Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 9/6

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.

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Ten Former UConn Huskies Make 2009 NFL Rosters

UConn Football Logo, NFL Logo

While the UConn Huskies had four former players cut this week in the NFL, they did place ten former players on 2009 NFL rosters.

Here are the nine Huskies in the NFL:

Deon Anderson – Dallas Cowboys
Will Beatty – New York Giants
Tyvon Branch – Oakland Raiders
Donald Brown – Indianapolis Colts
Cody Brown – Arizona Cardinals (on injured reserve, will not play in 2009)
Darius Butler – New England Patriots
Dahna Deleston – Chicago Bears (on injured reserve, will not play in 2009)
Dan Orlovsky – Houston Texans
Donald Thomas – Miami Dolphins
Julius Williams – Jacksonville Jaguars

Former Husky Julius Williams Makes Jaguars

Julius Williams

While former UConn Huskies Alfred Fincher, Tyler Lorenzen, Dahna Deleston, Danny Lansanah and Keith Gray got cut from their teams in the NFL, it was a great Saturday for former Husky defensive end Julius Williams.

After signing as a non-drafted free agent after the 2009 NFL Draft with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Williams learned on Saturday that he made their 53-man roster.

Williams appeared in four preseason games with the Jaguars and recorded four tackles.

Former Huskies Danny Lansanah & Keith Gray Don’t Survive NFL Cutdown Day

Danny Lansanah (L), Keith Gray (R)

It was a rough Saturday for two former UConn Huskies as NFL teams were busy getting their rosters down to the mandatory limit of 53.

Offensive lineman Keith Gray was cut loose by the Carolina Panthers while second-year linebacker Danny Lansanah was let go by the Green Bay Packers.

Lansanah signed with the Packers after the draft in 2008 as a non-drafted free agent. He was released before the season started last year but was quickly signed to the practice squad. He spent the first five weeks of the season on the practice squad before being added to the 53-man roster on October 7, 2008.

He appeared in five games in 2008 and made two tackles on special teams. Lansanah made eighteen tackles in four preseason games this year.

Gray saw action in just two preseason games after signing with the Panthers as a non-drafted free agent after the 2009 NFL Draft.

They join three other former Huskies, Tyler Lorenzen, Alfred Fincher and Dahna Deleston on the unemployment line.

Patriots Announce Finals Cuts In Finalization of 53-Man Roster

New England Patriots 50th Anniversary logo As every team in the NFL was, the New England Patriots were busy putting together their 53-man roster for the 2009 season.

They did so by releasing ten players and placed three players on injured reserve. The following players were released:

DL Titus Adams
T Wesley Britt
DB Herana-Daze Jones
LB Paris Lenon
DB Jamar Love
WR Terrence Nunn
T Ryan O’Callaghan
DL Darryl Richard
TE Alex Smith
S Ray Ventrone

2009 fifth-round draft pick OL George Bussey (knee), LB Shawn Crable (groin) and RB Chris Taylor (shoulder) were all placed on injured reserve.

The Patriots also made two trades on Saturday, both involving tight ends.

They traded TE David Thomas to the New Orleans Saints for an undisclosed draft choice. They replaced him with a trade for TE Michael Matthews from the New York Giants.

There’s still a chance the Patriots could make a few changes to the roster if they find anyone on the waiver wire that they like.

2009 New England Patriots roster

Floyd Almost Perfect In 5-1 Win Over Red Sox

Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle, right talks with starting pitcher Gavin Floyd during the seventh inning of a baseball game and 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Chicago. Floyd threw perfect and retired 17 straight batters before giving up a single to Boston Red Sox's Nick Green in the sixth. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Gavin Floyd was perfect for 5 2/3 innings and Mark Kotsay added another home run against his former club as the Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox 5-1 in front of 33,239 at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Red Sox fall to 78-57 and fall 8.5 games out first place in the AL East behind the New Yankees. They maintain their two game lead over the Texas Rangers and six game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild card standings as both teams lost on Saturday.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tim Wakefield reacts after giving up an RBI single to Chicago White Sox's Chris Getz that scored Paul Konerko during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 in Chicago. The White Sox won 5-1. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Creaky back and all, Tim Wakefield made the start for the Red Sox and pitched okay. He fell behind 3-0 in the first inning and with Floyd dealing all afternoon, it was just too much. Wake allowed four runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Ramon Ramirez had a perfect inning of work, including a strikeout, out of the Red Sox bullpen while Hideki Okajima allowed a run on two hits and a walk with a strikeout in an inning.

Floyd obviously had all of pitches working for him as the Red Sox hitters couldn’t do anything against him. The only run he allowed in eight innings came on Jason Bay’s home run in the 8th. He only allowed three hits while striking out eleven batters.

White Sox closer Bobby Jenks walked one and struck out one in a non-save situation.

Nick Green had the first hit off of Floyd while Victor Martinez had a double. David Ortiz had three strikeouts on the afternoon J.D. Drew and Bay both had two.

It’s a battle of southpaws tomorrow as Jon Lester and John Danks will square off at 2:05 p.m.

Video: Get To Know Kevin Youkilis

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 9/5

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tim Wakefield sits in the dugout during the Red Sox's 7-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. Wakefield will miss his next start because of a bad back. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

The Boston Red Sox got their butts handed to them last night by the Chicago White Sox. This afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, the Red Sox will look to avoid a repeat performance.

This afternoon’s game will start at 4:05 p.m. and is one of three games on FOX. Click here to see if you’re getting the game. If the television isn’t your cup of tea, You can also catch the game on the radio on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

After missing his last start with some back issues again, Tim Wakefield returns to the mound after a cortisone shot on Monday. Wakefield is 11-3 with a 4.12 ERA in 18 starts this season. He’s faced the White Sox his last time out on August 26th and threw seven innings, allowing just a run but got a no-decision. He has 29 appearances (20 starts) against them and is 7-11 with a save and a 4.92 ERA. He’s made 16 appearances (10 starts) at U.S. Cellular Field and is 4-6 with a save and a 4.68 ERA.

Gavin Floyd makes his 28th start of the season and is 10-9 with a 3.97 ERA. He was matched up with Wakefield in his only appearance and also received a no-decision. He’s made four career starts against the Red Sox and is 2-0 with a 4.98 ERA.

Since Wakefield is coming off the cortisone shot and Junichi Tazawa backed up Paul Byrd last night, the Red Sox called up Michael Bowden. He will back up Wake if anything bad happens.

Sox call up Bowden [Extra Bases]

Red Sox Call Up Bowden [Full Count]

Red Sox complete Wagner trade [Clubhouse Insider]

Here are this afternoon’s starting lineups:

78-55		66-69
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Scott Podsednik	DH
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Gordon Beckham	3B
3. Victor Martinez	C	3. A.J. Pierzynski	C
4. Kevin Youkilis	1B	4. Paul Konerko	1B
5. David Ortiz	DH	5. Mark Kotsay	RF
6. Jason Bay	LF	6. Carlos Quentin	LF
7. Mike Lowell	3B	7. Chris Getz	2B
8. J.D. Drew	RF	8. Alexei Ramirez	SS
9. Nick Green	SS	9. Alex Rios	CF
Tim Wakefield	SP	Gavin Floyd	SP

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

Boston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox batter/pitcher matchups

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 9/5

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

UConn Football links

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies football team as they open up the 2009 season in Athens, OH against the Ohio University Bobcats. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the game will only be shown on ESPN360.com

If you missed my game preview be sure to check out. And if you didn’t see my Q & A with three of the UConn football beat writers, don’t forget to take a look.

Football Preview Weekish: Coaching staff [TheUConnBlog.com]

Football Preview Weekish: Special teams [TheUConnBlog.com]

Everybody’s 0-0: UConn vs. Ohio preview [TheUConnBlog.com]

Q & A [Joe Perez – Norwich Bulletin]

UConn football: Huskies kickoff [Connecticut Post]

Moorhead, UConn to unveil no-huddle offense [Connecticut Post]

Offense Should Be More Balanced For Huskies This Year [Hartford Courant]

UConn at Ohio University [Hartford Courant]

Huskies ready to display new offense [Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies ready to take new offense for a test drive in Ohio [New Haven Register]

UConn ready to unveil new offense in opener [Waterbury Republican-American]

Get Ready for Some Huskies Football [NBC Connecticut]