Just two days after winning the National Championship with the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team, Tina Charles and Kalana Greene are making plans for the next step in their basketball careers.

As expected when they traded for the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, the Connecticut Sun took Charles with the pick. Greene was drafted with the first pick in 2nd round (13th overall) by the New York Liberty.

Charles finished up her career as the leading scorer and rebounder in UConn history with two national titles and a few player of the year awards.

After blowing out her knee during the 2007-08 season, Greene decided to return to UConn for a fifth year after taking advantage of a medical redshirt. It paid dividends for her as she improved her stock and was able to be drafted.

Many thought she was going to get drafted in the first round but I’d have to think she’s not too disappointed.

Congratulations to them both and best of luck in the WNBA.

The Boston Red Sox finished up their three game set with the New York Yankees on Wednesday night losing the final two games. They lost 3-1 last night when Curtis Granderson’s solo home run in the 10th put the Yanks up for good.

John Lackey made his Red Sox debut last night and came as advertised. He worked quickly and threw the ball for strikes. And like the Yankees tend to do, they got his pitch count up to 100 after six innings, ending his night.

Lackey departed after scattering three hits over six innings with two walks and three strikeouts. He didn’t allow a run.

Scott Schoeneweis allowed a run on a hit with two strikeouts in 2/3 of an inning while Daniel Bard had a hit and a strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. Papelbon allowed two runs on a hit and two walks while Scott Atchison walked one in 2/3 of an inning.

The Red Sox managed just seven hits off of three Yankees pitchers with Kevin Youkilis and Marco Scutaro the only ones without one.

David Ortiz finally got his first hit of the season which drove in the only Red Sox run of the night. His hit prompted Twitter to blow up last night with some sarcasm from the beat reporters who cover the team all the way to the casual fan, myself included.

The Red Sox are off today and head out to Kansas City and Minneapolis for a pair of three-game sets with the Royals and Twins.

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Yanked away [Boston Globe]

Lackey puts a nice spin on new rotation [Boston Globe]

Now the closer is left open to questions [Boston Globe]

Bat still quiet, complaints loud [Boston Globe]

Doing it in grand style [Boston Globe]

Ace mixed on deal [Boston Globe]

David Ortiz answers questions [Boston Herald]

Terry Francona stands by David Ortiz [Boston Herald]

Solid start by John Lackey [Boston Herald]

Manny Delcarmen regaining old form [Boston Herald]

Curtis Granderson can’t join ’em, so he beat ’em [Boston Herald]

Curtis Granderson’s home run gives Yanks win [Boston Herald]

Red Sox tops in baseball with cost of attendance [Boston Herald]

A Take of Two Pitchers [CSN New England]

Lackey’s Red Sox debut almost didn’t happen [ESPN Boston]

Would a new catcher solve some issues? [Extra Bases]

Sox Thoughts [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]

Aerosmith, J. Geils Band to Play Fenway Park on Aug. 14 [NESN.com]

Bitter End to John Lackey’s Solid First Start With Red Sox [NESN.com]

Lackey’s effort goes to waste [Providence Journal]

Despite loss, Lackey proves his worth [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Delcarmen aims to return to form [Providence Journal]

Three players named to Sox’s Hall of Fame [RedSox.com]

Delcarmen’s mechanics show improvement [RedSox.com]

Bench players to see action on road trip [RedSox.com]

Papelbon shoulders series loss to Yanks [RedSox.com]

Lackey makes strong impression in debut [RedSox.com]

Five Things We Learned: What to make of these Red Sox, Yankees [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

Don’t ask Papelbon for a second inning [The Bottom Line]

Hosting Yankees Was Perfect Way to Fire Up Red Sox Nation [Tom Caron – NESN.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 NY Post, NY Daily News, NY Times and Journal News websites.

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

UConn Football links

UConn Football Player arrested for stealing a PowerBar [SOX & Dawgs]

The Big East’s most indispensable players [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

Huskies’ Reserve Linemen Making Presence Felt [Hartford Courant]

Continue reading for the rest of the links.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Championship game ratings up [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Your Attention Please, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Governor [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Speak With Tina Charles….Not Kidding, Really, Person-to-Person [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn had bark, bite when needed, leading to celebration [CT Post]

Charles basks in her final moments with UConn program [CT Post]

What they’re saying about the UConn women [CT Post]

Greene: UConn not about history, it’s about championships [CT Post]

UConn women’s notebook: With Biden in house, Doty finds range [CT Post]

Finally, The Champs Can Reflect [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women Welcomed At Bradley, Gampel [Hartford Courant]

More to be expected from Moore [New Haven Register]

UConn women: Home is where the heart is [The Day]

A culture of winning [The Day]

When UConn needs more, it turns to Moore [The Republican-American]

UConn seniors go out in 2-year, undefeated style [The Republican-American]

Maya Moore should go pro [ESPN.com]

Talk turns to UConn’s odds of repeating [ESPN.com]

UConn skeptics can shut up now [CNN.com]

Other UConn related links

Softball: Huskies Blank Rams 3-0 [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Baseball’s John Andreoli Among NSCA All-America Honorees [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball: Huskies Win Slugfest with Massachusetts 15-11 [UConnHuskies.com]

Men’s Soccer: Watson-Siriboe Was the First Chicago Fire Rookie to Appear in 2010 [UConnHuskies.com]

According to David Borges of the New Haven Register, UConn Huskies freshman linebacker Mike Osiecki was arrested at the UConn Co-Op for stealing a PowerBar.

According to a police report, Osiecki, 18, selected a piece of merchandise from a food display and departed the store without purchasing it. According to a source, Osiecki swiped a PowerBar.

He was issued a misdemeanor summons for larceny in the sixth degree (shoplifting) and released on $500 bond. Osiecki is scheduled to appear at Rockville Superior Court at a later date.

Depending on which type of PowerBar he stole, the cost ranges anywhere from a $1 to $5.

Not a good start for Osiecki, who just enrolled at UConn in January, as you know the disciplinarian Randy Edsall will punish him.

Here’s the video from the UConn Huskies women’s basketball National Championship pep rally that was held at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday, April 7th.

It’s broken down into two parts.

Part 1

Part 2

New York Yankees @ Red Sox 7:10 p.m Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Andy Pettitte vs. John Lackey TV: NESN, YES, ESPN2 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.

After splitting the first two games, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees get set to do battle in the rubber game tonight 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 and will be shown on the ESPN2 to the rest of the country. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

John Lackey will make his Red Sox debut tonight for Terry Francona. As a member of the Angels, Lackey faced the Yankees once during the 2009 season and was 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA (2 earned runs in 7 innings). He’s made 16 career starts against the Yankees and is 5-7 with a 4.66 ERA.

Andy Pettitte starts for Joe Girardi and the Yankees tonight. Pettitte was 2-1 in four starts with a 3.75 ERA in 2009. Overall in his careers, he made 36 appearances (34 starts) against the Red Sox and is 18-9 with a 3.74 ERA. He made two starts at Fenway Park in 2009 and was 1-1 with a 6.55 ERA. He has made 15 career starts at the Fens where he is 7-3 with a 3.90 ERA in 15 starts.

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

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

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Big Three takes shape: Lackey could give Sox rare edge [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Francona: “It’s crazy” to manage like a reactionary [Clubhouse Insider]

Reddick getting ready for the final step [CSN New England]

Buchholz Gets Ready — and other Red Sox Notes [CSN New England]

Francona Stays with Ortiz [CSN New England]

Francona: No thought of pulling Papi [ESPN Boston]

Francona on Ortiz: Patience is key [ESPN Boston]

Pregame quick hits with Tito [ESPN Boston]

Wait a while before judging Ortiz [Extra Bases]

Terry’s take on Ortiz vs. Lowell [Extra Bases]

Remy on D&C: ‘Too early to make the move’ with Ortiz [Full Count]

Lackey and the making of a Big Three [Full Count]

Youk on Yanks-Sox: It’s just a matter of time [Full Count]

Francona on D&H: ‘Let these guys play’ [Full Count]

Francona: ‘My goodness – it’s the third game of the year’ [Full Count]

Cameron on The Big Show: ‘No interest in the whole rivalry thing’ [Full Count]

Ortiz: ‘It’s like the season will be over tomorrow’ [Full Count]

Daniel Bard Now Even More Dangerous With Development of Secondary Pitches [NESN.com]

David Ortiz Not Happy With Early Comparisons to Last Season’s Start [NESN.com]

How Will David Ortiz Rebound From Latest Round of Questioning? [NESN.com]

Dan Shaughnessy Believes Red Sox Should Play Mike Lowell Against Left-Handers [NESN.com]

Buchholz throws 48-pitch simulated game [Projo Sox Blog]

Lackey doesn’t need motivation vs. Yanks [RedSox.com]

Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry Will Never Die [Rob Lunn – NESN.com]