After the Providence Journal reported this morning that the Boston Red Sox had called up Daniel Bard from Triple-A, they made it official this afternoon.
To make room on the 25-man and 40-man rosters, the Red Sox have designated lefty reliever Javier Lopez for assignment.
Lopez has struggled all season going 0-2 with a 9.26 ERA. In 11 games with the PawSox, Bard was 1-0 with a 1.12 ERA and 6 saves. In 16 innings, he struck out 29 batters and walked 5.
While the announcement hasn’t been made official yet, the Boston Red Sox have called up Daniel Bard from Triple-A Pawtucket according to a report in the Providence Journal.
This highly-touted prospect has been outstanding for the PawSox this season. He’s 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 6 saves in 11 games. He has struck out 29 batters in 16 innings and can easily reach 100 MPH on the radar gun. He’s been the closer for Pawtucket.
The Red Sox will not only have to take someone off the 25-man roster in Boston to make room for Bard, but they’ll also make a move to put Bard on the 40-man roster.
So is this the end of the Javier Lopez era in Boston? To me he’s the most likely candidate to be removed from the 25-man and 40-man rosters.
Breaking news: Daniel Bard called up [Providence Journal]
UConn Football links
Flashin’ In On The G-Men [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
More From Giants Camp [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
UConn’s NFL Draft Picks: What They’ll Make [Hartford Courant]
Multifaceted Draft Pick, William Beatty, Gets Giants’ Attention [New York Times]
UConn Women’s Basketball links
Introducing Theresa Plaisance [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]
Other UConn related links
….and the natives are restless [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]
Baseball: Huskies Down Pittsburgh 14-6 [UConnHuskies.com]
Saying goodbye to UConn’s seniors [Daily Campus]
Top 10 most memorable games in UConn sports this year [Daily Campus]
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.
After making their first SNL Digital Short “Dick in a Box“, the geniuses that are Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake have reunited to make “Mother Lover” just in time for Mother’s Day. This video may be NSFW just to warn you.
I just want to wish my Mom, Grandmother and all the mothers out there, a very Happy Mother’s Day. It’s your day, sit back and relax and let the rest of your family cater to you.
Evan Longoria continues to rake Boston Red Sox pitching as he had 2 hits, including a home run, and added 5 RBIs to help the Tampa Bay Rays to a 14-5 win in front of 37,773 at Fenway Park in what turned out to be a nice afternoon weather wise for some baseball.
The Red Sox drop to 19-12 on the young season while the Rays improve their record to 15-17 with 6 of those wins coming against the Red Sox this season.
Jon Lester started this one for the Red Sox and after a rough 1st inning, settled down for innings 2-4. He then had a 5th inning to forget where he gave up 6 runs. Lester ended up going 4 1/3 innings, giving up 8 runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out 6.
The bullpen for once other than Javier Lopez (go figure huh) and Manny Delcarmen wasn’t anything to write home about either.
Hunter Jones worked 2/3 of an inning, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk. Takashi Saito worked an inning, allowing a run on a hit and a walk. Lopez went 2 innings, giving up a run on a hit and a walk but had two strikeouts. Delcarmen mopped up in the 9th, allowing just a hit and recorded a strikeout.
Despite only giving up 3 runs, Scott Kazmir wasn’t anything spectacular today for the Rays. He went 5 innings, giving up 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2. Joe Nelson worked a 1/3 of an inning, allowing 2 runs on a hit and 2 walks. Lance Cormier worked the final 3 2/3 innings, giving up just 1 hit to pick up the save.
Mike Lowell went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs today and both Rocco Baldelii and Julio Lugo each had 2 hits, including solo home runs for the both of them. Jason Bay added a hit and the other RBI for the local nine.
Lester started the 1st inning by getting B.J. Upton to fly out but then he walked Carl Crawford. Lester may have paid too much attention to keep Crawford at first as he left a pitch out over the plate that Longoria planted into the blacked out seats in center to give the Rays a 2-0 lead.
The Red Sox got back into the game in the 2nd when Baldelli led off with a solo home run into the Green Monster seats to cut the lead to 2-1. It was the first homer in a Red Sox uniform for Baldelli.
Lester was cruising along while his offense was leaving a small village of runners on base. Then the 5th inning happened and it wasn’t pretty for Lester and the Red Sox.
After falling behind early last night against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox used another big 6th inning to take the lead on their way to a 7-3 win against their nemesis. Today, they’ll look to make it 2 in-a-row.
Today’s game starts at 3:40 PM and will be shown to various parts of the country on FOX. 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 gets the ball from Terry Francona today and he’s faced the Rays once this season, taking the loss. In that game, he went 5 innings and allowed 5 runs. In 8 career starts against the Rays, Lester is 4-1 with a 3.97 ERA. Lester is 2-2 with a 5.11 ERA in 6 starts this season.
Joe Maddon hands the ball to Scott Kazmir this afternoon and he’s faced the Red Sox once, giving up 1 run in 6 innings of work to get the win. Kazmir has made 22 career starts against the Red Sox and is 7-7 with 3.52 ERA. In 12 starts at Fenway Park, he is 5-4 with a 2.88 ERA. On the season, Kazmir is 3-3 with a 6.00 ERA in 6 starts.
Youkilis: “I don’t know what it is.” [Projo Sox Blog]
Drew out with sore quad [Projo Sox Blog]
Pregame notes [Extra Bases]
Were Duke’s Teams Dirty? [Boston Dirt Dogs]
Ortiz shocked, upset by Manny news [Heidi Watney – NESN.com]
Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:
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| 1. B.J. Upton | CF | 1. Jacoby Ellsbury | CF |
| 2. Carl Crawford | LF | 2. Dustin Pedroia | 2B |
| 3. Evan Longoria | 3B | 3. David Ortiz | DH |
| 4. Carlos Peña | 1B | 4. Jason Bay | LF |
| 5. Pat Burrell | DH | 5. Mike Lowell | 3B |
| 6. Jason Bartlett | SS | 6. Rocco Baldelli | RF |
| 7. Gabe Kapler | RF | 7. Jeff Bailey | 1B |
| 8. Akinori Iwamura | 2B | 8. Jason Varitek | C |
| 9. Dioner Navarro | C | 9. Julio Lugo | SS |
| Scott Kazmir | SP | Jon Lester | SP |
And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:
Once again the Boston Red Sox found themselves trailing early to Tampa Bay Rays and we all thought we already knew the outcome. But then the 6th inning magic happened again as James Shields gave up a hit and a walk.
Jason Bay worked his magic yet again as he crushed a 3-run homer to tie the game up that rattled James Shields who then gave up a double to Mike Lowell. In fitting fashion, J.D. Drew followed with the game-winning two-run homer and the Red Sox would add two insurance runs for the win.
Is there anyone else right now in this Red Sox lineup you would want up in a clutch situation besides Bay and Kevin Youkilis. Bay continues to get it done as he’s spent the past few nights in the cleanup spot due to Youk’s injury. I have to wonder if maybe Bay stays in the spot when Youk returns.
Brad Penny was far from spectacular last night and with John Smoltz and Clay Buchholz, who dominated once again last night in Triple-A, waiting in the wings, it makes you wonder if Penny’s time with the Red Sox is coming to a close.
Don’t forget today’s contest is one of the FOX games of the week and will start at 3:40 PM.
Flick (of Red Sox wrists) turns on power again [Boston Globe]
Jason Bay finds spotlight again [Boston Herald]
Bay, Drew Rally Red Sox Past Rays [Hartford Courant]
Homers by Bay and Drew turn the tables on Rays [Providence Journal]
Increased comfort, increased power for Bay [RedSox.com]
Touch ’em all — heartstrings [Boston Globe]
No panic for Brad Penny [Boston Herald]
Red Sox journal: Youkilis sits out 4th straight game [Providence Journal]
Injured Red Sox on the comeback trail [RedSox.com]
Decisions have been made for him [Boston Globe]
Raleigh eatery wants Yaz [Boston Herald]
Red Sox family pays tribute to Dom DiMaggio [Providence Journal]
Buchholz in a groove at Pawtucket [RedSox.com]
Better grasp helps in clutch [Boston Globe]
Manny Ramirez mess tarnishes Red Sox’ clean image [Boston Herald]
Red Sox fielding numbers are down sharply this season [Providence Journal]
Video games get Schilling’s attention [Boston Globe]
Bay does it again [Projo Sox Blog]
NESN Presents: Youk and Lowell, Cops With Guns Episode 295: We Carry On, We Carry On [Surviving Grady]
What if Papi’s juicing…? [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 see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times websites.
UConn Football links
This Is Always Good News [Desmond Conner Blog – Hartford Courant]
UConn Men’s Basketball links
UK preseason No. 1 (UConn #8.) [Louisville Courier-Journal]
Fisher, Ebanks in World University Games; Walker, Taylor Lead U19 National Team [Adam Zagoria Blog – SNY.tv]
Sixth Man of the Year Award: Kemba Walker [UConn Huskies Basketball]
Other UConn related links
Baseball: UConn Falls to Pittsburgh 7-4 in BIG EAST Action [UConnHuskies.com]
Baseball. Baseball Traffic Advisory [UConnHuskies.com]
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