Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story links and links to team stats and league standings are after the jump.
The Red Sox have 4 of their minor league teams in the playoffs. The Pawtucket Red Sox, Portland Sea Dogs, Lancaster JetHawks and Lowell Spinners all clinched playoff berths. Only the JetHawks and Spinners remain alive.
Jon Lester dominated the Tampa Bay Rays for 7 2/3 innings and Jonathan Papelbon finished them off as the Boston Red Sox won 3-0 in front of the MLB-record 456th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park. The win for the Red Sox moves them to just ½ a game behind the Rays for first place in the American League East.
Jon Lester dominated the Rays to pick up his 14th win of the season.
Lester scattered 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out a career-high tying 9 on 119 pitches to pick up his 14th win of the season. All of Lester’s pitches were nasty as he good location and command. Papelbon struck out 3 and gave up a hit to pick up his 36th save.
Coco Crisp continued his hot streak as he was perfect at the plate going 3-for-3 with a stolen base. Jason Bay was 2-for-3 with a solo home run and Mark Kotsay was 2-for-3. David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis added the other RBI for the local nine.
Lester’s night started with a walk to Akinori Iwamura but B.J. Upton’s bunt attempt was popped up and caught by Lester who threw to Youk for a double play. He got Carlos Peña to ground out to end the inning.
The Red Sox would get all the runs they needed in the bottom half of the 1st.
Kotsay worked a leadoff walk off of Rays starter Edwin Jackson. After a Dustin Pedroia line out, Big Papi hit a double off the wall that Kotsay read perfectly allowing him to score all the way from first base for a 1-0 lead. It was quickly 2-0 as Youk’s single scored Big Papi as Youk would be thrown out at second trying to advance on the throw. Jackson then left a fastball out over the plate for Bay who crushed it off the light pole in left center to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.
Both Lester and Jackson were dealing through the next 3 innings as both got stronger as the game went on.
The Red Sox had a good opportunity to put some runs on the board in the 5th.
With their 456th consecutive sellout tonight at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox have broken the Cleveland Indians record for consecutive sellouts. To show their appreciation, the Red Sox made the following videos.
The first one was played on a commercial while the second one was shown to the fans during the game. Enjoy it folks and let’s keep selling out Fenway Park so no one can break this record.
[flash http://ianbethune.com/thankyou1.FLV]
[flash http://ianbethune.com/thankyou.FLV]
Jon Lester looks to help the Boston Red Sox move to 1/2 game behind the Rays for first in the AL East.
I am pretty sure you’ve heard this a few times here now but the Boston Red Sox kick off a huge 3-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park tonight. The game will be played in front of a MLB-record 456th consecutive sold-out crowd.
It should be an interesting series as the Rays come in having lost 3 straight games while the Red Sox took 2-of-3 over the weekend.
Terry Francona hands the ball to Jon Lester tonight who is undefeated in 6 career starts against the Rays. He’s 3-0 with a 4.11 ERA in those 6 starts. Against the Rays this season, Lester is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in 2 games.
Edwin Jackson takes the bump tonight for the Joe Maddon’s first place club. Jackson had made 10 appearances (7 starts) against the Red Sox and is 2-3 with a 5.70 ERA. He is 0-2 with a 6.18 ERA in 3 starts against the Red Sox this year.
With the PawSox having been eliminated from the playoffs last night, the Red Sox have called up catcher George Kottaras and outfielder Chris Carter. Bartolo Colon is still expected to start one of the games in the doubleheader on Saturday against the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays.
J.D. Drew is also expected to be activated off the disabled list before the game tonight but will not be in the starting lineup.
Alex Speier talks to a doctor who says what Big Papi is going through with his wrist is normal.
Terry Francona gave Dustin Pedroia a pair of pink cowboy boots that Pedroia wore to the ballpark today.
Lineups and batter/pitcher matchups after the jump.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had a MRI done on his left knee this morning and the Patriots have announced that he will need surgery and that the reigning NFL MVP was placed on injured reserve, thus ending his season.
Brady was injured just half way into the first quarter of New England’s Week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-14 when he was rolled into by Bernard Pollard as he threw the ball on the Patriots second possesion. Brady immediately collapsed to the ground and grabbed his knee. He walked off the field under his own power and did not return to action.
Brady was replaced by backup quarterback Matt Cassel who was 13/18 for 152 yards and a TD pass. It was Cassel’s first significant playing time in a meaningful game since high school. Cassel, who attended USC, was the back up in college to Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
Here is a great video of the Boston Red Sox fantasy football draft aftermath from the great Texy over at Center Field.
Be sure to check out what she has to say about it as well at Center Field.
During yesterday’s Boston Red Sox vs Texas Rangers game, the NESN cameras caught a fan with one heck of a beard. And of course, Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy had to give their comments about it.
{flowplayer}http://ianbethune.com/beard.FLV{/flowplayer}
Let’s start this UConn Huskies roundup off with a video of the highlights from the Temple game on Saturday afternoon during Tropical Storm Hanna.
[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll6Yhxejh7M]
You can also catch the video of where Donald Brown gets a helmet sticker from the ESPN’s Mark May.
If you missed last week’s segment of Huskies All-Access, you can check that out here. Look for the UConn Huskies special in the video section. There are 4 parts.
Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register writes that the unbeaten UConn football team remains a mystery.
Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post has his UConn football notebook here.
Joe Perez of the Norwich Bulletin says Randy Edsall isn’t happy about the missed scoring opportunities on Saturday.
Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant writes that the UConn passing game needs work.
True freshman Jordan Todman is expected to return to practice this week.
The Republican-American has a profile of UConn football recruit Mike Osiecki of Seymour.
The UConn men’s soccer team played BU to a 0-0 tie last night.
Before I get going here this morning, just a quick shout-out to my father who is celebrating his birthday today. Happy Birthday Dad!!
Paul Byrd has been a great find for Theo Epstein and his brain trust.
While the entire New England region awaits the news on Tom Brady’s left knee, the Boston Red Sox are getting ready to take on the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in a pivotal 3-game set at the Fens. The Red Sox currently sit 1.5 games behind the Rays with their 7-2 win yesterday and the Rays 1-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. While the Red Sox took 2-of-3 in Texas, the Rays were swept by the Jays.
The Red Sox lead in the wild card is up to 6.5 games over the Minnesota Twins, 8 games over the Jays and 8.5 games over the New York Yankees.
Since coming over to the Red Sox, Paul Byrd has done a pretty good job of getting things done. Yesterday afternoon, he gave the Red Sox 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball to run his record to 4-1with the team. Since the All-Star break, he is a combined 8-1 with the Cleveland Indians and Red Sox. He even got a standing ovation when he left the game. By the way, the game was played in Texas.
“I was able to keep the ball down today, and I was able to move my slider in and out,” said Byrd. “And this sounds like a broken record, but I had great defense behind me.”
“I’ve never come out of a game on the road where I got a standing ovation for pitching well. I’m appreciative of all of the Red Sox fans who were here,” said Byrd. “I didn’t know if I should tip my hat or not in Texas. I thought they might be mad at me.”
We definitely have to give props to Theo Epstein and the scouting department for going out and getting Byrd and Mark Kotsay along with Jason Bay in the trade. All 3 of them have played huge roles in helping the Red Sox get to where they sit right now in the playoff race.
David Ortiz is still hearing and feeling the clicking in his wrist.
The Texas Rangers showed why they aren’t as good of a team as the Red Sox are on Sunday.
Josh Hamilton is looking to break out of his August funk.
Alex Speier wanted to know where Big Papi’s pop was then says that post was ill-timed after his home run yesterday.
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 you can check out Dallas Morning News and Star-Telegram websites.
With the official status of reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady still unknown this morning until the results of a MRI are revealed it’s rumored the Patriots are wasting no time in trying to locate suitable help should they need it.
Always proactive and at least having a semi diagnosis on Brady’s knee, Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe is reporting that the team will have free agent QB Chris Simms in for a look today. There are also reports of former 49ers QB Tim Rattay coming in for a work out.
Other options include recently retired Daunte Culpepper, who we all know has a relationship with Randy Moss. But is Culpepper even 60 or 70% of the player he was in the years with Moss. While Simms and even Rattay maybe servicable I just don’t see them surpassing Matt Cassel who is in his fourth year of the system. Cassel has way more time in now than Brady did when he took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in September of 2001. That was the year that Bill Belichick and Charlie Weis asked the second year guy to just manage the game and not do anything to kill them. If it sounds familiar it should because that is what is going to be asked of Cassel, possibly for a few weeks, likely for the year.
A couple other names have been popping up as probables in Foxboro. Matt Gutierrez is improbable if they thought he was the guy they would have cut Cassel instead of him. Joey Harrington’s name was bandied about in some circles yesterday and it is possible that Vinny Testeverde who played last season in Carolina could come back. Another possibility is, wait for it, wait for it. Bledsoe. Just one year removed from playing it maybe something he would do. Belichick holds no grudges, unless you’re Eric Mangini, but would Pats fans welcome him back? Would Drew, who is 36 and over a year removed from the game, put aside roasting coffee for one last run?
Let’s hear your thoughts. Sound off in the comments.