The Boston Red Sox went into Monday’s game with the Minnesota Twins hoping to ruin the party on the opening of Target Field. Instead, they ran into an old farmhand in Carl Pavano who shut them down.

Pavano allowed one run on four hits in six innings to help the Twins to a 5-2 win over the Red Sox in front of 38,145 and a nationally televised audience at their new ballpark.

After winning their last two games to get back to .500, the Red Sox fall to 3-4 while the Twins improve to 6-2 on the young season.

Jon Lester’s early season struggles continued. In his previous career March/April starts, Lester was 2-4 with a 4.94 ERA.

He struggled with his command as he threw 58 pitches in the first two innings and ended up throwing 107, 58 for strikes, in five innings of work. Lester allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Scott Atchison allowed the first Target Field home run to Jason Kubel and gave up one other hit with a walk and a strikeout in two innings of work. The other Scott, Schoeneweis, had a hit and a strikeout in one inning of work.

Playing without the injured Jacoby Ellsbury, Terry Francona went with Marco Scutaro at the top of the lineup and he responded with two hits. However, he got caught stealing in the 1st inning just before Dustin Pedroia’s double. Pedroia did knock in a run with a sac fly in the 8th.

Despite hitting a double that probably should have been caught and knocking in a run, David Ortiz continues to struggle at the plate as he struck out twice. Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre and Jeremy Hermida all added hits as well in the losing cause.

After a walk and a hit to Denard Span and Orlando Hudson to start the home half of the first, Lester got Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. But Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel each had singles to put the Twins out front 2-0. They added a run in the 2nd when Mauer’s double brought in Nick Punto.

Back-to-back doubles in the 4th by Youk and Big Papi made it 3-1 but Mauer’s RBI infield single in the bottom half made it 4-1.

Another tough outing for Lester to start the season and it didn’t help that Pavano pretty much silenced the bats.

The Red Sox and Twins enjoy a day off on Tuesday but get back to it on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. John Lackey gets the ball for the Red Sox and he’ll be opposed by Kevin Slowey.

Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins 4.12.10 box score

Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins 4:10 p.m Target Field – Minneapolis, MN SP: Jon Lester vs Carl Pavano TV: NESN, ESPN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 4/12 [SOX & Dawgs]

After taking two-of-three from the Kansas City Royals, the Boston Red Sox head to Minneapolis to christen Target Field against he Minnesota Twins in a four-day, three-game set.

This afternoon’s game will start at 4:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. The game can be seen in the Twins television market on FOX Sports North. And if you don’t live in either market, today’s game will be broadcast on ESPN. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Jon Lester makes his second start of the 2009 season for the Red Sox. He received a no decision against the Yankees after allowing four runs in five innings of work. Lester was 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA (5 ER/6 IP) in 2009 against the Twins. He’s appeared in four games (three starts) against them in his career and is 0-1 with a 5.66 ERA and he made two career starts at the Metrodome where he was 0-1 with a  6.35 ERA).

Former Red Sox farmhand Carl Pavano will have the honor of throwing out the first real pitch in Target Field history for the Twins this afternoon. He made one start against the Red Sox in 2009 where he picked up the win after allowing two earned runs in six innings. He’s made six career starts against the Red Sox and owns a 2-3 record with a 7.07 ERA.

Lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, and links after the jump.

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

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

Remembering the Metrodome [Clubhouse Insider]

On Target [Clubhouse Insider]

Ortiz denies report of injury, says he’s working to escape slump [Clubhouse Insider]

Ellsbury OK but still not able to play [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox Early Notes: Ellsbury Better, But Not Quite Ready [CSN New England]

Ellsbury out against Twins [ESPN Boston]

Welcome to Target Field [Extra Bases]

News and notes from Target Field [Extra Bases]

Selig has little to say about West comments [Extra Bases]

Kelly makes 2010 debut for SeaDogs [Extra Bases]

Target Field a Beautiful New Ballpark for Players and Fans Alike [NESN.com]

Twins No Longer Have Dome-Field Advantage [NESN.com]

Trying to Ignore Critics, David Ortiz Denies Wrist Injury [NESN.com]

Red Sox excited to check out Target Field [RedSox.com]

Red Sox, Twins on Target for stadium opener [RedSox.com]

The Boston Red Sox held on for an 8-6 victory on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals but did lose Jacoby Ellsbury for a couple of a days after he collided with Adrian Beltre on a foul ball.

Both players ran a long way into no-man’s land in foul territory behind the third base bag and ended up colliding. Luckily for Ellsbury, the x-rays didn’t show any broken ribs and he’s listed as day-to-day. He most likely won’t play in today’s game against the Minnesota Twins.

Dustin Pedroia swung a hot stick on Sunday as he had four hits including his team leading third home run of the season.. Beltre continues to impress at the plate as does Jeremy Hermida.

Beltre had three hits and three RBIs while Hermida knocked in two runs. And with David Ortiz striking out four times on Sunday afternoon, you have to wonder if Francona may go to Hermida at DH while Big Papi works out the kinks.

The Red Sox got a decent effort out of Clay Buchholz who allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks with a strikeout in five innings.

With the exception of Ramon Ramirez, the Red Sox bullpen was solid.

Manny Delcarmen walked one in two innings of work, while Ramirez faced three batters and gave up three hits and three runs. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were perfect in their inning of work with Bard adding a strikeout.

Obviously the concern right now is the health of Ellsbury but also the bat of Ortiz.

Considering Terry Francona let Big Papi slide for a while last year and left him in the lineup, you have to wonder if he’ll do the same thing this year.

He’s got Hermida on the bench who’s hitting the ball well right now and he’s also got Mike Lowell which would give him a lefty/right DH combo. My best guess is that he gives Big Papi a few more games before making a change as he can’t afford to keep him in the lineup he continues to struggle.

The Red Sox are in Minnesota for three games in four days and they will open up Target Field this afternoon at 4:10 p.m.

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

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

Pedroia, Red Sox offense swing into action [Boston Globe]

Four Ortiz strikeouts could fan the flames [Boston Globe]

Ellsbury avoids broken rib [Boston Globe]

’Pen right play for Clay Buchholz [Boston Herald]

David Ortiz’ bat still on strike [Boston Herald]

For Clay Buchholz, effort a decent start [Boston Herald]

Sox on level ground [Boston Herald]

Jacoby Ellsbury gets Belt-ed [Boston Herald]

Sign, sign, everywhere … [Boston Herald]

Red Sox Notes: Pedroia Flexes Muscles Early [CSN New England]

Sounds like a busy ‘retirement’ [ESPN Boston]

Notes: A battle for Buchholz [ESPN Boston]

MLB Power Rankings, 4/11 [Full Count]

Sox Thoughts Through Six [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]

How Long Can Terry Francona Keep David Ortiz at Designated Hitter? [NESN.com]

Red Sox’ Offense Silences Pitching and Defense Mantra in Week 1 [NESN.com]

Sox hitters tee off on Meche [Providence Journal]

For starters, Buchholz is umimpressive [Providence Journal]

Red Sox journal: Ellsbury avoids serious injury in collision [Proivdence Journal]

Hall gets first game action with Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Drew rests with stiff neck on Sunday [RedSox.com]

Ellsbury avoids major injury in collision [RedSox.com]

Five Things We Learned: How important is David Ortiz? [Rob Bradford – WEEI.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 if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Kansas City Star and the Topeka Capital-Journal websites.

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

UConn Football links

Lutrus: A Leader Speaks To A Big Key For Success [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Thoughts from UConn practice [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

Meet The Spring Game Honorary Coaches: Dan Orlovsky [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno’s double life [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Cash gets blast from the past at U.S. team training camp [New Haven Register]

UConn’s dominance will improve women’s game [Temple Daily Telegram]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Good or bad, the Brandon Knight watch ends Wednesday [The UConn Blog]

Other UConn related links

Softball: Huskies Fall In Weekend Finale 3-0 [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Huskies Sweep Villanova with 8-2 Victory on Sunday [UConnHuskies.com]

Boston Red Sox @ Kansas City Royals 2:10 p.m Kauffman Stadium – Kansas City, MO SP: Clay Buchholz vs. Gil Meche TV: NESN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

With Texy over at Center Field not doing open threads for Boston Red Sox games anymore, I wanted to give her readers a new home to talk during the games.

Please spread the word. I can honestly say it’s just not the same without Texy hosting but I’ll do my best here. I frequently visited those gameday chats and had a blast and I’m hoping that we can continue that over here at SOX & Dawgs.

So for her readers who haven’t been here before, welcome and to those who have, welcome back. I hope you enjoy my new home over here at Bloguin as much as I do.

Note: I will not be around this afternoon but feel free to use the thread like always.

The Boston Red Sox took the second game of their series against the Kansas City Royals last night and look to take their first series of the season this afternoon behind Clay Buchholz.

Tonight’s game will start at 2:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. The game can be seen in the Royals television market on FOX Sports Kansas City. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Buchholz will make his 2010 season debut after finishing up on the 2009 season on a positive note. He faced the Royals once in 2009, taking the win after throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings. Both of his career starts against the Royals have come at Kauffman Stadium and he sports a 1-1 record with a 2.84 ERA.

Gil Meche will also be making his 2010 season debut for the Royals. Meche faced the Red Sox once in 2009 and was battered around as he allowed eight runs (six earned) to take the loss. He’s made ten careers starts against the Red Sox and is 5-3 with a 4.26 ERA.

Lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, and links after the jump.

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

Happy 38th Birthday to Jason Varitek!!!

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

Starters look to put tough spring in past [RedSox.com]

With his bullpen being beat up in the first four games, Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona needed his ace, Josh Beckett, to step up and eat some innings while keeping them in the game.

Francona got that and more as Beckett was able to go seven innings and may have gone further had he not been roughed up a little bit in the 7th. Beckett was a much different pitcher than he was on Opening Night as he had good command of all of his pitches including his curve. It was definitely a relief to see Beckett back in control.

It does make you wonder if Beckett pitched better with Jason Varitek behind the plate.

In four games with VMart as his catcher, Beckett has allowed 18 earned runs in 21 innings. Varitek has caught Beckett 105 times and has a 3.77 ERA (288 ER in 686.2 innings).

Obviously Beckett is more comfortable with Tek back there but he’ll probably tell you it doesn’t matter who catches him. Obviously Tek won’t be around after this year so Beckett will have to get a better rapport with VMart (assuming the Red Sox sign him to a contract extension).

Even the bullpen chipped in as Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez both were perfect in their innings of work.

The big story of the night though was the play of the Red Sox bench.

Tek, Jeremy Hermida and Mike Lowell all got a chance to play leaving Bill Hall as the only member of the bench to not see any action.

Both Hermida and Tek had home runs, with Tek hitting two of them. Lowell also added a single and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat as he made a few nice defensive plays including a great diving stop.

Given what happened with them on Saturday night, it will be interesting to see how Tito works them into the lineup going forward, especially if David Ortiz continues to struggle.

We’ll be back in a bit with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and late links but for now continue reading for the morning Red Sox links.

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

Nick didn’t knock Beckett off stride [Boston Globe]

Lowell talking retirement after this season [Boston Globe]

Red Sox use their backup plan to perfection [Boston Globe]

Don’t count on covering any bases with Gonzalez [Boston Globe]

Josh Beckett’s effort has deep impact [Boston Herald]

There may be a catch to Josh Beckett’s success [Boston Herald]

Start of end for Mike Lowell? [Boston Herald]

KC started it all for David Ortiz [Boston Herald]

Sox use backup plan [Boston Herald]

Tek support an X-factor [Boston Herald]

Dice-K gets win but not satisfied [Boston Herald]

Right On Target [Boston Herald]

Down market [Boston Herald]

The other guys come through [Clubhouse Insider]

Beckett Better Second Time Around — and Sox Notes [CSN New England]

Bench Pressing: Sox 8, Royals 3 [ESPN Boston]

Five things we learned on ‘Daisuke Day’ in Pawtucket [Full Count]

Closing time: Red Sox were battery-charged in win [Full Count]

Mike Lowell Doing Best to Keep Open Mind in Reserve Role [NESN.com]

Red Sox Bullpen Struggles Should Not Be Cause for Concern [NESN.com]

Jeremy Hermida Cranks Home Run, Bench Pitches in for Victory [NESN.com]

Should the Red Sox Consider Moving Daisuke Matsuzaka to the Bullpen? [NESN.com]

Bench Players Help Red Sox Snap Three-Game Losing Skid [NESN.com]

Varitek and Beckett make sweet music together [Projo Sox Blog]

Reserves lead way past K.C. [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Kapstein paved the way for cousin [Providence Journal]

Matsuzaka looks sharp in his rehab outing for PawSox [Providence Journal]

Bard’s misfortune is the nature of the game [Providence Journal]

In 1884, only real men dared play the game [Providence Journal]

Varitek bashes two homers in season debut [RedSox.com]

Bard an early workhorse for Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Francona empties out bench against Greinke [RedSox.com]

Lowell contemplating retirement after season [RedSox.com]

Five Things We Learned: The Red Sox Can Hit Good Pitching [Rob Bradford – WEEI.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 if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Kansas City Star and the Topeka Capital-Journal websites.