Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings are after the jump.
Hold The Mayo For A Possible 6-8 Weeks
New England Patriots second year linebacker Jerod Mayo could miss 6-8 weeks after suffering a grade 3 sprain of MCL in his right knee in Monday night’s win over the Buffalo Bills according to Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe.
From Gasper:
According to two sources with direct knowledge of Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo’s injury, Mayo sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills.
One source said that Mayo was expected to be out 6 to 8 weeks with the Grade 3 MCL sprain, but the other source said that the timetable is “not that bad” and Mayo is expected to be back quicker than that.
We all know Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is very cryptic with what he says and all he had to offer on Tuesday was that it was not a season-ending injury.
Season-ending injury or not, Mayo will be missed on the defensive side of the ball.
Could we see the Patriots ask their recently retired linebacker and now ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi back to help out? Or could they see what Junior Seau is doing?
My guess is that Belichick stays in house and hopes that someone steps up in his place.
Mayo has sprained MCL [Extra Points]
Dice-K Stellar In 4-1 Red Sox Win
Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn’t really had the best of seasons this year with the Boston Red Sox.
Dice-K had dominated in the WBC for the second time but was far from that pitcher with the Red Sox and definitely not the same one who won 18 games the previous season. He went on the DL in April only to return there again in mid-June.
On Tuesday night, Red Sox fans were treated to the Dice-K that was talked about when he signed with the Red Sox. He went six scoreless innings to help them to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in front of 37,942 at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox improve to 85-58 and are now 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees who lost to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Texas Rangers also lost on Tuesday night to the Oakland A’s and are now 5.5 games behind the Red Sox in the wild card standings. The Red Sox magic number is now at 14 games for a playoff spot.
This was a different Matsuzaka then we’ve seen before. He relied more on his fastball than he ever has before in a Red Sox uniform. His offspeed stuff was outstanding for the most part as well. The difference was he didn’t nibble at the corners. He just threw strikes.
That’s not to say he didn’t find himself in trouble in spots. But unlike earlier in the season, he was able to work out of any jam he created. He gave up just three hits and walked three while recording five strikeouts on 96 pitches. He left to a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful.
Ramon Ramirez struck out one in an inning while Billy Wagner allowed a hit and had a strikeout in 2/3 of an inning. Daniel Bard retired the only batter he faced. In a non-save situation, Jonathan Papelbon allowed a run on two hits and also had a strikeout.
John Lackey was equal to the task for the Angels. But for him, his undoing was his throwing error on a Dustin Pedroia fielder’s choice that allowed Alex Gonzalez to score from second and moved Jacoby Ellsbury over to third. David Ortiz would bring in Ellsbury and that’s all the Red Sox bullpen needed.
Big Papi added a solo home run, a long bomb to center, in the 8th to add an insurance run after J.D. Drew brought in Jason Bay with a single. Both Ellsbury and Ortiz finished the night with two hits. Ortiz drove in two of the four runs on the night for the Red Sox.
Paul Byrd will look to help the Red Sox to their seventh straight win on Wednesday night. He’ll be opposed by lefty Joe Saunders.
Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 9/15
After a day off on Monday, the Boston Red Sox finish up their homestand with a 3-game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a possible ALDS preview.
The game tonight is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. and the game will be televised on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Angels television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports West. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.
Daisuke Matsuzaka returns to the mound for his first start since June 19th. He’s made just eight starts this season and is 1-5 with a 8.23 ERA. He’s faced the Angels once in his career and that came at Fenway Park where he took the loss. He allowed five runs in six innings of work. He has lost his last five starts at Fenway.
John Lackey has made 23 starts for the Angels this season and is 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Red Sox this season and has made thirteen career starts against the Red Sox. In those starts he is 3-6 with a 5.54 ERA. Two of those wins came in 2008. He’s made eight career starts at Fenway Park and is 2-4 with a 6.34 ERA.
With Angels looming, Sox closing in [Extra Bases]
Youkilis, Martinez unavailable [Extra Bases]
Wakefield and the weekend [Extra Bases]
Another challenge for Mellor [Extra Bases]
Wakefield: ‘I’ve gone this far, I’m not going to pull the plug now’ [Full Count]
OF prospect Daeges to have ankle surgery Friday [Projo Sox Blog]
Rotation set for weekend; Woodward sent down to clear room for Matsuzaka [Projo Sox Blog]
Wakefield in search of answers [Projo Sox Blog]
Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:
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| 1. Chone Figgins | 3B | 1. Jacoby Ellsbury | CF |
| 2. Macier Izturis | 2B | 2. Dustin Pedroia | 2B |
| 3. Bobby Abreu | RF | 3. J.D. Drew | RF |
| 4. Vladimir Guerrero | DH | 4. Jason Bay | LF |
| 5. Torii Hunter | CF | 5. David Ortiz | DH |
| 6. Kendry Morales | 1B | 6. Mike Lowell | 3B |
| 7. Juan Rivera | LF | 7. Casey Kotchman | 1B |
| 8. Erick Aybar | SS | 8. Jason Varitek | C |
| 9. Jeff Mathis | SS | 9. Alex Gonzalez | SS |
| John Lackey | SP | Daisuke Matsuzaka | SP |
86-57
84-58And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers:
In The Red Zone – 9/15
Guess Who’s Back … Back Again? Brady’s back. Tell a Friend.
(with regards to Eminem)
With his New England Patriots trailing by eleven points with around five minutes to go, Tom Brady began to work his magic. He took the Pats down the field on an 11 play, 81 yard drive that culminated with Brady hitting tight end Benjamin Watson in the end zone for the touchdown.
After the Patriots went for two and were denied, Bill Belichick decided not to go for an onsides kick and had Stephen Gostowski kick the ball deep. Buffalo Bills return man Leodis McKelvin decided to return it from about a yard in his end zone. That turned out to be the fatal blow for the Bills as he fumbled the ball when Pierre Woods forced it loose. Gostowski recovered it and gave the Patriots the ball back at Buffalo’s 31 with 1:56 remaining.
It took Brady all of two plays to get the Patriots back in the end zone as he hit Watson again, this time for a 24 yard strike to put the Patriots out front 25-24. They again went for two and were once again denied.
Now it was up to the defense, playing without Jerod Mayo who went down with a knee injury, to stop the Bills and preserve the win.
Bills QB Trent Edwards hit Terrelll Owens for a 19 yard gain to give them the ball at their own 40. But the Patriots defense held strong after that as Derrick Burgess and Tunta Banta-Cain had sacks. A last ditch effort on 4th went for naught and the Patriots escaped with a victory.
When you have Brady at quarterback, you know good things will happen. He didn’t play his best last night by any means but he stepped it up at the right time. You could see the difference in the Patriots from this year to last year and the reason for that is Brady being back in the huddle.
He exudes confidence with his boyish smile and knows what it takes to win the big game or any big game for that matter.
The severity of his Mayo’s knee injury is still unknown at this time and knowing Belichick like we do, we’ll probably never know. But if Mayo is gone for any amount of time, the Patriots defense will need to step it up. He is the leader of the defense from the linebacker spot in just his second year in the NFL. His instincts can’t be replaced but you hope they can be duplicated.
Boston Red Sox News & Notes – 9/15
The Boston Red Sox enjoyed a day off on Monday as they prepare to finish this homestand up with a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. If things finish up the way they are in the standings, this would be a preview of the American League Division Series.
While enjoying their day off, the Red Sox picked up a 1/2 game on the Texas Rangers who were shutout last night by the Oakland A’s. Their lead is now 4.5 games over the Rangers. The New York Yankees beat the Angels last night to pick up a 1/2 game on the Red Sox and now lead them by 7.5 games.
To me it’s all about the wild card right now. If winning the AL East happens, great. If not, let’s make sure we’ve got the wild card sewn up.
It could be a very interesting night on the mound for the Red Sox. Daisuke Matsuzaka returns to the rotation after spending 87 days in exile, aka the disabled list. From what we’ve heard, Matsuzaka is apparently in better shape than he was when placed on the disabled.
As always with Dice-K, we don’t know what we’re going to get. A return to Houdini Dice-K of 2008 would work just fine for me.
Boston’s Lester deserves to start Game 1 of ALDS [FOXSports.com]
Beckett and Lester a formidable duo [Yahoo! Sports]
Nothing Will Stop David Ortiz From Leading With His Heart [John Henry – NESN.com]
Few bumps in playoff road [Boston Globe]
Sox starters have unfinished business [Boston Globe]
As a leader, no one better than Wakefield [RedSox.com]
Dice-K’s back, but which version? [RedSox.com]
Playoff test drive for Angels in Boston [Boston Herald]
Jonathan Papelbon delivers on vow [Boston Herald]
’09 starts anew for Sox righty Daisuke Matsuzaka [Boston Herald]
Love Him Or Hate Him, Youkilis Belongs In A.L. Elite [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Red Sox Taking Aim at Prince Fielder This Offseason? [NESN.com]
Tuesday Quickie: Sox Have Pitched Well In Doubleheaders [Nuggetpalooza]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the LA Times, Orange County Register and LA Daily News websites.
Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 9/15
UConn Football links
Mike Box Too Young To Be Serious Option? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Big East power rankings, Week 3 [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]
Fun with early-season stats [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]
Respect on the line for Big East this week [Connecticut Post]
Offense The Theme Of Weekly UConn Football Chat [Hartford Courant]
UConn Women’s Basketball links
Bird, Taurasi top the charts [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]
Other UConn related links
W. Soccer. Giddings Named To TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week [UConnHuskies.com]
W. Soccer. Dulski Named BIG EAST Goalkeeper Of The Week [UConnHuskies.com]
W. Volleyball. Connecticut Volleyball’s Kirk Named to BIG EAST Honor Roll [UConnHuskies.com]
W. Lacrosse. Lacrosse Hosts BU in Fall Action at Sherman [UConnHuskies.com]
Field Hockey. Loren Sherer Wins BIG EAST Offensive Honor for Third Straight Week [UConnHuskies.com]
Destination Red Sox Nation – 9/15
Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings are after the jump.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox Pitching Matchups: 9/15-9/17
Tuesday, September 15th @ 7:10 PM
John Lackey, RHP (10-7, 3.53) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (1-5, 8.23)
TV: NESN , MLB.tv
Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio
Wednesday, September 16th @ 7:10 PM
Joe Saunders, LHP (13-7, 4.81) vs Paul Byrd, RHP (1-1, 6.08)
TV: NESN, ESPN, MLB.tv
Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio
Thursday, September 17th @ 7:10 PM
Ervin Santana, RHP (7-8, 5.52) vs Josh Beckett, RHP (15-6, 3.82)
TV: NESN, MLB.tv
Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio
TFB Leads Patriots To 25-24 Comeback Win
The New England Patriots won with two touchdowns in the last 2:06 and got a huge special teams play for a 25-24 win over the Buffalo Bills. That’s why they’re the Patriots.
Any questions?