After having their butts handed to them on Friday night by the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox returned the favor Saturday afternoon as they pounded A.J. Burnett early and often on their way to a 14-1 win in front of 37,277 at Fenway Park.

The win for the Red Sox (70-52) pulls them to within 6.5 games of the Yankees (77-46) in the AL East. But more importantly, it allows them to keep their one-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the wild card standings and could be two games pending the outcome of the Rangers  game with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Kevin Youkilis led the way for the Red Sox with three hits, including 2 home runs and a career-high tying 6 RBIs. Dustin Pedroia also added three hits for the Red Sox while David Ortiz had 2 hits, including his 20th home run, and 3 RBIs.

Jason Bay and Victor Martinez both had 2 hits and an RBI and Alex Gonzalez added a solo home run as well. J.D. Drew and Casey Kotchman added the other RBIs for the Red Sox.

Junichi Tazawa pitched a great game and showed the poise of a Major League veteran during his 6 innings. He found himself in trouble at times but showed a ton of moxie as he was able to work out of it each time. He gave up 8 hits and walked two while striking out two in picking up his second big league win.

Daniel Bard allowed a run on two hits in an inning while Enrique Gonzalez allowed two hits and a walk with a strikeout in two innings out of the Red Sox bullpen.

Burnett’s 2009 Fenway struggles continued as he gave up 7 runs in the first two innings. He settled down for a few innings but fell apart in the 5th. He lasted just 5 innings, allowing a career-high 9 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6.

Alfredo Aceves gave up three runs on 3 hits with two strikeouts in two innings. Dave Robertson allowed 2 runs on 3 hits with two strikeouts in his inning of work.

Big win for the Red Sox as they bounced back from yesterday’s poor outing by Brad Penny. It was great to see Tazawa not buckle under the pressure and give in even with the big lead he was given. With Penny out of the  rotation for now, Saturday’s outing by Tazawa should be enough to earn him another start this upcoming week.

Tomorrow night brings a battle of the heavyweights in pitching as C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett will square off on the bump. It’s the ESPN Sunday Night Game of the Week with first pitch scheduled for roughly 8:05 PM.

STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut will serve as the host for the 2009 WBCA Classic, which will be played Nov. 27-29, at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

The WBCA Classic is a four-team event that will feature Connecticut, Hofstra, Richmond and Clemson. Each team will play three games over a span of three days to determine the champion.

UConn will open play on Friday, Nov. 27 against Hofstra at 7:30 p.m. The Huskies will follow with a game against Richmond on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., before closing out the event against Clemson on Sunday, Nov. 29 in a 4:30 p.m. start.

The Huskies return four starters and nine letterwinners from last season’s squad that posted a perfect 39-0 record and captured the program’s sixth NCAA National Championship while becoming the first team in NCAA Division I basketball (men or women) history to go undefeated and win each of its games by a minimum of 10 points.

The rest of the 2009-10 UConn women’s basketball schedule is expected to be released in early September.

2009 WBCA Classic – Gampel Pavilion – Storrs, Conn.

Friday, Nov. 27

• 5:00 p.m. Richmond vs. Clemson
• 7:00 p.m. Hofstra vs. Connecticut

Saturday, Nov. 28

• 5:00 p.m. Clemson vs. Hofstra
• 7:30 p.m. Richmond vs. Connecticut

Sunday, Nov. 29

• 2:00 p.m. Hofstra vs. Richmond
• 4:30 p.m. Clemson vs. Connecticut

2009 WBCA Classic Bracket

After a 20-11 shellacking at the hands of the New York Yankees last night, the Boston Red Sox look to rebound this afternoon at Fenway Park.

The game this afternoon will start at 4:10 PM EDT and will be televised to a mostly national audience on FOX. Click here to see if you’re getting the game. 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.

Junichi Tazawa makes his fourth appearance and third start since being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket back on August 7th. On the season with the Red Sox, he is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA. His MLB debut came against the Yankees in relief back on August 7th where he gave up the game-winning two-run homer to Alex Rodriguez in the 15th inning. That was his only appearance against the Yankees this season and in his career.

A.J. Burnett makes his twenty-fifth start of the season for Joe Girardi this afternoon. On the season, he is 10-6 with a 3.69 ERA. He’s faced the Red Sox three times this season and is 0-1 with a 6.46 ERA. Two of those starts this season have come at Fenway Park where he’s given up 11 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings. He’s made 11 career starts against the Red Sox and is 5-1 with a 3.39 ERA. In five career starts at the Fens, he is 3-1 with a 3.56 ERA.

As we learned after the game last night, Michael Bowden was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket. Today, the Red Sox announced that Enrique Gonzalez had been recalled from Pawtucket to take Bowden’s spot on the roster. Gonzalez made his big league debut against the Yankees back on August 8th, giving up two runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Terry Francona also announced this afternoon that Tim Wakefield will be activated from the disabled list on Wednesday and take Brad Penny’s turn in the rotation. Penny’s role with the club is undetermined at this time.

And a happy 70th birthday goes out to Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox legend #8 Carl Yastrzemski.

Wakefield to start Wednesday; Penny’s role uncertain [Extra Bases]

Wakefield will take Penny’s next turn – Penny’s future unclear [Projo Sox Blog]

Lowrie to begin make-or- break rehab assignment in Pawtucket Monday [Projo Sox Blog]

Pedroia or Cano? Baseball executives pick Pedroia [Projo Sox Blog]

Wakefield looking to return to form [Full Count]

Red Sox Relievers Puzzled About Wagner Claim [Full Count]

Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:

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

UConn Football links

You Were Right About Difton. Where’s The Desi Piece? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Was Mike Box A Sleeper In This Recruiting Class? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Which Halfback Has Been Best After Contact? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Who Is The Starting Left Guard? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Would 2009 Have Been Make Or Break For Ambrose? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Perfectly placed [Boston Globe]

Husky Tracks: Looking Back And Ahead At UConn Football Practice [Hartford Courant]

Holliston’s Edwards ready for year two of UConn football [WickedLocal.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Montgomery hasn’t lost her way [Journal Inquirer]

Former Husky Montgomery enjoying pro life with Lynx [Norwich Bulletin]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Rudy Gay breaks down rookie class [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Other UConn related links

Men’s Soccer: Huskies Gear Up for First Exhibition of 2009 Season [UConnHuskies.com]

Men’s Soccer: Huskies Ranked No. 15 in Soccer Times Preseason Poll [UConnHuskies.com]

Field Hockey: Former Connecticut Field Hockey Player Jennifer Kleinhans Named a Finalist For 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year [UConnHuskies.com]

The Boston Red Sox came into their weekend series with the New York Yankees on a high as they had just swept the Toronto Blue Jays. By the end of the night, the Red Sox were back down again as they suffered a beat down at the hands of the New York Yankees.

When your starting pitcher puts you in a early hole against a talented lineup such as the Yankees, it’s going to be hard to beat them or anyone for that matter. That starting pitcher this time around was Brad Penny.

He was simply awful last night. He lacked fastball command last night as it was flat and he left it out over the plate for the Yankee hitters to take advantage of. Out of Penny’s last 11 starts, he’s won just one game. One game folks, that’s just not going to get it done anymore. In those 11 starts, he’s given up 47 runs (46 earned) on 74 hits in 60 2/3 innings.

Michael Bowden was called up from Pawtucket before the game yesterday to provide depth should Penny suck, which he did. Bowden didn’t fare much better though as he was tattooed for seven runs on eight hits in two innings of work. Basically, he took one for the team last night. We can only hope that this doesn’t affect his confidence going forward.

And with Junichi Tazawa making just his third big league start, we don’t know what we’re going to get tonight either. For that reason, Bowden was sent back to Pawtucket after the game and a corresponding roster move will be announced this afternoon. It will most certainly be a pitcher to provide depth should Tazawa not be able to go long at all this afternoon.

The good thing about Tazawa, even though he’s still wet behind the ears, is that he doesn’t seemed fazed by his surroundings. He’s already been introduced to the rivalry in New York and the nerves should be behind him.

The offense last night put up 11 runs but when you’ve been trailing big time all night, 11 runs doesn’t seem like that much at all especially considering the Red Sox still lost by 9 runs. The problem right now isn’t the offense, it’s the pitching and with Tim Wakefield pretty much declaring himself ready to go, things could start to look on the up and up.

Hopefully Wake will be replacing Penny in the rotation but that could all depend on how Tazawa pitches this afternoon.

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 NY Post, NY Daily News, Newsday and Lo Hud websites.

The New York Yankees put the pedal to the metal right out of the gates on Friday night as they pounded out 23 hits on their way to a 20-11 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of 37,869 at Fenway Park.

The loss for the Red Sox ended a 3-game winning streak and dropped them to 7.5 games behind the Yanks for first in the AL East. More importantly, they maintain their one-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the wild card as they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. By the way, the Rays are just three games behind the local nine in the wild card standings.

Brad Penny started the game for the Red Sox and just flat out sucked. There’s really no other way to describe it. His fastball was flat and the Yankees took advantage of that time and time again. He allowed 8 runs on 10 hits and a walk with three strikeouts in just 4 innings.

The bullpen wasn’t much better although Michael Bowden, fresh from Triple-A Pawtucket, stood up and took one for the team. He gave up 7 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings. Bowden was sent back to Pawtucket after the game.

Manny Delcarmen allowed a run in an inning of work while Takashi Saito struck out one. Ramon Ramirez worked the 9th inning and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and a walk.

Andy Pettitte wasn’t much better for the Yankees but he didn’t really have to be since he was given a big lead. In 5 innings, Pettitte gave up 7 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks with four strikeouts.

Brian Bruney worked 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for AL East leaders and allowed a hit and walked three. Damaso Marte struck out 1 in 2/3 of an inning while Sergio Mitre worked the final two innings and allowed four runs on four hits.

Mike Lowell had three hits to lead the Red Sox and added 2 RBIs on a home run. David Ortiz had 2 hits and knocked in two while Dustin Pedroia also had two hits and an RBI. Jason Varitek chipped in with a meaningless solo homer in the 9th and Victor Martinez had an RBI. Rocco Baldelli came off the bench and added an RBI as Terry Francona began to empty the bench in the 5th.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit and knocked in two. He also stole his 54th base of the season and he is now tied at the top of the Red Sox record books with Tommy Harper.

All I will say is that it’s time for Penny to go. With Wakefield pitching well for Pawtucket on Friday night, it could very well be that he’ll replace Penny and not someone else.

The Red Sox will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon with young Japanese rookie Junichi Tazawa. He’ll be opposed by A.J. Burnett.

Before we get started here with the post, I just wanted to apologize for skipping the Red Sox news & notes post this morning. I woke up feeling like a truck ran over me and mustered all the energy I had just to do the first two posts before crashing the rest of the morning. After some rest and Gatorade, I feel like a new man and am ready to roll here.

After sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox return home with some momentum as they head into a weekend series with their hated rivals, the New York Yankees. The Yankees swept a 4-game series in New York the last time out but the Red Sox still own the season series 8-4.

The game tonight will start at 7:10 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Yankees television market, you can catch the game on YES. 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.

Brad Penny makes his twenty-third start of the season for the Red Sox tonight. On the season, he is 7-7 with a 5.22 ERA. He’s made one start against the Yanks this season and gave up no runs in 6 innings. He’s made two career starts against the Yankees and is 1-0 with 2.45 ERA. He’s made one start in New York and is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

Andy Pettitte makes his twenty-fifth start of the season and is 9-6 with 4.09 ERA. He’s made two starts against the Red Sox this season and is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He’s made 34 appearances (32 starts) against the Red Sox and is 16-9 with a 3.63 ERA. He’s made 18 starts at home against them and is 10-6 with a 3.65 ERA.

The Red Sox made a few roster moves this afternoon as they called up Michael Bowden from Triple-A Pawtucket and activated OF Rocco Baldelli from the disabled list. To make room for Bowden, they designated Fernando Cabrera for assignment and they optioned Brian Anderson to Triple-A Pawtucket.

And don’t forget, Jerry Remy makes his return to the NESN airwaves tonight. Welcome back Jerry!!!!

Chris Duncan, player acquired for Julio Lugo, is released [Projo Sox Blog]

Gonzo the Great [Projo Sox Blog]

New York media now thumping its chest over Yankees [Projo Sox Blog]

A Players Perspective: The Red Sox Catching Situation [38 Pitches]

Sox not interested in repeating history [RedSox.com]

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

And here are how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers: