After 11 straight games against the AL Central, the Boston Red Sox return to their roots in the AL East with first place line. They’ll host the New York Yankees in the first game of a three-game set tonight at Historic Fenway Park.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Yankees television market, you can watch the game on YES. If you don’t live in either market, you may be in luck as the MLB Network is scheduled to have coverage of the game tonight. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Jon Lester looks to help the Red Sox back into sole possession of first place in the AL East in his 21st start of 2011. In his previous 20 starts, Lester is 11-4 with a 3.17 ERA. He has made two starts against the Yankees this season and is 2-0 with a 5.25 ERA (7 ER/12 IP). He’s made 14 career starts against the Evil Empire and is 8-1 with a 3.56 ERA. He is undefeated (2-0, 5.34 ERA) against the Yankees in five starts at the Fens.

One time member of the Red Sox, Bartolo Colon, makes his 17th start (20th appearance) of 2011. In his previous 19 appearances (16 starts), Colon is 8-6 with a 3.30 ERA. He’s made two appearances (one start) against the Red Sox in 2011 and is 0-2 with a 2.61 ERA. He’s made 24 career appearances (23 starts) against the Red Sox and is 8-11 with a 4.03 ERA. 15 of those appearances (14 starts) have come at the Fens where he is 6-6 with 4.03 ERA.

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

Here are this evening’s lineups:

68-42		68-42
1. Derek Jeter	SS	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Curtis Granderson	CF	2. Dustin Pedroia	2B
3. Mark Teixeira	1B	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Robinson Cano	2B	4. Kevin Youkilis	3B
5. Nick Swisher	RF	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Andruw Jones	LF	6. Carl Crawford	LF
7. Russell Martin	C	7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
8. Jorge Posada	DH	8. Josh Reddick	RF
9. Eduardo Nunez	3B	9. Marco Scutaro	SS
Bartolo Colon	SP	Jon Lester	SP

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

Check back and/or refresh often as more links will be added if/when they become available before game time.

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Video: Alec Baldwin Gets John Krasinski Good [SOX & Dawgs]

Video: Here come the Yankees! Previewing Sox-Yanks at Fenway [Clubhouse Insider]

Pregame notes: Miller to bullpen, Lowrie aims for Monday [Clubhouse Insider]

Youkilis: Ortiz deserved RBI [Clubhouse Insider]

Joe Girardi on Dustin Pedroia: ‘He’s taken off’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Notes: Lowrie on track to be activated Monday [CSNNE.com]

Video: Red Sox-Yankees preview [ESPN Boston]

Video: State of the Nation with Gordon Edes [ESPN Boston]

W2W4: Yankees, Red Sox key defenders [ESPN Boston]

Red Sox, Yankees battle it out for AL East lead [ESPN Boston]

Jenks to throw side session Sunday [ESPN Boston]

Short-term pitching rotation set [ESPN Boston]

Lowrie’s rehab with PawSox going ‘fine’ [ESPN Boston]

No sign of former Yankee-killer Crawford [ESPN Boston]

Three faces of Papelbon? [ESPN Boston]

Why winning the East may matter [Extra Bases]

Red Sox shift rotation; bump Miller again [Extra Bases]

Behind enemy lines: Pre-game Yankees notes [Extra Bases]

Kevin Millar on M&M: ‘I understand the frustrations that Big Papi had’ [Full Count]

Yankees At Red Sox: An Early Look At Three-Game Series [Hartford Courant]

Red Sox Will Need to Beat CC Sabathia in Order to Sweep Yankees, But There Is Hope for Boston [NESN.com]

Boston Globe’s Michael Vega Catches Foul Ball in Fenway Park Press Box During Thursday’s Red Sox Game (Video) [NESN.com]

Jonathan ‘Cinco Ocho’ Papelbon, Wouldn’t Imitate Chad Ochocinco’s Group Hug [NESN.com]

Terry Francona More Than Aware of Yankees’ Current Hot Streak, Ability to Rack Up Stolen Bases [NESN.com]

Terry Francona Reworks Red Sox Rotation for Upcoming Road Trip Following Long Relief Appearance by Andrew Miller [NESN.com]

A Series Matter: Red Sox-Yankees and Modern Pennant “Races” [Projo Sox Blog]

Yeah, what he said! [Projo Sox Blog]

Q&A: Yankees Beat Writer Marc Carig [Projo Sox Blog]

Aviles pumped to play hometown team [Projo Sox Blog]

Lowrie could return as early as Monday [Projo Sox Blog]

Jenks to throw side on Sunday [Projo Sox Blog]

Miller bumped from rotation [Projo Sox Blog]

Five key questions as Yankees meet Red Sox [Providence Journal]

Lester, Colon to get battle for AL East lead started [RedSox.com]

Yanks, Sox on equal footing as showdown starts [RedSox.com]

The Book: Jose Iglesias [SoxProspects.com]

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

Photo credits: AP Photo, Getty Images

If you go to Fenway Park and see a “Wanted” poster with my face on it, it definitely wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I’ve now been to Fenway Park three times this season and have now seen three losses by the Boston Red Sox.

Last night, it was Justin Masterson‘s turn to add to my misery at the Fens as he struck out nine batters on his way to helping the Cleveland Indians to a 7-3 win over the Red Sox. It turned out to be a costly loss for the Red Sox as they fell into a tie for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees after the beat the Chicago White Sox last night.

So when the Yankees and Red Sox do battle tonight in the first game of a three-game set tonight in Beantown, one of the two teams will be in second place. Let’s hope it’s the team from the Bronx.

When you make a trade, you usually have to give up something good to get something good in return. The Red Sox knew what they had in Masterson but also knew that Victor Martinez would help them out. And know Masterson is quickly becoming a thorn in the Red Sox’s side.

Entering last night’s game, he was 2-0 against them with a 1.25 ERA (3 ER/21.2 IP) in three starts. While the Red Sox were able to get to him for three runs (the same total he had given up in his three previous starts), he exacted his revenge with nine strikeouts. Three of those strikeouts were of Jason Varitek. The only Red Sox hitters he didn’t strikeout were Carl Crawford and Dustin Pedroia (who did get struck out by Vinne Pestano in the 7th).

It did look the Red Sox would possibly make Masterson’s night a quick one getting two runs in the 1st on an Adrian Gonzalez RBI double and a David Ortiz RBI single. But he settled down after that striking out four in the 2nd inning. Yes you read that correctly. He struck out four in the 2nd inning because Josh Reddick reached on a wild pitch from Masty.

Reddick would end up providing the tying run at the time and eventual last run for the Red Sox when he hit a solo blast in the 5th into the Indians bullpen.

Erik Bedard made his Red Sox debut last night and honestly he wasn’t bad.

He had a rough patch in the 2nd when he gave up two runs that tied the game up at 2. Another rough spot in the 3rd when the Indians got another run. But before that and after that he did pretty well.

If you didn’t have tempered expectations for Bedard’s debut, you really don’t know what’s going. You couldn’t expect him to go out there and throw a complete game or anything like that. After all, it was just his second start since return from the DL.

All you needed him to do was go out there and keep the Red Sox in the game. And that’s exactly what he did.

Baseball is a funny game in quickly how things can turn around for one player.

Franklin Morales went from the hero of Tuesday night’s game out of the bullpen to the goat of Thursday’s game after allowing two runs. And Andrew Miller wasn’t much better as he also allowed two runs in 2.2 innings. The amazing number from Miller’s line though is that he needed 74 pitches to get through those 2.2 innings.

And in case you’re wondering, that’s a lot of pitches.

Big weekend series coming up with the Yanks and as you might expect, there’ll be a lot of national media attention. Along with their respective local networks, the MLB Network will have the game tonight. FOX and ESPN will have Saturday and Sunday’s games.

The Red Sox have taken 8-of-9 so far this year from the Red Sox. Now it’s time to see what they can do in the stretch run with nine more against them.

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

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MLB on FOX Breakdown for 8/6 [SOX & Dawgs]

At arm’s length [Boston Globe]

Masterson a hit when they miss [Boston Globe]

Bedard strikes positive tone [Boston Globe]

Yankees catch Red Sox at a good time [Boston Globe]

Ex-footballer tackling this sport nicely [Boston Globe]

Erik Bedard does A-OK, but Red Sox fall to Indians [Boston Herald]

Red Sox bullpen left at a loss [Boston Herald]

Jonathan Papelbon back to his old self [Boston Herald]

Red Sox-Yanks ticket prices out of the park [Boston Herald]

Yankees throw Red Sox a curve [Boston Herald]

Matt Clement’s return like a dream [Chicago Tribune]

Drew to start hitting again soon [CSNNE.com]

Ortiz bursts into Francona’s press conference [CSNNE.com]

Francona satisfied with Red Sox bullpen [CSNNE.com]

Tribe take down Sox, 7-3 [CSNNE.com]

Masterson now Cleveland’s ‘main guy’ [CSNNE.com]

Bedard’s Red Sox debut a solid one [CSNNE.com]

Notes: Bullpen falls flat, rested for Yankees series [CSNNE.com]

Rapid reaction: Indians 7, Red Sox 3 [ESPN Boston]

Encouraging signs from Bedard [ESPN Boston]

Tale of two outfielders [ESPN Boston]

Red Sox entertain Swihart [Extra Bases]

Closing Time: Red Sox bullpen, Justin Masterson spoil Erik Bedard debut [Full Count]

Peter Gammons on M&M: Ellsbury ‘possible’ MVP candidate [Full Count]

Why Thursday felt like Opening Day, nerves and all, for Erik Bedard [Full Count]

Video: David Ortiz breaks into press conference to complain about scorer [Full Count]

Video: Jarrod Saltalamacchia Keeps Improving As He Gets More Comfortable With Red Sox [NESN.com]

Carl Crawford OK Giving Up King of Walk-Offs Status to Jacoby Ellsbury, Excited About Arrival of Erik Bedard [NESN.com]

Video: Terry Francona Pleased With Erik Bedard’s ‘Professionally Pitched’ Red Sox Debut [NESN.com]

Video: Erik Bedard Overcomes Early Nerves in Red Sox Debut, Able to Command Strike Zone in ‘Solid Start’ [NESN.com]

David Ortiz Knows How Much People Overvalue Round Numbers When It Comes to Stats [NESN.com]

Justin Masterson Going From Old Friend to New Villain, As Right-Hander Looks Sharp Against Red Sox Once Again [NESN.com]

Future cloudy for Miller [Projo Sox Blog]

Bedard solid, but bullpen falls apart in sixth [Providence Journal]

Finding a new DH to replace Ortiz won’t be easy for Red Sox [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Boston can’t seem to shake the Yankees [Providence Journal]

Aceves has a knack for getting the victory [RedSox.com]

Like Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon is planning on finishing up as a closer [RedSox.com]

Key questions as Yankees meet Red Sox [The Hackensack NJ Record]

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, head over to the Akron Beacon Journal and Cleveland Plain Dealer websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother Burning River Baseball.

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

Photo credit: AP Photo

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 some of the other sports. 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

Four teams set to open camp [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Five Questions Heading Into UConn Training Camp [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Kickoff Dinner At Rent Was A Success [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

It’s Official: Leon Kinnard Heading To Towson University [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn WR Recruit Malik Golden To Visit Huskies Practice Soon [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Follow The Huskies To Nashville! [UConnHuskies.com]

Masuk’s Casey Cochran gets UConn offer [CT Post]

Can Pasqualoni Bring Syracuse Touch To UConn? [Hartford Courant]

Offensive holes still weigh on UConn football team [Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies want their man quickly [Norwich Bulletin]

All things Connecticut football [Danbury News Times]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Selden to Visit Aug. 12 [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Napier final cut of USA World University Games team [Neill Ostrout – CT Post]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Here’s “The Franchise” Clip With The UConn Women [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Connecticut basketball star among 142 nominees for NCAA’s Woman of the Year Award [Washington Post]

Are you wondering if you’re getting the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees game on Saturday afternoon that will be broadcast by FOX Sports?

Well here’s the breakdown courtesy of Fang’s Bites:

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox – 81%
ANNOUNCERS: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants – 18%
ANNOUNCERS: Kenny Albert & Eric Karros
MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Birmingham, Greenville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Francisco

After a walkoff win for the second straight night, the Boston Red Sox try to do it again the more conventional way in the finale of a four-game set with the Cleveland Indians tonight at Historic Fenway Park.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Indians television market, you can watch the game on SportsTime Ohio (STO) or WKYC 3. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

After coming over in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, Erik Bedard will make his first start in a Red Sox uniform. He’s expected to throw around 75-80 pitches as this is his second start after coming off the DL with a knee injury. He made 16 starts for the Mariners this season and was 4-7 with a 3.45 ERA. He’s made one start against the Indians this season, taking the loss after allowing six runs in four innings back on April 10th. Bedard has made 10 career starts against the Indians and is 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA.

One time member of the Red Sox Justin Masterson will make his 24th appearance (23rd) start of 2011 for Manny Acta. In his previous 23 appearances (22 starts), Masty is 8-7 with a 2.56 ERA. He’s made one start against his former club this season and picked up a no decision after allowing two runs in 7.2 innings back on May 23rd, a game the Indians won 3-2. Masterson has never lost against his former club as he is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA (3 ER/21.2 IP). He’s made 37 appearances (nine starts) at the Fens in his career and is 9-2 with a 3.50 ERA. In his lone start as a member of the Indians at Fenway, Masterson picked up the win on August 4, 2010 when he allowed one run in five innings of work.

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

Since I’m heading to Fenway Park for the game, I’ll be linking over to the lineups. You can get the lineups for both teams by heading over to BaseballPress.com (Red Sox, Indians).

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

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

Ex-coach: ‘Boston got real lucky’ to get Erik Bedard [Clubhouse Insider]

Bedard makes his Sox debut tonight [ESPN Boston]

Ellsbury has arrived [ESPN Boston]

Erik Bedard in Perfect Position to Contribute, Remain Comfortable Around Big-Name Boston Teammates [Tom Caron – NESN.com]

Bedard faces Tribe in Red Sox debut [RedSox.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, head over to the Akron Beacon Journal and Cleveland Plain Dealer websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother Burning River Baseball.

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

Photo credits: AP Photo, Reuters Pictures