Monday, July 20^th @ 8:05 PM

John Smoltz (R) (1-2, 5.40) vs Kevin Millwood (R) (8-7, 3.46)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Tuesday, July 21^st @ 8:05 PM

Josh Beckett (R) (11-3, 3.35) vs Tommy Hunter (R) (1-1, 2.35)

TV:NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Wednesday, July 22^nd @ 8:05 PM

Tim Wakefield (R) (11-3, 4.31) Clay Buchholz (1-0, 1.59) vs Vicente Padilla (R) (7-5, 4.67)

TV: NESN, ESPN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

According to Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, UConn Huskies freshman Ater Majok will return to school and play there in 2009-10.

“Education comes first, so I’m going to get my education,” Majok said Sunday at the Greater Hartford Pro-Am, breaking a three-month silence. “The decision is for me to get my law degree. It was tough, all the pressure and stuff. Now, it’s not about that. It’s time for me to get to work on school and the team.”

“School looks good,” Majok said. “Coach [Jim Calhoun] is happy. I talk with Coach a lot. I think of him as a father. I went to him for advice and he always gave me advice. I took that advice seriously. It was up and down, up and down. It was hard, trying to decide all that. But at the end, I came back to my first plan of pursuing my education — because that’s what my parents told me to do, and Coach Calhoun.”

Since Majok was a partial qualifier, he won’t be able to play for the Huskies during the first semester.

Although Majok is saying that he wants to get his degree, my best guess says that he stays for a year or two and then goes pro, whether it be in the NBA or overseas.

Ater Majok Will Play At UConn — Definitely [Hartford Courant]

It’s not like Toronto Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay has to audition for anyone as the trade deadline approaches. But today he showed teams just what he can do.

Halladay threw a complete game 6-hitter as his Blue Jays went on to a 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of 36,534 at Rogers Centre.

It’s the second straight loss to the Jays for the Red Sox (55-36) and they see their lead shrink to 1.5 games pending the outcome of the Yankees/Tigers game currently being played. The Jays improve to one game below .500 at 46-47.

Jon Lester didn’t pitch all that badly. He got squeezed a lot from home plate umpire Eric Cooper. In the end though, it was the 4 walks that killed him, especially the two in the 2nd inning that led to two runs. Lester went 7 innings and threw 112 pitches. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and the 4 walks while recording 6 strikeouts.

Manny Delcarmen worked the 8th giving up a hit.

The Red Sox had their chances early against Halladay but never got the big hit they needed to put him away. He allowed one run in the 1st inning and gave up 6 hits while striking out 7. He needed just 105 pitches to throw his 4th complete game of the season.

Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia led the charge for the Red Sox with 2 hits each. David Ortiz drove in his 50th run of the season on a sacrifice fly and also added a hit. Mark Kotsay had the only other hit for the Red Sox. Nick Green had a rough afternoon as Halladay struck him out all three times he faced him.

Not a good start to this 6-game road trip for the Red Sox as it’s the first time since May they’ve lost a road series. Ironically enough, it was also against the Blue Jays.

The Red Sox now head to Texas for the final 3 games of the trip before returning back to Boston. It’ll be John Smoltz taking on Kevin Millwood tomorrow night.

UConn Football links

Giants’ Beatty wants to help wherever he can [Greenwich Time]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Tweeting with Swin Cash [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Kalana Looking Forward to Another Year [Rich Elliott – Connecticut Post]

UConn’s Greene appreciates extended career [Connecticut Post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Butler … Ollie … Butler [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

UConn freshman at pro-am Sunday [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Majok and Okwandu at the Pro-Am [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Rudy Gay is Worldwide [UConn Huskies Basketball]

After splitting the first two games, the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays square off in the trojan game.

The game this afternoon will start at 1:07 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Blue Jays television market, you can catch the game on SportsNet. 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.

Jon Lester looks to start the second half of the season like he finished the first half. And that is pitching effectively and strong. Lester has faced the Jays twice this season and is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA. In his career against them, he is 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 7 starts. Lester is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA in 4 start at Rogers Centre.

Roy Halladay could be making one of his final home starts in a Jays uniform this afternoon. He hasn’t faced the Red Sox this season but is 12-12 with a 4.46 ERA in 37 appearances (34 starts) against them.

Sunday morning Sinatra [Extra Bases]

Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:

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

The Boston Red Sox have had their struggles against rookie pitchers this season and that was once again the case at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday afternoon.

Marc Rzepczynski was effectively wild holding the Red Sox to just one run in the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 win in front of 36,926.

The win drops the Red Sox lead in the AL East to 2 games as the Yankees beat the Tigers this afternoon. The Jays improve to 45-47 and are now 11 games behind the local nine.

Brad Penny was on the bump for the Red Sox and wasn’t very effective this time out. He threw just over 50% of his 82 pitches for strikes. He took his 4th loss of the season as he allowed 6 runs on 8 hits and walk with 3 strikeouts in 5 innings.

The Red Sox bullpen had another nice day on the mound as Justin Masterson and Ramon Ramirez combined on 3 hitless and scoreless innings. Masterson struck out one while Ramirez walked 1 and struck out 2.

Rzepczynski picked up his first big league win in just his 4th start as he allowed the one run on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 4.

Jesse Carlson allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning while Jeremy Accardo, Jason Frasor and Scott Downs shutdown the Red Sox the rest of the way.

The Red Sox managed just six hits on the afternoon.

Jed Lowrie returned to the Red Sox lineup and added a solo home run off of Carlson. Rocco Baldelli knocked in the other run for the Red Sox with a single. Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay and Mike Lowell had the other hits.

With Clay Buchholz throwing well last night and Penny starting out bad the second half, you have to wonder if Red Sox GM Theo Epstein would think about moving Penny. Just a thought in my head.

It should be a great pitching matchup tomorrow afternoon in Toronto as Jon Lester and Roy Halladay square off. First pitch from Halladay is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. EDT.

The Boston Red Sox kicked off the 6-game road trip with some solid pitching from Clay Buchholz last night. Today, they look to make it 2 in-a-row against the struggling Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

The game this afternoon will start at 1:07 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Blue Jays television market, you can catch the game on SportsNet. 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 18th start of the season for Terry Francona. He’s 6-3 with a 4.71 ERA and had as string of 7 consecutive outings of 100 pitches snapped his last time out. He’s made two starts against the Jays this season and is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA. Penny has made 6 career starts against the Blue Jays and is 3-0 with a 3.19 ERA. He’s had good success at Rogers Centre where he is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 3 starts.

Marc Rzepczynski is the fifth pitcher to make his Major League debut this season for Cito Gaston. He’s made just two starts and is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA. He’s never faced the Red Sox.

The Red Sox have officially brought back up Jed Lowrie and he is in the lineup at shortstop this afternoon.

Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:

And here is how the hitters have fared against this afternoon’s starting pitchers. No one on the Red Sox has faced Rzepczynski.