The Minnesota Twins used a 5-run 5th inning to beat Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox 5-2 in front of 20,019 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on Tuesday night.

The loss for the Red Sox drops them to 27-19 but they remained in first place in the AL East with a 1 game lead over the Yankees, who lost to the Texas Rangers. The Twins improve to 23-24.

Lester’s 2009 season has been a roller coaster ride. He’s looked good at times and at other times looked awful. He was cruising along until the 5th inning last night. He ended up going 6 innings, allowing the 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4.

Daniel Bard worked an inning out of the bullpen, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out 1. Takashi Saito struck out the side in the 8th inning.

Nick Blackburn started this one for the Twins and had a very consistent outing. He went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. Matt Guerrier struck out 2 in the 8th and Joe Nathan allowed a hit in the 9th but picked up his 7th save of the season.

Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 21 games with a 2-hit night and added 2 stolen bases. Dustin Pedroia and Julio Lugo both added two hits with Pedroia getting the only RBI of the night for the Red Sox. David Ortiz moved down to the 6th spot in the lineup and went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

It was scoreless through the first four innings of the game. That all changed in the 5th inning.

Lugo led off the inning with a single but was retired at second on an Ellsbury fielder’s choice. With Pedroia at the plate, Ellsbury stole second and then came around to score on a double by Pedroia to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. J.D. Drew grounded out to second to move Pedroia to third. Blackburn left him stranded there as he struck out Kevin Youkilis, one of Youk’s three strikeouts on the night, to end the inning.

Brendan Harris started the bottom half of the inning with a lead off single. Delmon Young flew out to center on an absolutely amazing diving catch by Ellsbury. Matt Tolbert then reached on an infield single and Nick Punto followed with a single to score Harris to tie the game at one. Punto ended up advancing to second on the throw home.

Lester got the second out of the inning when Denard Span grounded out to second as the Red Sox conceded the run. After a walk to Mauer, Morneau delivered the big blow when he took a Lester offering and hit a 3-run line drive home run to give the Twins a 5-1 lead.

Blackburn started the 7th by retiring Lugo. Ellsbury and Pedroia hit back-to-back singles and then Drew grounded into a fielder’s choice double play that saw Pedroia out at second. Ellsbury ended up scoring on the play due to a bad throw on the double play attempt and Drew was nailed trying to advance to second.

Another rough outing for Lester and once again the Red Sox left a small village on the bases. They were just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

These same two teams are back at it again on Wednesday night when Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kevin Slowley square off.

Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins 5.26.09 box score

After banging out 16 hits for the second consecutive game, the Boston Red Sox held on late to beat the Minnesota Twins yesterday afternoon in Game 1 of a 4-game set.

The game tonight will start at 8:10 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Twins television market, you can catch the game on FOX Sports North. 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.

Red Sox skipper Terry Francona hands the ball to Jon Lester who has had an up and down 2009 season so far. He is coming off a great start against the Toronto Blue Jays that saw him give up 1 run in 6 1/3 innings to get the win. On the season, Lester is 3-4 with a 5.91 ERA in 9 starts. He faced the Twins three times (2 starts) in his career and has no record with a 4.91 ERA. He’s made only start in the Metrodome in his career where he gave up 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings last year on May 9th.

Nick Blackburn starts for manager Ron Gardenhire tonight. Blackburn is 3-2 with a 3.83 in 9 starts this season. He has faced the Red Sox three times in his career (2 starts) and is 1-1 with a 6.59 ERA. He has faced the Red Sox once at the Metrodome, picking up the win despite allowing 4 runs in 6 innings back on May 11, 2008.

Obviously the big question of the day is where was David Ortiz in the Red Sox lineup. As you’ll see below, he’s batting 6th tonight.

When asked by my Globe colleague Amalie Benjamin if he was going to talk to the media before the game, Ortiz replied, “After I go deep tonight.”

Here’s everybody’s favorite AL MVP and Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedoira mic’d up before a game last week against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Francona explains dropping Ortiz in order [Extra Bases]

Francona thrilled with Buchholz [Extra Bases]

Papi in an alternate universe [Full Count]

In Boston, Bay stars [Tony Massarotti Blog]

Speedster Harper to rep Sox at Draft [RedSox.com]

Time to trade Buchholz for Big Papi’s successor? [Wicked Good Sports]

Bringing Back The Ghosts of Red Sox Past [Wicked Good Sports]

Good times with Dewey [Don Orsillo – NESN.com]

Smoltz forces Red Sox to make tough decision [NESN.com]

Here are the lineups for this tonight’s game:

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

The Boston Red Sox kicked off their 10-game, 3-city road trip yesterday against the Minnesota Twins with a 6-5 win.

Considering the circumstances, Brad Penny pitched a decent game. He literally gutted one up as he was a little bit under the weather,throwing up between innings. Despite that, his fastball velocity was consistently around 94 the whole entire time.

He made one mistake pitch to Michael Cuddyer early on but was cruising along until the 6th inning. In that inning, he gave up consecutive hits and was chased from the game. His illness may have played a factor as it appeared he tired quickly.

For the second straight game, Jonathan Papelbon gave up a 2-run homer. Luckily for him this time, he was pitching with a 3-run lead. He was able to recover and get the final out for his 12th save of the season.

Should we be concerned right now about Papelbon? I don’t think we should be just yet. He’s still one of the elite closers in the game. The pitch to Joe Mauer, who is en fuego right now, was a matter of missing location. And when you miss location to an elite hitter like Mauer, he’s going to make you pay for it as he did yesterday.

While he may give all of Red Sox Nation heart attacks when he steps on the mound, Papelbon will be just fine. Remember, he’s got one of the best pitching guru’s in the game, John Farrell, at his disposal. They will make the necessary adjustments to get Papelbon back to being Cinco Ocho.

Sitting pretty [Boston Globe]

Brad Penny puts up sick numbers [Boston Herald]

Bailey’s homer leaves Papelbon with room for error [Providence Journal]

No hurry to flip him, but Penny has value [Boston Globe]

Big Papi move is likely [Boston Herald]

Despite upset stomach, Penny turns in another consistent effort [Providence Journal]

Ortiz will be back in lineup tonight, but where will he be hitting? [Extra Bases]

Red Sox charged by Joe Mauer shortage [Boston Herald]

Red Sox journal: Ortiz sits out, may be dropped in batting order [Providence Journal]

Buchholz stays zeroed in for Pawtucket [Boston Globe]

In relief of Remy, Eckersley speaks his mind — for better and worse [Providence Journal]

Lowrie takes step forward after surgery [RedSox.com]

Five Things We Learned: Life Is Good For These Red Sox [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

Should we be a bit worried about Papelbon? [Batter-up with Bruno]

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.

And if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Pioneer Press websites.

UConn Football links

New Home, Same Work Ethic For Dan Orlovsky [Hartford Courant]

More Mail [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

superboy and the invisible girl [Alyssa Auriemma]

UConn mailbag: A Renee Montgomery sandwich? Possibly [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Renee Montgomery talks about her first pro game [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Rip Hamilton: Welcom3 2 Detroit [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Other UConn related links

The Boston Red Sox pounded out 16 hits and Jonathan Papelbon made it very interesting at the end but held on as they went on to a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins in front of 27,636 at the Metrodome.

The win for the Red Sox moves them to 27-18 and keeps them in first place in the AL East. The loss for the Twins ends their 6-game home winning streak and 4-game winning streak as they drop to 22-24. It’s also the 6th straight win for the Red Sox over the Twins, including a 2-game sweep earlier this season at Fenway Park.

Papelbon had a 3-run lead when he entered the game in the top of the 9th.

Jason Kubel led off with a single but Papelbon recovered to strikeout Michael Cuddyer and got Brian Buscher to fly out. Joe Mauer came in and pinch-hit for Mike Redmond. Papelbon missed his location with a fastball and Mauer made him pay for that with his 11th of home run of the season (in just 81 at-bats) to cut the lead to 6-5. Papelbon finished off his 12th save by getting Delmon Young to fly out.

Brad Penny started this one for the Red Sox and other than a mistake to Cuddyer, pitched well in the first five innings of the game. It was the 6th inning that was his undoing. He ended up giving Terry Francona 5 1/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 7. He didn’t walk anyone.

Other than Papelbon, the Red Sox bullpen combo of Ramon Ramirez and Hideki Okajima combined to pitch 2 2/3 innings of hitless baseball with a strikeout each.

It was another rough game for Twins starter Francisco Liriano against the Red Sox. He lasted just 4 innings, allowing 5 runs on 11 hits while striking out 7. The Twins bullpen gave up 5 hits and a run over the final 5 innings.

Mike Lowell was at DH today for the Red Sox and he led them with 4 hits and added an RBI. Dustin Pedroia had three hits, pushing his hitting streak to 8 games while Jacoby Ellsbury ran his hitting streak to 20 games with a 2-hit effort. Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis both chipped in with two hits and 2 RBIs and Rocco Baldelli had two hits as well. Jeff Bailey’s only hit of the night was as a solo home run.

Only Julio Lugo and Jason Varitek were hitless for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox wasted a big opportunity to score in the 2nd inning.

Lowell led off with a single and went to third on a Baldelli double. Liriano recovered though as he struck out the final 3 batters in Varitek, Bailey and JulE6o.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning when Cuddyer hit a 1-out home run.

Continue reading →

After taking over first place in the AL East yesterday with a 12-5 win over the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox kick off a 10-game road trip in Minneapolis with the Minnesota Twins. They take on the Twins in a 4-game set and then head to Toronto and Detroit for three games each.

The game this afternoon will start at 2:10  PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Twins television market, you can catch the game on WFTC UPN 29.  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 looks to build upon a successful outing his last time out against the Blue Jays this afternoon. On the season, Penny is 4-1 with a 6.07 ERA in 8 starts. He has faced the Twins once this year, picking up the win after allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings back on April 22. He has never faced the Twins at the Metrodome and is 1-0 with a 5.25 ERA in two starts against them.

Francisco Liriano looks to push the Twins winning streak to 5 games this afternoon when he takes the ball for skipper Ron Gardenhire. Liriano’s had a rough season so far as he is 2-5 with a 6.04 ERA. Liriano has faced the Red Sox only once in his career and that came in the win by Penny. In that game, Liriano was tagged for 7 runs on in 4 innings.

Win a Kevin Youkilis autographed jersey [Bernies]

Ortiz sits again today — lineup drop possible tomorrow? [Projo Sox Blog]

Lowrie hits off tee for the first time, could be three weeks away [Projo Sox Blog]

Would playing the field benefit Ortiz? [Extra Bases]

Kottaras hitting his stride [NESN.com]

Fenway Puck: Red Sox’ Home to Host NHL Winter Classic [Biz of Baseball]

NY Post Photographer Angers Papelbon [Fenway West]

Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:

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

I guess all the Boston Red Sox needed was for me to come back from North Carolina on Sunday to win a game against the New York Mets. They had lost the first two while I was away.

I do kid though as it was nice to see the Red Sox offense wake up and give some run support to Tim Wakefield who wasn’t at his best on Sunday afternoon. But when the offense gets into a groove like it was in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings, sometimes whatever you can give will work too. Just ask today’s starter Brad Penny about that one.

The big question though right now remains is what to do with David Ortiz. Ever since hitting his first home run of the season, he’s gone back to stinking up the joint. Since the home run, he is 2-for-18 with 9 strikeouts. In a 16-hit attack yesterday afternoon, he was the only member of the starting nine without a hit.

So the question is where do you move Big Papi in the lineup.  Do you move him down to say the 7th spot in the order? He can’t be moved to the 9th spot because you don’t want a slow runner on (if he could even get on) in front of Jacoby Ellsbury, who by the way has a 19-game hitting streak.

My lineup would go a little something like this:

• 1. Ellsbury 2. Pedroia 3. Drew 4. Youk 5. Bay 6. Lowell 7. Big Papi 8. Varitek 9. Green

Let me know in the comments what your ideal lineup would look like.

In another development, could JulE6o Lugo have lost his job at shortstop? Terry Francona said that whomever started Saturday’s game at short (Green), that the other one (Lugo) would start on Sunday. That wasn’t the case though as Green got the start again, played flawless defense, was actually able to turn the double play and also sparked the offense with 2 hits and 2 RBIs. By the way, the Red Sox are 18-6 in games that Green has started.

To me it really seems like when Jed Lowrie returns to the lineup, he’ll get a chance to be the starter with Green being the backup and Lugo being the odd man out. Worst case scenario is that Red Sox look to acquire a shortstop before the trade deadline.

A Sox victory is Green-lighted [Boston Globe]

Red Sox 12, Mets 5: Bottom of the order rises to the top [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Defeat Mets, Move Into First Place [Hartford Courant]

Red Sox restore order, but David Ortiz continues to sink [Boston Herald]

Hints dropped on Ortiz spot in order [Boston Globe]

Red Sox journal: Ellsbury hitting streak reaches 19 [Providence Journal]

By George, he’s got it [Boston Herald]

Rookie catches on [Boston Globe]

Ortiz: ‘No more breaks. It’s ride or die’ [Providence Journal]

Nick Green a winner [Boston Herald]

Moments frozen in time [Boston Globe]

Instant replay replays again [Projo Sox Blog]

Kevin Youkilis’ bat says it all [Boston Herald]

Five Things We Learned: People Can’t Stop Talking About Papi [Full Count]

Four hits help J.D. Drew break through [Boston Herald]

Red Sox focus on helping Ortiz rebound [RedSox.com]

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.

And if the enemy papers are more your style, head over to the New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday and LoHud websites

Monday, May 25^th @ 2:10 PM

Brad Penny, (R) (4-1, 6.07) vs Francisco Liriano, (L) (2-5, 6.04)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Tuesday, May 26^th @ 8:10 PM

Jon Lester, (L) (3-4, 5.91) vs Nick Blackburn, (R) (3-2, 3.83)

TV:NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Wednesday, May 27^th @ 8:10 PM

Daisuke Matsuzaka, (R) (0-2, 10.32) vs Kevin Slowey, (R) (6-1, 4.23)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Thursday, May 28^th @ 1:10 PM

Josh Beckett, (R) (4-2, 5.01) vs Anthony Swarzak, (R) (1-0, 0.00)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio