field advantage in the ALCS as the next 3 games are at Fenway Park. And they definitely have the right man on the mound this afternoon in Jon Lester.

Lester has been nothing short of spectacular for the Red Sox all season and in the playoffs. In his 2 starts in the ALDS, he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings of work. He’s also been dominant at the Fens this season as he was 11-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 17 starts. He has also owned the Rays at Fenway Park in 2008 as he was 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his only 3 starts against them. For his career, Lester is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 7 starts. He truly has been the ace of 2008 for the Red Sox.

Rays skipper and Rolling stones aficionado Joe Maddon counters with Matt Garza. He has made 4 starts against the Red Sox this season and is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. In 6 career starts against them, he is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA.

If you’re like me, you like to see what the Red Sox are thinking on the day of the game so let’s look at Terry Francona’s press conference from today. Below the video, you’ll find links to the 4 press conferences held earlier this afternoon.

Here are the transcripts of the press conferences for Terry Francona, Tim Wakefield, Joe Maddon and Andy Sonnanstine.

Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe has a nice piece on the breakout of Jason Bay in the playoffs.

If you missed Amalie Benjamin’s chat over at Boston.com this morning, don’t forget to check out the transcript.

David Ortiz has had a quiet postseason for the Red Sox.

Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com reminds us the last time the Red Sox played an ALCS afternoon game, it lasted 5 hours and 49 minutes.

Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe gives us his video preview of Game 3. He’ll also be holding an in-game chat over at Boston.com.

Busted Coverage has some videos of Red Sox fans being tasered by police over the weekend.

Dan over at Red Sox Monster tells us about the Red Sox fan who’s suing Bon Jovi for the song that’s been running on TBS. Maybe the guy should should Ernie Johnson, Dennis Eckersley, Harold Reynolds and Cal Ripken for this rendition.

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The Big East Conference announced today that the UConn Huskies vs Cincinnati Bearcats game scheduled for October 25th at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT will kickoff at 12 Noon. The game will be televised by the Big East Network by ESPN Regional Television.

It will be available locally in Connecticut on My-TV9 (WCTX) and will also be broadcast on SNY and MASN as well as some other affiliates. This will end a string of 6 straight appearances on national television although I do use that term loosely since I don’t consider ESPNU a national channel.

Red Sox History

They sold off the Babe
and he cast on them a curse,
which only recent efforts
have been able to reverse.

Despite Lomborg’s Cy Young
and Yaz’s triple crown,
1967 still left them
without baseball’s crown.

Fred Lynn set the
baseball world on it’s ear,
when he won the MVP
in his “rookie (of the) year”.

They came oh so close
again in ’75,
when Fisk hopped and waved
to keep his homer alive.

On so close… in a one game
playoff in ’78,
until Bucky #%$&*# Dent
sealed their fate.

In ’86 it seemed,
they were blessed from above,
until Mookie Wilson’s dribbler
rolled under Buckner’s glove.

Seeming all too familiar,
again in ’04,
down by three games…
but shock was in store.

After losing three straight
their backs against the wall,
they shocked the world
by winning it all.

What a terrific October day
for any Yankee hater,
as sweet as it’d be again,
three years later.

© 2008 Michael Manzanotti
www.awalkintheforest.com/poems

Still 4 down, 7 to go.

After a battle that went late into the night Saturday, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays both made an early morning arrival into Boston on Sunday morning. The Red Sox held an optional workout while the Rays fulfilled their media obligations but declined  to workout.

The media portion of the day for the Red Sox brought up the one question that seemed to be answered after the game on Saturday night. Is Josh Beckett healthy?

“Do you guys know something that I don’t know?” said Beckett

“I don’t know why they keep asking me the same question,” Josh Beckett [stats] said late yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park [map], after the media horde had left his locker in search of the next available player.

“They can ask me the same question over and over, and the answer is going to be the same,” he said. “I’m OK. I’m fine. Once I’ve said that, they have to write that and stop asking me about it.”

Obviously we know that he had gotten a cortisone injection for the injured oblique and that something was wrong. We also know oblique injuries aren’t easy to overcome for hitters and the same could be said for pitchers given that their bodies create a lot of torque. I think the media will continue to press for that answer of is he hurt because his velocity is down a few MPH from all season. But one thing’s for sure, they aren’t going to get that answer from Beckett.

After playing some night games in Tampa, the Red Sox and Rays will play a late afternoon game today.

Here are the transcripts of Red Sox manager Terry Francona, Rays manager Joe Maddon and Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey press conferences from Sunday afternoon.

The Rays are no longer fearful of Fenway Park after taking 2-of-3 there in September.

Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz are struggling in the ALCS for the Red Sox.

The Rays rookies are handling the playoff pressure well so far.

You have to like the Red Sox chances this afternoon with Jon Lester on the bump. All he’s done so far this postseason is throw 14 innings without allowing an earned run (he has allowed one unearned run to score). He has truly been the Red Sox ace this season and has stepped up at every juncture when the Red Sox need a big win. I truly expect that to happen today, especially given Lester’s track record at home and his track record against the Rays at Fenway Park (3-0, 0.90 ERA) this season.

Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com has some audio clips from yesterday’s workout.

For more playoff slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.

And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.

UConn Huskies defensive lineman Rob Lunn adds some of his teammates to the Overachieving Fat Lineman category over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.

Aly Shea of The Daily Campus has a look at Dan Orlovsky’s first start in the NFL for the Detroit Lions.

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant takes a quick look at the upcoming game against Rutgers.

UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun was talking golf over at PGA.com.

David Gillett has a look at Celtics training camp with Ray Allen as well an alumni profile of Emeka Okafor.

The UConn women’s soccer team played to a scoreless tie with the West Virginia Mountaineers.