The Cleveland Indians came into Fenway Park with nothing to gain tonight other than keeping their record above .500. They got a strong effort from Zach Johnson and held on to beat to the Boston Red Sox 4-3 in front of 37,828.

The loss for the Red Sox drops them to 2.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and also keeps their magic number at 1 since the New York Yankees were off tonight.

Josh Beckett couldn't help the Red Sox clinch a playoff spot.

Josh Beckett started for the Red Sox and was dominating at times but also had his wild moments. He went 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, a walk and 3 hit batters while striking out 6. Javier Lopez worked 1/3 of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk. Justin Masterson was awesome of the bullpen as he threw 1 2/3 innings striking out 1. Hideki Okajima struck out 2 in his inning of work.

Offensively the Red Sox were led by Kevin Youkilis who went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. David Ortiz added 2 hits including a solo home run while Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury each had 2 hits as well.

Beckett had an easy 1st inning throwing just 14 pitches but had some troubles in the 2nd inning.

After getting the first two outs, Ben Francisco reached on a ground rule double. Beckett then plunked Ryan Garko and Kelly Shoppach to load up the bases. Asdrubal Cabrera worked a bases loaded walk to force in Francisco for the first Indians run. Beckett rebounded to strikeout Grady Sizemore to escape any further damage.

The Red Sox had a tough time with Johnson. They did manage a double and a walk in the 1st inning and finally got to him in the 3rd.

After a Jeff Bailey ground out, Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single. Johnson got Dustin Pedroia to fly out and then issued a walk to Big Papi. Youk knocked Ellsbury in with a double to tie the game at 1 with Big Papi stopping at third. Jackson got out of the inning by striking out Bay for the second time.

Beckett worked around a Francisco double in the 4th but ran into some more trouble in the 5th inning.

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The Cleveland Indians head into Fenway Park for the first time since the 2007 ALCS when the Boston Red Sox eliminated them in 7 games. A lot was expected of the Indians this season but some injuries to key players early on in the season derailed their hopes of returning to the playoffs.

The Red Sox enter tonight’s game with a chance to clinch a playoff spot. Right now they can do no worse than a 1 game playoff for the wild card. An AL East title is still within their grasp as they sit just 1.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for 1st place. The Red Sox have their final 7 games at home while the Rays play their final 8 games on the road. So I’ll let the immortal Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics take it from here.

Josh Beckett will be the one who looks to help the Red Sox clinch a spot tonight with his right arm. He has not faced the Indians this season and is 1-3 with a 6.57 ERA in 4 starts. However, he is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA (3 ER/15.0 IP) in his last 2 starts vs. the Tribe.

Eric Wedge hands the ball to Zach Johnson who will be making his second appearance and 1st start against the Red Sox. His only appearance against them came as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers back in 2006. He threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and 2 walks.

Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe has a look at the Red Sox offense as of late. He also has some updates on the health of Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew.

Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes a look at what healthy pitching in October can do for you.

Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has some Monday nuggets for us.

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The Big East Conference announced today that the UConn Huskies vs North Carolina Tar Heels game scheduled for next Saturday, October 4th in Chapel Hill, NC will kickoff at 7 PM. The game will be televised nationally on either ESPN2 or ESPNU with that determination being made by next Monday.

So for us in Connecticut, let’s hope it’s ESPN2 since 3/4 of the state doesn’t get ESPNU thanks to Comcast.

It’s a quiet day for links on the UConn Huskies but I’ve assembled a few for you to enjoy on this Monday morning.

Mel Kiper of ESPN is in love with Darius Butler and his athleticism. Right now he has Butler going 17th overall in the 1st round on his big board. And if you don’t believe me, watch the video.

David Gillett has a great profile on men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun. He also some video of Ben Gordon.

Calhoun is happy that he’s once again healthy after a battle with cancer this summer.

O’Brian White scored late in the game to give the UConn men’s soccer team a 2-1 win over Big East foe Cincinnati.

Annie Yi scored both goals for the UConn women’s soccer team in a 2-2 tie over in-state rival Fairfield.

The Boston Red Sox took care of their business yesterday in beating the Toronto Blue Jays to cut their magic number to 1. As I thought, the New York Yankees however refused to cooperate as they beat the Baltimore Orioles to keep their very slim playoff hopes alive.

All it takes now is one win by the local nine or a loss by the Yankees and the Red Sox are assured of a playoff spot. The Red Sox right now are guaranteed a one-game playoff for the wild card should that happen. There’s still a chance the Red Sox can win the division as they are now 1.5 games out of first place as the Rays lost. So don’t count the Red Sox out of the division race just yet.

Did anyone notice anything yesterday from Daisuke Matsuzaka? He didn’t nibble at all and actually attacked hitters. It’s hard to argue with his 18-2 record as is but can you imagine if he pitched like he did yesterday all season. Hopefully this is a preview of things to come for his last start, which I suspect will be for a few innings, and the playoffs. He’s also never reached 18 wins in a season in his career, including Japan, until yesterday.

“Since the moment I turned pro, I wanted to match the win total to the number on my jersey,” Matsuzaka said through his interpreter Masa Hoshino. “It took me 10 years but I finally got there. Now that I got there, it just feels like any other win.”

“I have had to hang in there and pitch patiently in certain spots (this season), and certainly the team has helped me in terms of getting the wins,” he said. “But so much of it is beyond my control.

“This year, my teammates have really been helping me out a lot and doing the best for me – and I think that’s why things are working out a lot more this year.”

It’s quite possible the Red Sox could change their rotation around this week or have the starters go less innings once the playoffs become official.

The Red Sox are emerging as the gold standard of the AL East.

The status of Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo is still unknown.

The Blue Jays Triple-A team will be located in Las Vegas next year as the Syracuse Chiefs didn’t want them anymore.

Jonathan Papelbon is in some select company now as he is the 5th Red Sox reliever to achieve a 40 save season.

New York loves them some Josh Beckett.

For more 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, head over to the Toronto Sun, Toronto Star and Globe and Mail websites.

Monday, September 22^nd @ 7:05 PM

Zach Jackson, LHP (0-3, 6.48) vs Josh Beckett, RHP (12-9, 3.96)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Tuesday, September 23^rd @ 7:05 PM

Cliff Lee, LHP (22-2, 2.41) vs Tim Wakefield, RHP (9-11, 4.18)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Wednesday, September 24^th @ 7:05 PM

Fausto Carmona, RHP (8-7, 5.19) vs Paul Byrd, RHP (11-12, 4.53)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Thursday, September 25^th @ 7:05 PM

Jeremy Sowers, LHP (4-8, 5.48) vs Jon Lester, LHP (15-6, 3.26)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio