The Boston Red Sox might want to think about moving all of the rest of their home games to the road.

With their 11-5 win last night against the Kansas City Royals, they are now 8-6 on the road. On the contrary, they are just 4-10 at home.

A big reason for their win on Monday night was the bat of Will Middlebrooks.

After connecting for his first home run, a grand slam on Sunday afternoon, he hit two more on Monday. The first one, an opposite field shot just inside the right field foul pole, gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning. His second home run came in the 8th inning when he provided the final margin of 11-5 with a two run homer.

In his first four games in the big leagues, Middlebrooks has three home runs and nine RBIs. He’s hitting .382 with a slugging percentage of .952. There’s been some clamoring amongst Red Sox fans on Twitter that Middlebrooks is quickly making Kevin Youkilis expendable.

Folks, that might not happen right away. It will eventually happen but four games is not a big enough sample size. As NESportsfan1317 put it on Twitter, “Keep in mind this is the first time pitchers are seeing #Middlebrooks. He will eventually need to make adjustments.”

She’s 100% right about that.

If Adrian Gonzalez can go through a rough patch, odds are Middlebrooks will too. But I will say this, the future for Middlebrooks is bright.

I really don’t envy Bobby Valentine and Ben Cherington when they have to tell Middlebrooks he’s going back to the PawSox when Youk returns. 

The Red Sox needed Felix Doubront to pitch as long as he could last night with the bullpen being spent in Sunday’s 17 inning affair. Well he made it into the 7th inning for the first time all season long but left with the bases loaded after walking in a run. Fortunately for him, Vicente Padilla bailed him out by getting a double play ball from Billy Butler.

And after throwing 31 pitches on Sunday, Padilla stayed in and pitched the final two innings to pick up the save. It was only shocking to me because Clayton Mortensen was the only reliever not to pitch on Sunday and yet he never even got up in the game.

Either way, Doubront was just good enough to get the win because the offensive helped him out.

After going 0-for-8 on Sunday, Gonzo went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Dustin Pedroia had a nice night at the plate going 2-for-3, including a two run homer with three RBIs and also walked three times. David Ortiz also reached base five times with three hits and two walks. One of his hits was a solo home run that tied him for 56th all-time in MLB with former Red Sox RF Dwight Evans.

Sure the Royals aren’t a great team but this is what we expected from the Red Sox over the last home stanza. Winning three-games in Kansas City would be a nice way to return home with some confidence heading into their weekend set with the Cleveland Indians.

But for now, they do need to take things one day a time and hope for a nice outing from Daniel Bard tonight.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Royal treatment [Boston Globe]

Coming out swinging [Boston Globe]

Doubront’s outing is a big relief [Boston Globe]

Matsuzaka not wild about it [Boston Globe]

Beckett set to start Thursday [Boston Globe]

Sox take to road [Boston Herald]

Middlebrooks: Sox’ Roy Hobbs [Boston Herald]

Aviles back on familiar ground [Boston Herald]

Sox hope time heals Buchholz [Boston Herald]

Red Sox slug way to win in Kansas City, 11-5 [CSN New England]

Doubront answers bell in win over Royals [CSN New England]

Middlebrooks credits hot start to approach at plate [CSN New England]

Matsuzaka pitches 4.2 scoreless innings for PawSox [CSN New England]

Matsuzaka has scoreless outing for PawSox [ESPN Boston]

Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 11, Royals 5 [ESPN Boston]

Doubront gives Sox what they need [ESPN Boston]

Middlebrooks siblings hit simultaneous homers [ESPN Boston]

Closing Time: Will Middlebrooks does it again, helps lead Red Sox to rout of Royals [Full Count]

Nuggetpalooza: A few Red Sox statistical nuggets from their win over the Royals [Full Count]

Red Sox Decline To Recall Reliever After Taxing Bullpen in Sunday’s 17 Innings [NESN.com]

Felix Doubront Protects Exhausted Bullpen With Improved Efficiency on Mound [NESN.com]

Will Middlebrooks Continues Rapid Progression, Showing Power to All Fields During Historic Run [NESN.com]

Will Middlebrooks Reminding Red Sox What It Looks Like When Baseball Is Easy [NESN.com]

Dice-K still very much a big deal in Japan [Pawtucket Times]

Shoppach crosses triple off his to-do list [RedSox.com]

Twice as nice: Middlebrooks powers Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Beckett cleared for Thursday start against Tribe [RedSox.com]

Adrian not overly frustrated by 0-for-8 game [RedSox.com]

Melancon red-hot in Minors, but Sox stand pat [RedSox.com]

Aviles deal worked out for both Red Sox, Royals [RedSox.com]

Aviles enjoys return trip to Kansas City [RedSox.com]

Lavarnway making progress behind the plate [RedSox.com]

Improving on greatness: Dustin Pedroia looks poised for career year in 2012 [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, be sure to head over to the Kansas City Star and Topeka Capital-Journal websites.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: Getty Images

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Former Husky Tyvon Branch signs franchise tender with Raiders [New Haven Register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Here Is UConn’s Non-Conference Schedule [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Taurasi Is No. 35 On ESPNs Top 40 List Of Female Athletes [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Could Abrosimova return to Seattle? [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn AD: No plans for coaching-in-waiting [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Calhoun OK With Manuel’s Decision On Coach-In-Waiting [Hartford Courant]

AD Warde Manuel says no coach-in-waiting [New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

UConn Student-Athletes Celebrate Graduation [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Marzi Named to BIG EAST Honor Roll [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Baseball Midweek Schedule vs. Northeastern Changed [UConnHuskies.com]

Marinatto Had Troubles, But Big East Presidents Must Be Accountable [Hartford Courant]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Last year the Boston Red Sox started the season 0-6, then 2-10, before going 18-10 over their next 28 games to get to .500 at 20-20, 40 games in.

Over the next 3 plus months they were the best team in baseball until they went 7-20 in September.  Between the 20-20 start and the fall fade the Red Sox were a major league best 64-32 which included a 20-6 record in July.  They finished 91-72 and out of the playoffs.

Now here we are in 2012 with a new general manager because the old one ran away as soon as they’d let him. A new field manager because the old one was run out of town as someone who lost control both at work and home due to his problems with prescription drugs.

They have the same owners; half of the same coaching staff, virtually the same front office and most of the same players and team has started 10-16.  And guess what?  They seemingly have the same problem and this should be a surprise to no one.

This is starting to appear to be much larger then some take out chicken and a few brews in the clubhouse while a game is going on.

Recently this team completed a 6-1 road trip through Minnesota and Chicago and came home to face Oakland and Baltimore and continue the streak.  They went 1-5 before heading to Kansas City for the next three evenings.

Granted they are dealing with many injuries 3B Kevin Youkilis, LF Carl Crawford, CF Jacoby Ellsbury, closer Andrew Bailey and starting pitchers John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka are all on the disabled list.  But at times last season, as in every season they were hurt too.

This team is inherently bad at home, in Fenway Park, which in my lifetime, even when the team was blah, they were at least a decent home team but not since September 2011.  In this time span the team is a woeful 8-20 in the friendly confines and an ugly 18-36 overall.

So what’s the issue?  The pitching has been awful, there is only one starter with an ERA under 5.00 and Clay Buchholz tops out at 9.09 with a 1.90 WHIP.  This leads to the bullpen pitching more innings then necessary and inflated numbers in ERA, WHIP and inherited runners scoring.  One problem is the genesis of another.

And the hitting has stopped as well.  A once red-hot Adrian Gonzalez just went 0 for 8 on Sunday after an 0 for 13 series against Oakland.  They’ve gotten nothing out of Youkilis; Ross is watching his numbers fall by the wayside and Ortiz, Pedroia and Sweeney can only carry the team so far.  They were so bad they traded for a guy who one month into the season was hitting .043 when they acquired him.  Marlon Byrd was a whopping 3 for 43 when he reported to the team. In his defense he has been a bright spot the last week raising his average about 200 points and playing above average defense in the field.

So while all the not scoring runs and giving up way too many is leading to these ugly losses there is still something wrong here.  I have heard this several times in the last week and more in the last few days and not just from Red Sox fans.  “This team is very unlikable”.

That’s bad in a lot of ways.  But the worst way can be in the clubhouse, if we as fans of the team and baseball fans in general, do not like these guys and this team, do you think that they like each other?

Earlier this season Pedroia stood up for Youkilis but beyond him how many others were there on Youk’s side?  Do the guys in clubhouse like and respect Josh Beckett?  If the answer is no do you think they’d have his back in the media or on the field?

With all the changes this team made in the off season the funny thing is the result has stayed the same.  So if the result is constant the elements of the problem leading to the result must be as well.  In my convoluted English this means the problem wasn’t taken care of by bouncing Terry Francona and letting Theo Epstein walk away, it’s still here some where.

To continue reading, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

So what has remained constant in this fiasco besides guys like Beckett and Youkilis?  Well that’d be your owners, John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino.  While in the past I have cut these guys slack because of how well the team has performed on the field I no longer feel this way.  In the past I’d have told you these are some of the best owners in baseball but I no longer feel this way.

This team is run by three carpetbaggers with no long-term love of the team, the fans or the region other than our money.  These guys aren’t from here and they have so many other “projects” grouped under the Fenway Sports Group banner as well as other holdings that it seems, despite what the claim, as if the team is no longer their first concern.

As Red Sox fans we are bombarded with advertisements seeking our money in addition to tickets to the games for Red Sox Nation memberships, bricks, musical CD’s, team DVD’s, concerts and now soccer games.  We have had NASCAR pushed down our throats and now EPL soccer.  I don’t give a shit about Liverpool or Carl Edwards I am a Red Sox fan.  If I want to follow soccer and NASCAR along with the other sports and activities I am interested in I will do so on my time for the teams, organizations and people of my choosing.  I don’t need all these affiliations and bad NESN programming shoved down my gullet.

An example lies down the road in Foxboro.  The Kraft family owns the Patriots, the Revolution and the stadium yet I am not bombarded with Revs ticket ads and requests during the radio and television broadcasts of the games like we are with the Red Sox ownership.

These men no longer care about baseball like Red Sox fans care about baseball.  These men don’t care about our team like we care about our team.  They’d rather watch soccer and NASCAR and that’s cool just don’t ruin my team in the process.

They are so out of touch with the Red Sox right now, both the on field product and the fans, that it is affecting the way team performs.  It all appears to be smoke and mirrors designed to give you another big Broadway show and take as much of your hard earned money from your wallet as they possibly can.  While we are good little doobies sitting in our cramped Fenway Park seats paying the highest ticket prices in baseball to see a team under perform because ownership is not doing all it can to correct the issues the team faces.

Magic Johnson rode in on his horse and saved the day for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  And don’t get me wrong, while every day I am thankful that Frank McCourt didn’t get to run this franchise into the ground, I am less and less pleased each of those days with the trio entrusted to run it now.  Where is our Magic Johnson?  Who is our Magic Johnson?

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel in their classic hit “Mrs. Robinson” declare “where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you’”.  I now ask the same of the one man who can straighten this mess out.

Where have you gone Robert Kraft, Red Sox Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: Boston Globe

After being swept at home by the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox head back out on the road for a brief three-game road trip to Kansas City, MO. There, they’ll take on the Kansas City Royals in the first of the three-game set tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Royals television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Kansas City. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

With the bullpen being taxed over the weekend, the Red Sox will need Felix Doubront to be efficient and go at least 7-8 innings in his sixth start of 2012. In his previous five starts, Doubront is 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA. He has never faced the Royals in his career.

Jonathan Sanchez will look to continue the slide for the Red Sox in his sixth start of 2012. In his previous five starts, Sanchez is 1-1 with a 5.24 ERA. He last faced the Red Sox in 2010 as a member of the San Francisco Giants when he picked up the win after allowing three runs in 5.1 innings of work. He’s made two appearances (one start) against the Red Sox in his career and is 1-0 with a 5.68 ERA (4 ER/6.1 IP). Sanchez will be the first of three straight lefties the Red Sox will face in this series.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

11-16		9-18
1. Mike Aviles	SS	1. Jarrod Dyson	CF
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Alex Gordon	LF
3. David Ortiz	DH	3. Billy Butler	DH
4. Cody Ross	RF	4. Eric Hosmer	1B
5. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	5. Jeff Francoeur	RF
6. Will Middlebrooks	3B	6. Mike Moustakas	3B
7. Darnell McDonald	LF	7. Brayan Pena	C
8. Marlon Byrd	CF	8. Chris Getz	2B
9. Kelly Shoppach	C	9. Alcides Escobar	SS
Felix Doubront	SP	Jonathan Sanchez	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Ticked off about the Red Sox? Let them know about it [Boston Herald]

Red Sox’ lack of offseason moves proving costly [Boston Sports Media Watch]

Red Sox decide not to call up a reliever to help tired bullpen [Clubhouse Insider]

McClure: Clay Buchholz may be thinking about last season’s back injury [Clubhouse Insider]

Sox should bid McDonald a farewell to arms [CSN New England]

Aviles happy to return to baseball home in Kansas City [CSN New England]

Beckett set to make return to mound Thursday [CSN New England]

Breaking down the numbers on Adrian Gonzalez [Extra Bases]

Josh Beckett set to start on Thursday [Extra Bases]

Gonzalez: My numbers will get there [Extra Bases]

Trying to uncover the differences in Adrian Gonzalez’ at-bats this season [Full Count]

Mike Moustakas Brings Hot Bat Into Series Against Red Sox, While Eric Hosmer’s Struggles Continue [NESN.com]

Red Sox Need Someone (Anyone) to Step Up and Other Thoughts From the Week in Baseball [NESN.com]

Rich Hill’s Surgically Repaired Elbow Feels Fine Despite Heavy Workload Upon His Return [NESN.com]

Red Sox Decline To Recall Reliever After Taxing Bullpen in Sunday’s 17 Innings [NESN.com]

A Series Matter: Red Sox-Royals and Rubber Series [Projo Sox Blog]

Swihart learning the grind of pro ball [Projo Sox Blog]

High praise for Bryce Harper from PawSox’s Beyeler [Projo Sox Blog]

Mark Melancon: ‘I felt like it was something I probably should have caught a lot earlier’ [Projo Sox Blog]

PawSox not overly impressed by Andy Pettitte [Projo Sox Blog]

Sox decide against bullpen reinforcements [Projo Sox Blog]

Aviles always happy to come back to KC [Projo Sox Blog]

Aviles eager to reunite with former ‘mates in KC [RedSox.com]

Lavarnway making progress behind the plate [RedSox.com]

What’s going on with Adrian Gonzalez? [Touching All The Bases]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Photo credits: Getty Images, Getty Images

Let’s forget just for a moment that the Boston Red Sox were swept by the Baltimore Orioles at HOME over the weekend just for a few moments. Why’s that?

It’s because how many times can you go to a MLB game and see two position players battling it out on the mound for their respective teams.

Well that’s exactly what happened yesterday afternoon/evening at Fenway Park because both managers ran out of pitchers in the 17 inning affair, the second extra innings game of the series. They were put in this predicament because of the lackluster starting pitching by both Clay Buchholz and Tommy Hunter.

For Buchholz, it was just another day of struggling out there on the mound. The fact that he is 3-1 is quite deceiving and shows just how unimportant wins and losses are. After allowing five runs in just 3 2/3 innings yesterday, his ERA now stands at 9.09. And after that performance, he may find himself out of the rotation until he can figure things out.

Both bullpens were outstanding yesterday. The Red Sox offense finally got to the Orioles bullpen for a run while theirs allowed just an unearned run thanks to two Jarrod Saltalamacchia errors in the 8th inning.

Andrew Miller returned from the disabled list and struck out three of the four batters he faced.

This game came down to Chris Davis and Darnell McDonald battling it out on the mound. At the plate, Davis was 0-for-8 with five strikeouts, picking up the platinum sombrero in his first five at-bats. Meanwhile, DMac had entered the game for David Ortiz as a pinch-runner in the 8th and scored the tying run at the time on a Salty sac fly.

Davis took over in the 16th inning and struck out the first batter he faced in Salty. After he got Will Middlebrooks to fly out, Marlon Byrd reached on an error. Mike Aviles followed that with a double in the left center gap but a great throw nailed Byrd at the plate to extend the game.

DMac wasn’t as fortunate as Davis was on the mound though.

He did walk Wilson Betemit only to have Salty throw him out trying to steal second. But then he allowed a double to J.J. Hardy, a walk to Nick Markakis and then damaging blow, a three-run no doubt home run by Adam Jones.

The game would end as Davis finished off the game by getting DMac to ground into a double play. For Davis, he was the first American League position player to win a game since Rocky Colavito in 1968.

If it weren’t for a Middlebrooks grand slam in the 5th inning, the Red Sox might not have been in this game. He finished the game 2-for-7. Ryan Sweeney had four hits for the Red Sox while Aviles had three. Big Papi added two hits to the cause as well. The only member of the Red Sox that played in the game to not have a hit was Adrian Gonzalez, who lIke Davis, went 0-for-8.

The Red Sox are really going to need Felix Doubront to go as long as he can tonight. The bullpen is obviously depleted right now. It wouldn’t surprise me or anyone else for that matter if they make a roster move. With Clayton Mortensen the only pitcher having bullpen options, he seems the most likely candidate to be sent down.

Hopefully facing a 9-18 Kansas City Royals team is just what the doctor ordered for the Red Sox. They are a better road team (7-6) than home team right now (4-10). And with the Royals just 2-12 at home hopefully they can turn around this losing streak they are on.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Orioles beat Sox at long ball [Boston Globe]

Mound of woes for McDonald [Boston Globe]

Buchholz struggles along [Boston Globe]

Red Sox lose DH duel in 17th inning [Boston Herald]

Adrian Gonzalez at loss for words [Boston Herald]

Home runs again ruin day for Clay Buchholz [Boston Herald]

A total loss for Darnell McDonald [Boston Herald]

Sox run out of gas, lose to O’s in 17 innings, 9-6 [CSN New England]

Red Sox bullpen pitches another gem despite loss [CSN New England]

Buchholz still can’t put together quality start for Sox [CSN New England]

Middlebrooks’ grand slam caps off hot three-game start [CSN New England]

McDonald picks up the loss [CSN New England]

Gonzalez first Red Sox cleanup hitter to go 0-for-8 [CSN New England]

Rapid reaction: O’s 9, Sox 6 in 17 innings [ESPN Boston]

10 observations after Sox lose marathon [ESPN Boston]

No smiles after McDonald’s mop-up work [ESPN Boston]

No easy answers for Buchholz’s struggles [ESPN Boston]

Boston Red Sox sink to new subterranean lows [ESPN Boston]

With Aaron Cook down and Clay Buchholz struggling, a look at Red Sox rotation depth [Full Count]

Closing Time: Red Sox empty the tank in 17-inning loss to Orioles [Full Count]

Adrian Gonzalez endures a devastating one-day slump [Full Count]

Grand slam caps off successful first series for Will Middlebrooks [Full Count]

If the Red Sox need bullpen reinforcements, Mark Melancon could be the guy [Full Count]

Chris Davis Turns Terrible Day at Plate Into Cy Young-Like Performance on Mound [NESN.com]

Red Sox Have Options After 17-Inning Loss, Just Not Where They Want Them [NESN.com]

Darnell McDonald Disappointed With His Pitching, ‘Impressed’ With Chris Davis’ Stuff [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz Drawing Concern After Latest Rough Start [NESN.com]

Middlebrooks’ first MLB home run is grand [RedSox.com]

Buchholz’s string of rough starts continues [RedSox.com]

Is this 2008 all over again for Clay Buchholz? [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, be sure to head over to the Baltimore Sun and MASN websites. Also be sure to check out our Bloguin brother the Oriole Post for all of your Orioles needs.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: Getty Images

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Other UConn related links

Baseball. Fuller Home Run Blasts Huskies Past Cincinnati in 13th [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Track. Huskies Finish Fourth In 2012 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Track. Emerson & Wilson Capture Titles At BIG EAST Championships [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball. Huskies Reach BIG EAST Tournament, Will Face Louisville [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Ambrosie, Gerke, Harris and Latta Named 2012-13 Captains [UConnHuskies.com]

John Marinatto Resigns as Commissioner of BIG EAST Conference [BigEast.org]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.