Cleveland Indians @ Boston Red Sox 7:10 p.m. Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: David Huff vs Josh Beckett TV: NESN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 8/2 [SOX & Dawgs]

After failing to pick up their third straight come-from-behind win, the Boston Red Sox will look for a win the more conventional way tonight against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park in the game two of a four-game set.

This evening’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Indians television market, you can catch the game on STO. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Josh Beckett will toe the rubber for Terry Francona and the Red Sox tonight in his third start since being activated from the disabled list. Overall, Beckett has made 10 starts in 2010 and is 2-1 with a 6.33 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Indians in 2010 and is 2-4 with a 6.56 ERA in six career starts against them.

The Indians have called up David Huff from Triple-A Columbus to make the start tonight. Huff has made 13 starts in the big leagues this season and is 2-9 with a 6.04 ERA.  He’s made one start against the Red Sox in 2010 and his career that came back on June 8th. In that start, he took the loss after allowing three runs (none earned) in six innings in the 3-2 win by the Red Sox.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Here’s how the hitters have fared against this evening’s starting pitchers in their careers:

In case you missed the news, Kevin Youkilis has been placed on the disabled list and Mike Lowell has been activated from the DL.

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

Youkilis out tonight, awaiting update [Clubhouse Insider]

Meanwhile, in Pawtucket … [Clubhouse Insider]

Theo on Youkilis: ‘It’s not clear yet whether he’ll need surgery’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox’ Playoff Hopes Depend on Return of Injured Stars [Cole Wright – NESN.com]

Ellsbury goes 3-for-5 in rehab stint at Pawtucket [CSN New England]

‘Rare’ thumb injury lands Youkilis on DL [CSN New England]

Ellsbury goes 3 for 5 in rehab game [ESPN Boston]

Kevin Youkilis put on disabled list by Boston Red Sox with torn thumb muscle; Mike Lowell activated. [ESPN Boston]

VMart, Cameron and Kalish stand tall [Extra Bases]

What is Beltre’s value as a free agent? [Extra Bases]

Ellsbury 3 for 5 for Pawtucket today [Extra Bases]

Kalish brings gridiron flavor to the field [Full Count]

Ellsbury 3-for-5 so far in Pawtucket [Full Count]

Farrell on D&H: ‘We feel good’ about young pitchers [Full Count]

Forbes names Sox fans “America’s best” [Full Count]

Youkilis to the DL with unusual thumb injury [Full Count]

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: ‘I’m Excited For a Fresh Start’ [NESN.com]

Do Red Sox Have a Shot To Add Adam Dunn for Stretch Run? [NESN.com]

Adrian Beltre May Cash in Heavily on Massive 2010, But Buyers Should Beware [NESN.com]

Frustration Sets In for Red Sox as Kevin Youkilis Becomes Latest to Visit DL [NESN.com]

Kevin Youkilis Injury Comes at Inopportune Time in Red Sox Schedule [NESN.com]

Tuesday Six-Pack Of Nuggets [Nuggetpalooza]

25 players, 25 cabs [Projo Sox Blog]

Ellsbury “days, not weeks” away from return [Projo Sox Blog]

Kalish learning all about Fenway Park outfield [Projo Sox Blog]

Lowrie learning on the job at first base [Projo Sox Blog]

Injured thumb puts Youkilis on DL [RedSox.com]

Photo credits: AP Photo, AP Photo

Red Sox Nation, our worst fears have been realized.

After leaving last night’s game with a jammed right thumb, Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis has been placed on the disabled list according to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.

Mike Lowell has been activated from the disabled list and takes Youk’s spot on the 25-man roster.

There’s no word on the severity of Youk’s injury just yet as skipper Terry Francona is meeting with the media. When there’s word of Youk’s official diagnosis, I’ll update the post.

Update: According to tweets from the media, Youk has a torn muscle in his hand. According to Terry Francona, it’s “the muscle that helps you contract your thumb. It’s a rare occurance”

He will undergo further testing on it and it’s quite possible he could be lost for the season if he has to undergo surgery.

Back in early December, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball program picked up a solid recruit in Maurice Harkless from Queens, NY.  Then in mid-June, Harkless rescinded his verbal commitment and reopened his recruitment although he kept UConn on his list of schools he was interested in.

And now according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, Harkless doesn’t have UConn on his new list of schools.

The 6-foot-8 Queens, N.Y. native wrote on Twitter he’s considering the following schools after spending next year at South Kent (Conn.): St. John’s, Maryland, Florida, N.C. State, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Arizona and Memphis.

I asked Harkless if that means UConn is definitely out and he said, “Yes.”

As you can see Harkless still has three Big East schools on his lists but the way this kid has been flip-flopping, you never know where he’ll end up.

But one thing’s for certain, it looks like a few years in Storrs is definitely not in his future.

Photo credit: NY Daily News

If the Boston Red Sox don’t make the playoffs in 2010, one reason will be that they couldn’t beat the bottom feeders of the American League like the Cleveland Indians. And that’s exactly what happened on Monday night as they couldn’t pull off another walk-off win in the 6-5 loss to the Indians at Fenway Park.

What started out as a good outing for John Lackey suddenly went south for him in the 5th and 6th innings. His curveball was nasty early on helping him rack up four strikeouts before the Indians struck for two in the 4th. Lackey’s undoing though was inability to locate his other pitches and the Indians took advantage of that.

He had been cruising right along before three straight hits, including two doubles in the 4th, put the Indians out front 2-1.  It could have been 3-1 in the 4th but rookie Ryan Kalish‘s perfect throw nailed Shelley Duncan at the plate.

The 6th inning was what really did Lackey in.

Unable to locate his pitches, he walked the leadoff hitter Jordan Brown then allowed a single to Duncan and a walk to Jayson Nix to load up the sacks full of Indians. He recovered to strikeout Jason Donald but ended his evening with a bases loaded walk to Trevor Crowe that made it 4-1.

Terry Francona brought Manny Delcarmen in and he did his job by getting Asdrubal Cabrera to foul out. But rather than leave MDC in to face the lefty Shin-Soo Choo, Tito went to the bullpen for Dustin Richardson. The move didn’t quite work out as planned for Francona as Choo laced a two-run single to push the Indians lead to 6-1.

From that point, Tim Wakefield, pitching on his 44th birthday, kept the Red Sox in the game while they rallied behind the bat of Adrian Beltre, who hit a solo home run in the 7th and a 3-run homer in the 8th. They would only muster up a Marco Scutaro single in the 9th off the Indians closer Chris Perez.

The one thing that was most frustrating about last night’s loss was the decisions by third base coach Tim Bogar on sending runners home.

In the 3rd inning, Scutaro led off with a double and went to third on a J.D. Drew fly out. Kevin Cash, in for an injured Kevin Youkilis who left with a jammed right thumb, hit a ball to medium depth left field. Bogar decided to send Scutaro home but Duncan’s throw was on the mark and Scutaro was EASILY out at home plate.

It happened again in the 7th inning.

After Beltre’s solo blast, Kalish followed with a double. After Bill Hall grounded out, Daniel Nava, up for Mike Cameron who placed on the DL before the game, hit a single to right field. Bogar once again decided to send the runner and Choo gunned down Kalish at home plate. While the play was closer than the one in the 3rd, it was another runner that shouldn’t have been sent.

Indians phenom Carlos Santana was injured on the play as well as his knee went in a direction it shouldn’t have. Initial tests on him were good but he’s on his way bay to Cleveland for an MRI.

Something has to give with Bogar. It really does. How much longer does Francona keep him around if he’s going to continue to cost the Red Sox ball games.

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

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

Time at third no charm for Sox coach Bogar [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Bad tidings [Boston Globe]

This situation at critical mass [Boston Globe]

Cameron goes back on the disabled list [Boston Globe]

Kalish’s night turns on collision [Boston Globe]

Recap: Indians 6, Red Sox 5 [Boston Herald]

Kevin Youkilis caught in a jam [Boston Herald]

Daniel Nava rides on major highway [Boston Herald]

John Lackey loses control [Boston Herald]

Sox lose Youkilis, game 6-5 [CSN New England]

Youkilis to have MRI on thumb [CSN New England]

Saltalamacchia arrives [ESPN Boston]

New catcher could impact Varitek’s future [ESPN Boston]

Reddick makes a statement [ESPN Boston]

Saltalamacchia makes PawSox debut [ESPN Boston]

Lowell suggests resolution is at hand [ESPN Boston]

Francona: Bogar ‘knows’ it was a mistake [ESPN Boston]

Quick hits: Another big game for Beltre [ESPN Boston]

Initial report on Youkilis is good [Extra Bases]

Closing Time: Indians 6, Red Sox 5 [Full Count]

Youkilis to have MRI on right thumb [Full Count]

Sox Coming Up Short [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]

Jed Lowrie Thankful to be Back in Boston After Long Road to Recovery [NESN.com]

Ryan Kalish Taking Call-Up in Stride While Adjusting to Big Leagues [NESN.com]

Former Red Sox Great Mo Vaughn Having Success Improving Run-Down Housing [NESN.com]

Ryan Kalish Unsettled After Ugly Collision With Carlos Santana [NESN.com]

Red Sox Bats Arrive Late in Loss to Indians as Tight-Game Trend Continues [NESN.com]

Will Mike Lowell Get Another Opportunity to Play for the Red Sox? [NESN.com]

David Ortiz Serves as Milan Lucic’s Personal Hitting Coach [NESN.com]

Lackey not living up to his billing [Providence Journal]

Kalish off to strong start [Providence Journal]

Youkilis to have MRI on thumb Tuesday [Providence Journal]

Surgery looms as Cameron lands on disabled list [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Indians catcher crunched in crash [Providence Journal]

Ellsbury heads back to Pawtucket [RedSox.com]

Youkilis exits with jammed right thumb [RedSox.com]

Beltre’s two homers can’t rally Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Kalish in middle of action since promotion [RedSox.com]

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

And if you must read the enemy papers, check out the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon Journal 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.

Thank you for stopping and by 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

UConn Football Picked To Finish Fourth In Big East [SOX & Dawgs]

Some BE Media Day Opening Remarks From BE Commish [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

DC also answered a few questions in his mailbag yesterday [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Come for the football, stay to be Jonathan the Husky’s musher [TheUConnBlog]

UConn’s Mascot Gives Crowd The Stone Cold Salute In NCAA 2011 [SB Nation]

UConn Football Earns Its Highest Big East Preseason Ranking [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Oklahoma game is Feb. 14 [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Now We Know When UConn Will Play Oklahoma [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Valentine’s Day With The Sooners [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

GPA Over GHPA Tonight for Lamb [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Jim Calhoun, Ray Allen Join Kevin Ollie At Charity Golf Event [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Kevin Ollie Charity Golf Classic [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Meet Niels Giffey [UConn Huskies Basketball]

College football is slowly creeping upon us and today as they get together in Newport, RI, the Big East has released the 2010 Preseason Big East Football rankings.

The Pittsburgh Panthers are the overwhelming favorites to earn the Big East’s BCS bid receiving 22-of-24 first place votes. The West Virginia Mountaineers received one first place vote and were picked to finish second along with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Obviously someone out there liked the UConn Huskies chances as they received the other first place vote but are picked to end up fourth. This is the highest ranking the Huskies have received since joining the Big East in football.

The Huskies will begin practicing next Monday (August 9th) in anticipation of the opening game against the Michigan Wolverines on September 4th in Ann Arbor, MI at the Big House.

Here is the complete Preseason Big East Football rankings:

• 1. Pittsburgh (22 first-place votes) 190
• 2. Cincinnati 142
     West Virginia (1) 142
• 4. Connecticut (1) 131
• 5. Rutgers 99
• 6. USF 79
• 7. Syracuse 41
• 8. Louisville 40

Cleveland Indians @ Boston Red Sox 7:10 p.m. Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Fausto Carmona vs John Lackey TV: NESN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 8/2 [SOX & Dawgs]

After taking two-of-three from the Detroit Tigers, the Boston Red Sox will host the Cleveland Indians in the first of a four-game set to close out the homestand at Fenway Park.

This evening’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Indians television market, you can catch the game on STO. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

John Lackey makes his 22nd start of 2010 for the Red Sox and has pitched well as of late. In his previous 21 starts, he is 10-5 with a 4.26 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Indians in 2010 and is 6-6 with a 3.71 ERA in 14 career starts against them.

All-Star Fausto Carmona also is making his 22nd start of 2010 and is 10-8 with a 3.92 ERA. He’s faced the Red Sox once in 2010 back on June 7th, taking the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) in six innings.  Carmona’s made six appearances (four starts) against the Red Sox in his career and is 1-3 with a 5.16 ERA. He’s made three appearances (one start) at Fenway Park and is 0-2 with a 40.50 ERA.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Here’s how the hitters have fared against this afternoon’s starting pitchers in their careers:

Mike Cameron has found himself back on the disabled list for the same injury that got him there in the first place. Daniel Nava has been called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Cameron’s spot on the 25-man roster. In 29 games with the Red Sox this season, Nava is hitting .286 with one home run and 16 RBIs.

And a happy 44th birthday goes out to Tim Wakefield.

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

Cameron to the D.L., Nava back up [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox put Cameron on DL [ESPN Boston]

Time to get better against the worst [Extra Bases]

Big-league fun in the minors [Extra Bases]

Pedroia does a little running [Extra Bases]

Cameron returns to disabled list [Extra Bases]

Ellsbury will play at least one more rehab game [Full Count]

Imperfect resolution awaits Lowell situation [Full Count]

Trade deadline boosts stable of names [Full Count]

Red Sox pregame notes: Cameron’s guts, Ellsbury’s timetable, and more [Full Count]

Red Sox’ Hot Bats Look to Take Advantage of Indians’ Struggling Staff [NESN.com]

Rebuilding Indians Look to Develop Young Talent, Climb Into Contention by 2013 [NESN.com]

Tim Wakefield’s 44th Birthday Reminds Us of Over-40 Athletes Who Ignore Father Time [NESN.com]

Mike Cameron Placed on Disabled List, Replaced on Roster by Daniel Nava [NESN.com]

Terry Francona Says Red Sox Holding Onto Hope That Mike Cameron Can Avoid Season-Ending Surgery [NESN.com]

If you blow a save, should you get a win? [Projo Sox Blog]

No update on Lowell [Projo Sox Blog]

Ellsbury headed back to Pawtucket on Tuesday [Projo Sox Blog]

Pedroia, Varitek making steady progress [Projo Sox Blog]

Nava gets another call [Projo Sox Blog]

Abdominal issues land Cameron on DL [RedSox.com]

Photo credits: AP Photo, Getty Images