There’s only way to describe my feelings and probably the emotions of others when we watch the 2011 Boston Red Sox right now. Frustration.

And that frustration grows even stronger when John Lackey is out there on the mound. At times, he makes you think that there is something physically wrong but right now it appears more mental/physical in nature.

During spring training, Lackey alluded to the fact that his wife had breast cancer. And judging from this comment, it appears things aren’t going that well.

“Everything (bleeps) in my life right now to be honest with you.”

I’ll admit that I was all over Lackey last night on Twitter. But after reading the comments from Lackey, maybe such criticism isn’t/wasn’t warranted. Baseball players are human too. They have to deal with personal issues just like us.

We’ve seen personal problems affect Red Sox players and other baseball players in the past.

A few years back, J.D. Drew was really struggling. We later learned that his son was going through some medical issues. When things got better for Drew’s son, things changed for him on the playing field.

So maybe instead of us jumping down Lackey’s throat, we should send him good wishes toward’s his wife’s recovery in her fight against breast cancer. It’s the right and only thing to do at this time.

As for the game last night, not much too talk about.

Adrian Gonzalez continued his hot streak with another opposite field home run. Carl Crawford extended his hitting streak while Jacoby Ellsbury saw his end.

We’ll be back later with the pitching matchups for the weekend tilt with the New York Yankees. But for now, enjoy the overnight links 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

Problem area: Sox’ Lackey rocked again [Boston Globe]

A major step for young Iglesias [Boston Globe]

Francona fined for ejection [Boston Globe]

John Lackey unable to deliver [Boston Herald]

A big relief for bullpen [Boston Herald]

Jose Bautista one big bat that got away [Boston Herald]

Everything messed up for John Lackey [Boston Herald]

Sox fans can now mix fastballs with highballs [Boston Herald]

Lackey takes shot at McDonald, admits “my life sucks right now” [Clubhouse Insider]

Lackey, Red Sox rocked by Blue Jays, 9-3 [CSNNE.com]

Iglesias gets his first start for Red Sox [CSNNE.com]

Notes: Gonzalez, Ortiz find home-run swings [CSNNE.com]

Rapid reaction: Blue Jays 9, Sox 3 [ESPN Boston]

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

What’s wrong with Lackey? [Extra Bases]

Podcast: Ellsbury, Crawford, Iglesias and the Yankees [Extra Bases]

Wheeler starts rehab today [Extra Bases]

For the Red Sox, it’s still sort of early [Extra Bases]

Terry Francona Thinks John Lackey Needs to Get More Outs With Fastball [NESN.com]

John Lackey Visibly Frustrated After Loss to Blue Jays, Says ‘Everything Went Wrong’ [NESN.com]

Red Sox Seek Refuge of Off-Day Before Big Series With Yankees in Bronx [NESN.com]

Swept in Toronto, Red Sox vow hot streak is coming [Projo Sox Blog]

Seemingly no limit to Lackey’s struggles [Providence Journal]

Ex-PawSox skipper Lovullo takes game to next level [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Lackey hints at off-field issues [Providence Journal]

Wakefield reaches milestone in relief outing [RedSox.com]

In search of the real John Lackey [RedSox.com]

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

And if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail websites.

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.

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UConn Women’s Basketball links

Maya Moore To Play In Spain This Winter [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Peyton Little To Texas A&M [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Decision To Attend UConn Was Easy For Moriah Jefferson [Hartford Courant]

Tough tests coming up [Journal Inquirer]

UConn Football links

Connecticut Huskies spring wrap [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]

Poll: Big East’s hardest player to replace [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]

Another 4 star bites the dust [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

Other UConn related links

Four To Be Inducted In UConn Wing Of Fairfield Hall Of Fame [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. UConn Baseball Update [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball. Julie Towers Named All-BIG EAST First Team [UConnHuskies.com]

Before heading into a much needed day off, The Boston Red Sox will look to escape Canada with a win tonight as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of a brief two-game set at Rogers Centre.

Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. and you can catch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Blue Jays television market you can watch the game on Rogers SportsNet. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

John Lackey looks to rebound from what was probably his worst in a Red Sox uniform his last time out. Lackey has made six starts in 2011 and is 2-4 with a 7.16 ERA. He has not faced the Blue Jays this season and was 1-2 with an 8.61 ERA in four starts against them last year. Lackey has made 15 career starts against the Jays and is 4-5 with a 4.58 ERA. Ten of those starts have come in Toronto where he is 3-3 with a 3.82 ERA.

Jesse Litsch will make his seventh start of the season for skipper John Farrell. In his previous six starts, Litsch is 3-2 with a 4.04 ERA. He has made one start against the Red Sox in 2011, taking the loss back on 4/17 when he allowed six runs (four earned) in five innings of work.  Litsch has made eight career starts against the Red Sox and is 4-3 with a 4.11 ERA.

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 tonight’s lineups:

17-19		16-20
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Yunel Escobar	SS
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Corey Patterson	LF
3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	3. Jose Bautista	RF
4. Kevin Youkilis	3B	4. Juan Rivera	DH
5. David Ortiz	DH	5. Aaron Hill	2B
6. J.D. Drew	RF	6. J. P. Arencibia	DH
7. Carl Crawford	LF	7. David Cooper	1B
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	8. John McDonald	3B
9. Jose Iglesias	SS	9. Rajai Davis	CF
John Lackey	SP	Jesse Litsch	SP

And here is how the starters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers:

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

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

Anatomy of an at-bat Bard would like back [Clubhouse Insider]

Francona fined [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox play the blame game [CSNNE.com]

Panic Still Not Present With Red Sox, Despite Walk-Off Loss, Shuffling Rotation [Don Orsillo – NESN.com]

Francona eager for Iglesias’ first start [ESPN Boston]

Ryan Kalish update [Extra Bases]

The lack of production from behind the plate [Extra Bases]

Peter Gammons on M&M: ‘There’s something funny about the passion of this team’ [Full Count]

John Lackey’s Up-and-Down Start to Season Continues to Perplex [NESN.com]

Jose Iglesias Not Nervous About First Major League Start, Says He’s Learning From Teammates and Opponents [NESN.com]

Hanging with David Cooper [Projo Sox Blog]

Pinch-running Iglesias for Lowrie [Projo Sox Blog]

Day off will give Red Sox a chance to reset bullpen [Projo Sox Blog]

Francona fined, not suspended, for balk incident [Projo Sox Blog]

With Lowrie ill, Iglesias gets first big league start [RedSox.com]

Litsch, Blue Jays eye two-game sweep of Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Photo credits: Getty Images, Getty Images

A .500 record in baseball is usually a sign of mediocrity. Right now, the Boston Red Sox can’t even get to .500. And before you jump down my throat, the Red Sox are from a mediocre team.

There’s many different reasons why the Red Sox can’t get to .500. One of them is the fact that things haven’t fired on all cylinders at once.

That was on display Tuesday night in Toronto, as the Red Sox offense pounded out 16 hits but still fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 in 10 innings.

The problem last night was a rare, ineffective start from Jon Lester.

Lester had put his normal April struggles to pasture this year and has been one of, it not the best starting pitcher for the Red Sox this season (Josh Beckett being the other). But a tight strike zone, no command on his fastball and terrible location on his curveball led to a bad outing.

The tight strike zone came into play in the bottom of the 1st inning when Lester lost his focus and the Red Sox fell behind 3-0. The offense would get the Red Sox back in the lead on a Carl Crawford RBI single, David Ortiz solo home run and the first of two Adrian Gonzalez homers on the night.

But Lester would give the lead back after allowing a tying home run to J. P. Arencibia and the go-ahead run at the time off the bat of Jose Bautista. The Red Sox would get that run back off the bat of Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the top half of the 8th only to see Daniel Bard give up a pinch-hit home run to David Cooper in the bottom half.

The lead didn’t last long though as Adrian Gonzalez hit his second opposite field home run of the night on the first pitch he saw from Jays closer Frank Francisco.

All the Red Sox would get in the 10th inning was a Dustin Pedroia single. The Blue Jays on the other hand got a 1-out single from Rajai Davis, who followed that up with two stolen bases to set the stage for Cooper’s walkoff sacrifice fly against Matt Albers.

After the 2-10 start, the Red Sox battled back to get their record to 10-11 only to lose the next two games. At 11-15, they ran off three straight win to get to 14-15 only to lose the next three games. They closed out the 11-game homestand with three straight wins to get their record back to 17-18 only to fall last night.

This 2011 Red Sox team is a great team on paper  but only a decent team on the field right now. We’ve seen the flashes where all the intrical parts have clicked together and then we’ve seen the team from last night. I still think it really is only a matter of time before this team puts together a solid run and puts the .500 mark in their rearview mirror.

But until the Red Sox can put it all together, the .500 mark can’t be a reality. It’s only a dream right now. Hopefully the trend of losing a few games after getting close to .500 ends tonight with (gulp) John Lackey.

We’ll be back later with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links 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

Sox are beaten in 10th [Boston Globe]

A Molina has caught their eye [Boston Globe]

These are old-timer’s days [Boston Globe]

Extra frustrating loss for Red Sox [Boston Herald]

‘Pen relieves Sox of .500 record [Boston Herald]

Carl Crawford merits move up in order [Boston Herald]

Gonzalez swings into action [Boston Herald]

Red Sox fall to Blue Jays in 10th, 7-6 [CSNNE.com]

Wakefield won’t rule out playing elsewhere [CSNNE.com]

Notes: Lester struggles; Gonzalez homers twice [CSNNE.com]

Source: Francona won’t be punished for rhubarb [ESPN Boston]

Rapid reaction: Jays 7, Sox 6 (10 inn.) [ESPN Boston]

Closing Time: Red Sox still searching for .500 after 10-inning loss [Full Count]

Daniel Bard: Pitch to David Cooper ‘right where I wanted it’ [Full Count]

How Rajai Davis, Blue Jays ran past the Red Sox [Full Count]

Video: Jon Lester Says He ‘Just Didn’t Have It’ in Loss to Blue Jays [NESN.com]

Red Sox Remain on Wrong Side of .500 With Another Frustrating Series Opener [NESN.com]

Sox can’t get on an even keel [Providence Journal]

As Crawford’s hitting improves, so does his spot on the pecking order [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: In Boston, walk-offs come with price [Providence Journal]

Believe it or not, you still shouldn’t worry about these Red Sox [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

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

And if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail websites.

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 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.

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

Big East mailbag [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]

DC answered a question in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Difton’s Former Coach On Transfer [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Wide Receiver Dwayne Difton Leaving UConn [Hartford Courant]

UConn’s Kashif Moore Stays On Track [Hartford Courant]

Receiver Dwayne Difton will transfer [New Haven Register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Report: Mosqueda-Lewis is Parade’s player of the year [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Tina Charles to be honored in Middletown [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

When Calhoun Retires, Who Will Be UConn’s Top Dog? [Lost Letterman]

Other UConn related links

Baseball: UConn Hosts Louisville at Dodd this Friday [OurSports Central]

After a walkoff win last night, the Boston Red Sox headed north of the border as they’ll take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a two-game set at Rogers Centre in Toronto tonight.

Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. and you can catch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Blue Jays television market you can watch the game on Rogers SportsNet. 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 continue the three-game winning streak his team has in his 8th start of 2011. In his previous seven starts, Lester is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA. He’s made one start against the Blue Jays this season when he picked up his first win of 2011 back on 4/17. In that outing, he allowed one run over six innings of work. He’s made 14 career starts against the Jays and is 8-4 with a 3.30 ERA. Eight of those starts have come in Toronto where he is 4-3 with a 3.60 ERA.

Rookie Kyle Drabek will make his first career start against the Red Sox for John Farrell, who had been the Red Sox pitching coach for the past few years. Drabek has made has made seven starts this season and is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA.

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 tonight’s lineups:

17-18		15-20
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Yunel Escobar	SS
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Corey Patterson	LF
3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	3. Jose Bautista	RF
4. Kevin Youkilis	3B	4. Edwin Encarnacion	1B
5. David Ortiz	DH	5. Aaron Hill	2B
6. J.D. Drew	RF	6. Juan Rivera	DH
7. Jed Lowrie	SS	7. J. P. Arencibia	C
8. Carl Crawford	LF	8. John McDonald	3B
9. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	9. Rajai Davis	CF
Jon Lester	SP	Kyle Drabek	SP

And here is how the starters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers:

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

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

Nation STATion: Red Sox Nine to Know [CSNNE.com]

Where Pedroia’s gone wrong [ESPN Boston]

Sox shuffle weekend rotation [ESPN Boston]

Pregame notes: On pitching, Crawford and Wake [ESPN Boston]

After balk, Red Sox have a talk with Aceves [Extra Bases]

Pregame notes from Toronto [Extra Bases]

Jacoby Ellsbury going streaking [Full Count]

Looking at how Carl Crawford found his stroke, and why Dustin Pedroia is still looking for his [Full Count]

Which Is Your Favorite AL East Ballpark to Visit as a Red Sox Fan? [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz’s Pregame Eating Routine, Balanced Diet Keeps Young Righty Firing on All Cylinders [NESN.com]

Red Sox Mailbag: Midseason Trade Likely, As Sox Are Built to Win in 2011 [NESN.com]

Inside the numbers with Dustin Pedroia [NESN.com]

Terry Francona Says Jon Lester Looks Confident Early in 2011 [NESN.com]

Daisuke Matsuzaka to Be Skipped in Rotation, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester to Pitch Weekend Series in New York [NESN.com]

Red Sox’ Recent Homestand Filled With Delays, Ejections and Balks [NESN.com]

Youkilis a formidable foe in celebratory piles [Projo Sox Blog]

Could Wakefield pitch beyond this season? [Projo Sox Blog]

Red Sox, Blue Jays square off in AL East showdown [RedSox.com]

Wakefield on verge of making history [RedSox.com]

Nuggetpalooza: Homestand ends on high note [Nuggetpalooza]

Photo credits: Getty Images, Getty Images

Another Josh Beckett start went by the wayside last night but in the end the Boston Red Sox still picked up the win as Carl Crawford delivered a walkoff double in the 11th to give his team a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. With that win, the Red Sox closed out the 11-game homestand at 6-5 and are now 17-18 on the season.

If it weren’t for another controversial balk call, this one on Alfredo Aceves, the Red Sox might not have been in this predicament. The Twins never really hit a ball hard off of Beckett and the game-tying RBI off the bat of Jason Kubel against Jonathan Papelbon was a broken bat blooper.

When Papelbon blew the save, they was a lot of negativity towards him on Twitter. I know we Red Sox fans are fickle but it was just one game. This was his first blown save of the season. He’s been pretty much perfect all season long but we all knew there would come a time when he’d blow one.

So to me, there’s no real reason to be so down and hard on him. Now if it continues, then yes the criticism is warranted.

The great thing about Papelbon throughout his career is that usually when he blows save, he comes out even better. It wouldn’t surprise me if the situation presented itself tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays that he jumps back on his horse and finishes it off.

Beckett scattered six hits over seven innings with just one walk and recorded five strikeouts. He had good life on his fastball and after a few struggles with his curve early on, he got that to work effectively as well.

The past few seasons, Beckett has battled through some injury woes. But as we are seeing this year with him being healthy, there’s no telling how good he can be. Each night, he goes out and does his job. Sure he’s only 2-1 this season but his ERA is 1.99. A much different story than years past.

Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 18 games, which is a MLB best right now. It happened to be his only hit of the night though. Adrian Gonzalez definitely has found his swing as he came up with a RISP and got the job done with a RBI in the 5th. Crawford’s walkoff hit was also his only hit of the night but it was good enough to extend his hitting streak right now.

The first walkoff hit for Crawford really turned it around for him. He seems more relaxed at the plate for the most part. The second walkoff hit should only give more confidence going forward.

The Red Sox now spend the next five days on the road against some AL East foes, the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. Sitting at 17-18 and just 3.5 games out of first, this is a pivotal road trip. The .500 mark has been elusive for the Red Sox this season as each time they’ve gotten to within a game of the mark, they’ve lost a few games in a row.

Let’s hope that trend will change with Jon Lester on the mound tonight.

We’ll be back later with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links 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

Jose Iglesias returns to where his big league journey began [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Crawford double in the 11th gives Red Sox a win [Boston Globe]

Decidedly tough break [Boston Globe]

End results generally good [Boston Globe]

Closer excels at long relief [Boston Globe] *a must read

Carl Crawford in hero’s role [Boston Herald]

Matt Albers excellent at division [Boston Herald]

All about win for Josh Beckett [Boston Herald]

This time, Tito clued in on balk [Boston Herald]

Cash in on Red Sox ticket slump [Boston Herald]

Crawford gives Red Sox walk-off win in 11th, 2-1 [CSNNE.com]

Atchison clears waivers, optioned back to Pawtucket [CSNNE.com]

Crawford, Iglesias finish homestand with flair [CSNNE.com]

Sox notes: Beckett gets fourth straight no-decision [CSNNE.com]

Rapid reaction: Sox 2, Twins 1 (11 inn.) [ESPN Boston]

Iggy Stardust: Rookie scores on walkoff [ESPN Boston]

Closing Time: Red Sox 2, Twins 1 [Full Count]

Josh Beckett will take the no-decision with a smile [Full Count]

Gregg Zaun Filling In for Jerry Remy When Red Sox Head to Toronto to Face Blue Jays [NESN.com]

Carl Crawford Continues Resurgence With Another Walk-Off Hit [NESN.com]

Hideki Okajima Marks Career Milestone With Gutsy Win [NESN.com]

Jim Rice Talks About Evolving Role That Studying Video Has in Game Preparation for Major League Hitters [NESN.com]

Crawford doubles in winning run in 11th [Providence Journal]

Lester puts April demons to bed [Providence Journal]

Monster achievements expected from Adrian Gonzalez [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: A relief to have bullpen back at full strength [Providence Journal]

Brentz’s hit streak at 21 games for Greenville [RedSox.com]

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

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer-Press websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, Twins Target.

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.

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 Men’s Basketball links

UConn Huskies 2010-2011 Highlights [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn Football links

Spring breakout players: Connecticut [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]

UConn Football Captain Kashif Moore On Coach Paul Pasqualoni [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn Huskies Top NFL Prospects for 2012 and Beyond [NFL Mocks]

Other UConn related links

W. Ice Hockey. Women’s Ice Hockey Holds Annual Team Banquet [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Student-Athletes Celebrate Graduation! [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Huskies Shutout USF 2-0 [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Scouting the UConn Huskies – It’s Getting Serious [Don Amore – Hartford Courant]

M. Ice Hockey. Sean Ambrosie Named Men’s Hockey Captain [UConnHuskies.com]