The Boston Red Sox had all the momentum in the world coming into last night’s game against the New York Yankees after taking four straight from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. And early on, Josh Beckett looked to be carrying it over as he struck out five of the first six batters he faced.

Then in the 4th inning with two runners on and a 2-2 count to Nick Swisher, Beckett made a mistake. He left a 2-2 curveball up in the zone and Swisher took advantage of it by blasting it to straightaway center field for a 3-run homer. He recovered back in the 5th as set the Yankees down 1-2-3.

The big problem for Beckett though came in the 6th inning when his command decided to leave early and head to local watering hole.

Alex Rodriguez led off with a double and then he plunked Robinson Cano on the knee, who ended up leaving the game. A passed ball moved the runners up but Beckett struck out Swisher for the first out. They then decided to intentionally walk Brett Gardner to load up the bases and setup a double-play.

That didn’t work out though as Beckett’s command issues took over and he walked Francisco Cervelli, gave up a single to Randy Winn, plunked Derek Jeter and then gave up back-to-back singles to Marcus Thames and Mark Teixeira. By the time the inning ended with all the damage done, the Red Sox found themselves trailing 9-1.

It’s been a trying season for Beckett to say the least. He started with rough outing against the Yanks on opening day and then signed a contract extension the next day. Since then, he’s had a few great outings, a few poor outings and one that was downright terrible.

There doesn’t seem to be anything physically ailing Beckett so you have to wonder what the problem is. He really seemed to be just cruising along and then made the mistake. But like any good pitcher, he made the adjustment and came back to get three outs. But there’s really no explanation as to what happened in the 6th. Did he just flat run out of gas? Or was it a mental thing? Judging from these comments from Beckett, it seems to be a mental thing.

“I just had no idea where the ball was going,’’ Beckett said. “Hit Cano with a cutter, and then Jeter with the bases loaded with a sinker in. Trying to throw the ball too hard. Just trying to throw better pitches instead of worry about location, worrying about velocity.

“Just when you try to overthrow like that, your delivery gets all messed up. You’re not worried about execution. That’s what you should be worried about.’’

Beckett had just come off a good outing in Toronto and now back to this. The Red Sox will need him to bounce back as the gap between the Rays and Yankees grows larger. And oddly enough, despite all those rough outings, last night’s loss was just his first this season.

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

Things We Learned: Beckett mystifies Red Sox [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Beckett gets battered by Yankees in opener [Boston Globe]

Two of a kind at second base [Boston Globe]

Usual drill, or reason to be sore? [Boston Globe]

Cameron inches a little closer [Boston Globe]

Erratic ace going kerplunk [Boston Globe]

Josh Beckett falters [Boston Herald]

NY knows the drill [Boston Herald]

Dustin Pedroia-Robinson Cano on par with previous pairings [Boston Herald]

Josh Beckett falls fast [Boston Herald]

Ump: No warning needed [Boston Herald]

Yanks take opener in rout, 10-3 [CSN New England]

Closing Time: Yankees 10, Red Sox 3 [Full Count]

For Beckett, a flop like no other [Full Count]

Sabathia on Martinez: ‘I definitely believe in him’ [Full Count]

Pedroia and Cano are second to none [Full Count]

Yankees Defeat Red Sox, 10-3 [Hartford Courant]

Only Need to Look at One Thing [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]

Kelli Pedroia and Heidi Watney Discuss Red Sox Wives’ Team for Run to Home Base [NESN.com]

Messy Sixth Inning Unravels Otherwise Solid Start for Inconsistent Josh Beckett [NESN.com]

Wakefield provides a boost, and hope, out of the pen [Projo Sox Blog]

Beckett unravels and Sox stumble [Providence Journal]

Better defense means more wins for Sox [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Injuries have Sox and Yanks looking long-term [Providence Journal]

Francona opts to rest Martinez after big night [RedSox.com]

Cameron close to rehab assignment in Minors [RedSox.com]

Beckett’s pinpoint control vanishes [RedSox.com]

Varitek exits with bruised left forearm [RedSox.com]

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

And to take a look at what the enemy papers are saying, head over to the ESPN New York, NY Post,  NY Daily News, NY Times and Journal News websites. You can also check out what our Bloguin brother NYY Stadium Insider has to say.

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UConn Football links

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

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Age is Just a Number [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Who’s Next? [David Borges – New Haven Register]

How the Players Feel [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Calhoun, Hathaway on APR (with Video) [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Can we talk basketball? Yes, finally [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

Shifting focus to basketball [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Calhoun To Return Money If UConn APR Falls Short [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Jim Calhoun At UConn For The Long Haul [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Hathaway And Calhoun On APR Provision In Calhoun’s Contract [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Jamaal Trice Leaving UConn [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

The Calometer: Searching for the next forced transfer in UConn’s long lineage [The UConn Blog]

With new contract Calhoun looks forward [CT Post]

Calhoun relieved as next chapter begins [CT Post]

Calhoun At UConn For The Long Haul [Hartford Courant]

130 million dimes later, Calhoun’s UConn deal is done [New Haven Register]

Better late than never: Hamden sports legend Burrell earns UConn diploma [New Haven Register]

Calhoun, UConn agree to five-year contract; read contract [Norwich Bulletin]

A relieved Calhoun looks ahead [The Day]

UConn’s Calhoun signs new 5-year contract [The Republican-American]

Other UConn related links

UConn’s Big 3 contracts (print and save) [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

Offseason key to UConn baseball streak [The Republican-American]

New York Yankees @ Red Sox 7:10 p.m Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Phil Hughes vs Josh Beckett TV: NESN, YES, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 5/7 [SOX & Dawgs]

After a four-game sweep of the Angels, the Boston Red Sox will entertain the New York Yankees for a second time this season in a three-game weekend set at Fenway Park.

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

Josh Beckett looks to string another quality start together for Terry Francona tonight. In six starts this season, Beckett is 1-0 with a 6.31 ERA. He faced the Yankees on Opening Day and received a no-decision after allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings. He’s made 18 career starts, all in a Red Sox uniform, against the Yankees and is 9-5 with a 5.51 ERA.

Phil Hughes will make his fifth start of the season for the Yankees. In his previous four starts, he is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Red Sox in 2010. He made seven appearances (one start) in 2009 against the Red Sox and was 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA. He’s made eight appearances (two starts) against the Red Sox in his career and is 0-2 with a 7.62 ERA. In three career appearances (one start) at Fenway Park, he is 0-1 with a 10.29 ERA.

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

Here’s the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers in their careers:

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

Pedroia or Cano? You choose [Clubhouse Insider]

Neyer names each Red Sox ‘era’ [ESPN Boston]

BBTN previews Sox-Yankees series [ESPN Boston]

Soxprospects.com: Top performers from April [ESPN Boston]

Juuuuuuust a bit outside [Extra Bases]

Youkilis has been triple trouble [Extra Bases]

Lackey on The Big Show: Criticism of Ortiz ‘eye-opening’ [Full Count]

The Red Sox are Good for What Ails You — Even Cancer [NESN.com]

A must-win series vs. Yankees [Projo Sox Blog]

Victor’s left-right splits making decisions easier [Projo Sox Blog]

Hermida has captured some two-out magic [Projo Sox Blog]

To new Red Sox, welcome to rivalry [RedSox.com]

Yanks-Sox rivalry has company [RedSox.com]

New book details Schilling family’s struggles [RedSox.com]

The Boston Red Sox came into the four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim having been swept by the Baltimore Orioles. The Angels came into it after being swept by the Detroit Tigers. And given the way the Red Sox season had gone, you really had no idea how it was going to turn out.

Now how many of you out there thought the Red Sox would take all four games. I’m sure there’s not many but that’s exactly what happened. On Monday night, it was the offense, Tuesday and Wednesday the Sox got great pitching and defense and on Thursday, it was back to offense.

Things weren’t exactly looking kosher for the Red Sox on Thursday though.

Before they even got to the plate, they were already trailing 4-0 with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound. Dice-K had severe command issues as the Angels didn’t lift the bat off their shoulders for the first 14 pitches of the game. The 15th pitch of the game for Dice-K was stroked for a 2-run single by Torii Hunter. 24 pitches later, it was 4-0 Angels.

The Red Sox showed fight though as they chipped away at the lead. Victor Martinez got them to within two runs with a 2-run homer and then he tied it up in the 5th with a 2-run double. Jeremy Hermida gave the Red Sox the lead with a 2-run single and they never looked back from there.

It’s a little concerning that Dice-K struggled again. But to his credit, he was a totally different pitcher the rest of the way as he settled down and made his pitches. But if he continues to struggle, how much longer will Terry Francona continue to pencil him in every five days. If Dice-K can shake the one bad inning plague, we all know he can pitch.

What’s amazing to me is how dominant he was in the WBC last year. We’ve seen flashes of that Dice-K but never have gotten the full deal. The Red Sox have over $100 million invested him so we know Tito will be patient. Now if they can just get him to pitch like WBC Dice-K, there’d be less stress in Red Sox Nation when he pitches.

The World Champion New York Yankees come to town now for a three-game weekend set at the Fens and another sweep would be nice to close the gap on the 2nd place Yankees and the first place Tampa Bay Rays.

We’ll be back later with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and afternoon links.

For more slices of Boston 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 paper, head over to the LA Times, LA Daily News and Orange County Register websites.

Here’s the press release from the University of Connecticut announcing the 5-year contract extension of UConn head men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun.

STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut and head men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun have agreed to terms on a five-year contract that will run through June 30, 2014. The deal is effective retroactively from July 1, 2009.

Coach Calhoun completed his 24th season as head coach at UConn and his 38th year as a collegiate head coach in 2009-10. His resume includes winning NCAA National Championships in 1999 and 2004 at Connecticut, earning election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2005, and induction in 2006 with the other greats of the game as a member of the Founding Class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Jim Calhoun’s 38-year overall record as a collegiate head coach is 823-358, making him one of only eight Division I coaches in NCAA history to have earned their way into that 800-win club. During his 24 years as head coach at Connecticut, Coach Calhoun has compiled an overall record of 575-221. The Huskies under Calhoun have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 16 times, including three trips to the Final Four, eight Elite Eight appearances and 12 Sweet 16 appearances. He has led the Huskies to a league-record 16 BIG EAST Championships, 10 regular season and six tournament titles.

“I am very happy that this new contract will allow me to finish my coaching career here at UConn,” says Calhoun. “This is a tremendous show of recognition and support from Jeff Hathaway and (President) Michael Hogan. The University continues to allow me and my staff to pursue a national championship with the same backing as other top level programs across the country.”

“We are pleased to announce this new contract for Coach Calhoun,” says UConn Director of Athletics Jeffrey A. Hathaway. “Jim and I both have high expectations for our basketball student-athletes to achieve in the classroom, succeed on the court and be outstanding representatives in the community. Jim is one of the elite coaches in college basketball. He has taken UConn Basketball to the national championship level, and he is a valued representative of the University and the State of Connecticut. Also, Jim is actively involved in several charitable endeavors, including the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at the UConn Health Center, Autism Speaks, Coaches vs. Cancer, the Holiday Food Drive for Connecticut Foodshare, and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.”

Calhoun will receive a base salary of $325,000 for the 2009-10 academic year and that base salary amount will increase $25,000 each year of the agreement. In addition to the base salary, he will receive $1,675,000 in year one of the agreement for institutional speaking engagements and media-related appearances for a total of $2,000,000. These combined figures will total $2,300,000 for 2010-11, $2,700,000 for 2011-12 and $3,000,000 for 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Coach Calhoun is also eligible for additional compensation for services and performance in the post-season. He will receive one month of base salary for participation in the NCAA Tournament, two months of base salary for advancement to the NCAA Final Four or three months of base salary for winning the NCAA Championship. He is also eligible for additional compensation if named Big East and/or National Coach of the Year. These payments will only be made if the NCAA Academic Progress Report (“APR”) standard for the men’s basketball team has been met for both the most recently completed academic year and the last reported four-year rolling average.

Upon Coach Calhoun’s resignation or retirement from the head coaching position at UConn, he will receive either a one-time payment of $1,000,000 or secure employment in a full-time position in the University Division of Athletics for a maximum of five years at an annual salary of $300,000.

University of Connecticut Contract Summary Jim Calhoun, Head Men’s Basketball Coach

CONTRACT PERIOD: The term of the contract is July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2014.

SALARY/SPEAKING AND MEDIA APPEARANCES: The contract calls for an annual base salary, as well as, annual payments for institutional speaking and media appearances. The following is a year-by-year summary of those payments:

NOTE: No General Fund (state tax dollars) or tuition monies were used to provide any of the resources for this contract. The Division of Athletics at the University of Connecticut is an Auxiliary Service Fund entity and the sources of revenue include: gate receipts, private fundraising, corporate partnerships, television/radio rights, BIG EAST Conference revenues and NCAA revenues.

AUTOMOBILE ALLOWANCE: The Coach will receive an annual car allowance in the amount of $15,000 to be paid on a bi-weekly basis.

SUMMER CAMPS/CLINICS: The Coach may organize and direct basketball camps or clinics utilizing University dormitories, dining halls, athletics facilities and other campus facilities, at the rates and fees published by the University’s Conference Services Office. Coach Calhoun may also organize and direct basketball camps or clinics located off the University’s campus. All camps and clinics run by the Coach shall be owned and operated by the Coach.

ENDORSEMENT CONTRACTS: Any consulting, endorsement or outside income activity performed by the Coach is allowed within the established guidelines of the University, the NCAA and the Code of Ethics for Public Officials, as interpreted by the Office of State Ethics of the State of Connecticut.

TICKETS: The University will provide the Coach with twenty-five (25) tickets for discretionary use and purchase privileges for twenty-five (25) additional tickets for all home, away, conference tournament and post-season men’s basketball events while serving as Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The University will provide the Coach with twenty (20) tickets in a suite and five (5) parking passes for personal use for all home football games at Rentschler Field while serving as Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The Coach will be responsible for all costs associated with food and beverage service in the suite and no such costs shall be regarded as subject to reimbursement. Also, the Coach will be entitled to receive four (4) tickets for women’s basketball home games and two (2) tickets for home games to any sport other than men’s basketball, football or women’s basketball.

COMPENSATION FOR SERVICES AND PERFORMANCE: The Coach will receive one non-cumulative payment equivalent to one month of base salary for participation in the NCAA Tournament, two months of base salary for advancement to the NCAA Final Four, or three months of base salary for winning the NCAA Championship. He will receive one-half of one month of base salary for selection as National Coach of the Year or one-quarter of one month of base salary for selection as BIG EAST Coach of the Year. Any such payments are contingent upon the NCAA Academic Progress Report (“APR”) standard (or any future substitute of this standard) for the men’s basketball team being met (currently a score of 925) for both the most recently completed academic year and the last reported four-year rolling average (e.g., for the 2009-10 basketball season, the APR data for the 2008-09 academic year would be utilized). In the event that the men’s basketball program should ever incur the loss of a scholarship due to NCAA penalties associated with the NCAA APR, the Coach will donate $100,000 to the University of Connecticut Foundation General Scholarship Fund.

BUYOUT: If the Coach accepts a position as a Head Coach of men’s basketball at an NCAA Division I institution, or as a Head Coach in the National Basketball Association, the sum of $500,000 shall be due to the University from the Coach. After completion of the third year of this Agreement, the University will forego the receipt of this sum, provided the Coach is not engaged in a head coaching position in either the NCAA Division I, or the National Basketball Association for one basketball season following the date his duties cease at the University of Connecticut.

OTHER: Upon the Coach’s resignation or retirement in good standing from the head coaching position at UConn (any time after the 2010-11 season), he will receive either a one-time payment of $1,000,000 or secure employment in a full-time position in the University Division of Athletics for a maximum of five years (10-month annual term) at an annual salary of $300,000 and duties determined by the Director of Athletics.

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UConn Football links

Donald Brown Makes Good On Promise To Parents Sunday [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Say Hello To Carolina Panther’s No.36: Robert “Reggie” McClain [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Spring eye-openers in the Big East [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn heads to D.C. on May 17 [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Hail To The Chief – Part II [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Hartford Will Not Be On UConn’s Schedule This Season [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Sue Bird Again….Without Lipstick, This Time [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Huskies White House-bound May 17 [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Women’s Basketball To Be Honored At White House [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

New Contract For UConn’s Calhoun To Be Announced Friday [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Signing day here for UConn’s Calhoun [New Haven Register]

4-year extension for Calhoun finalized [The Republican-American]

Other UConn related links

Softball: Huskies Wrap Up Regular Season Against Louisville [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Pavone Named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team [UConnHuskies.com]