Rubby Tuesday Sports Chowdah Update- San Diego Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn Passes Away; Rubby Throws a Gem at Fenway; Crown Their Ass! LA Wins Stanley Cup in Game 5; Going, Going, Ghana

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL- Former Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn- arguably the game's best hitter since Ted Williams- passed away on Monday.

Born and raised in Long Beach, CA, Gwynn attended San Diego State where he excelled at both basketball and baseball. In fact, when the San Diego Padres drafted him in 1981, the then San Diego Clippers also drafted Gwynn in the 10th round of the NBA draft on the same day. Fortunately for the Padres, Gwynn quickly chose baseball over basketball.

The unassuming Gwynn made his major league debut in 1982 and was on the Padres roster both times San Diego advanced to the World Series [1984 and 1998, respectively- NANESB!]. Wearing the number 19 throughout his 19 year MLB career, Gwynn was a 15 time all star, won eight batting titles, seven silver sluggers and garnered five gold gloves. Gwynn was also one of the increasingly rare players who spent his entire career with one franchise. When the Padres moved into their new ballpark in Downtown San Diego, Gwynn's number was retired and a statue of 'Mr Padre' was erected in his honor. Gwynn could also be considered one of the few 'homegrown' figures in San Diego sports that spent his career with San Diego.

While not a home run hitter, Gwynn still had a career batting average of .338 and never hit below .308 in a full season. Gwynn did have 135 homers throughout his career along with 1,138 RBI. It was also believed that Gwynn could've been the first major-league hitter to reach the coveted .400 mark since Ted Williams in 1941 were it not for the strike-shortened season of 1994. However, Gwynn won NL batting title with a .368 average the following season.

After retiring in 2001, Gwynn returned to his alma mater to coach the Aztecs baseball team. In 2007 Gwynn was inducted into the baseball hall of fame along with Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. Gwynn is survived by his wife Alisha and two children- current Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr and R&B singer Anisha Nicole.

Earlier this year, the Padres had lost former manager and longtime broadcaster Jerry Coleman. Throughout Monday, mourners left hats and flowers at the base of his statue in Petco park.

BOSTON RED SOX- After splitting a 4-game weekend series against the Tribe, the Red Sox played host to the Minnesota Twins on Monday- the team who started their notorious 10-game losing streak last month. Rubby De La Rosa would get the start against Minnesota's Kevin Correia and both starters would soon be locked in a scoreless deadlock.

Although the Red Sox would get some baserunners on, Boston didn't break through until the bottom of the 6th inning when Daniel Nava led off the inning with a single. Drew then hit a single to shallow center but got greedy and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double- although Nava made it to 3rd. AJ Pierzynski then came up and hit a fly ball deep enough to left field to plate Nava to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

Rubby continued with another scoreless inning before Farrell went to the bullpen. Andrew Miller faced one batter, striking out Oswaldo Arcia before Burke Badenhop came into the game. Badenhop immediately gave up a single to Kurt Suzuki before Eduardo Escobar lined out and Sam Fuld doubled. The bases would be loaded after Badenhop hit Danny Santana with a pitch, but the Twins threat was extinguished when Brian Dozier struck out swinging. Although the Red Sox wouldn't get any more runs in the bottom of the 8th, Uehara would have a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the win for Boston.

Tuesday night's game will have Phil Hughes [7-2; 3.17 ERA] going up against Jon Lester [7-7; 3.33 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 and the game will be televised on NESN

STANLEY CUP FINAL- After the New York Rangers got on the board with a 2-1 win on Wednesday night, the Stanley Cup Finals headed back to LA for a Game 5 at the Staples Center.

Justin Williams got LA on the board in the first six minutes of the game. However, after most of the 2nd period went by without scoring, the Rangers got on the board with a Chris Kreider power play goal and took the lead with a Brian Boyle shorthanded tally to head into the 2nd intermission with a 2-1 lead

However, the Kings were able to tie the contest up in the 3rd thanks to a Marian Gaborik power play goal and force OT- for the 3rd time in the 5-game series. After a scoreless overtime, the game headed to double OT where Alec Martinez beat Henrik Lundqvist to end the game and give the series to Los Angeles.

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick turned aside 28 of 30 shots faced while Lundqvist stopped 48 of 51 shots faced on Game 5 and Kings RW Justin Williamson was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy. The Stanley Cup title is LA's second in two seasons and comes after falling behind 0-3 to the San Jose Sharks earlier in the playoffs.

Lights Out Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Avoid Tiger Trap in Game 3 as Lackey Exceeds Expectations; No Door Matts- Cardinals Take NLCS Game 4 on Carpenter, Holliday RBIs

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

RED SOX- I'll be honest- if someone told me in the 7th inning of Sunday night's Game 2 of the ALCS that the Red Sox would have a 2-1 series lead, I'd ask them what the hell they were smoking and if they brought enough to share.

So here we are, 48 hours later. A large part of the urgency for the Red Sox in Game 2 was that not only would it have been bad enough heading to Detroit down 0-2, but they were also scheduled to face Tigers ace Justin Verlander, which would almost automatically guarantee the Red Sox falling into an ALCS 0-3 hole.

Fortunately for Red Sox Nation, Big Papi and Salty's late-inning heroics made the whole argument a moot point. On Tuesday afternoon, the ALCS resumed from Comerica Park in Detroit, MI with Verlander going up against John Lackey. To hardly anyone's surprise, Verlander was cruising early while Lackey was able to work around two singles he gave up in the bottom of the first to Torii Hunter without doing any damage.

Things took an odd turn in the middle of the second inning when the stadium lights went out. Even though it was a day game, the umpires decided to resume the game only after all the lights were back on given the gloomy and overcast conditions. Michigan utility DTE [NYSE- DTE] said the power outage was likely the result of a nearby cable failure. After a 17-minute delay, play at Comerica Park resumed.

But that wasn't the only power failure in Comerica on Tuesday. While it was almost a given that Verlander would keep the Red Sox bats quiet [true to the nature of the series, the Red Sox were held hitless until the 5th inning- NANESB!], Lackey would match Verlander's performance nearly pitch for pitch...with one key difference.

With one away in the top of the 7th and Napoli in the batter's box working the count full, the Red Sox broke the scoreless tie thanks to a solo homer to deep left center.



Meanwhile, Lackey would leave with one on and two away in the bottom of the 7th. Craig Breslow would come on and walk Alex Avila before getting Omar Infante to ground out and end the Detroit threat. The Sox bullpen would walk a tightrope in the bottom of the 8th- after Breslow got former teammate Jose Iglesias to strike out he walked Austin Jackson. Junichi Tazawa then came out of the pen and gave up a single to Torii Hunter with Jackson advancing all the way to third base. Tazawa would then get Miguel Cabrera to strike out before John Farrell would bring out Koji Uehara for the four out save. Uehara managed to shut down the Detroit threat by striking out Prince Fielder on three pitches.

When Uehara came back on in the 9th, he allowed a leadoff single from former Red Sox and Indian Victor Martinez, but Martinez would be erased from the basepath when Jhonny Peralta grounded into a double play. Avila would strike out to end the ballgame and give Boston a 2-1 series lead in the ALCS after Lackey, Breslow, Tazawa and Uehara made Napoli's solo homer stand up. Lackey would go 6⅔ shutout innings while striking out 8 batters and the bullpen would preserve the shutout for him.

A couple of interesting side notes- Tuesday's 1-0 win is the first 1-0 victory by the Red Sox in the postseason since Game 1 of the 1986 World Series against the Mets. Interestingly, Napoli's first career hit was with the Angels and was a home run off of Justin Verlander in 2006- also at Comerica Park.

Wednesday's Game 4 is scheduled for 8:07 PM ET from Comerica Park. The game will be televised on FOX and Jake Peavy and Doug Fister are slated to be the starters.

Chris Carlson- AP

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- After winning the first two games of the NLCS at Busch Stadium by a 1-0 margin, the Cardinals were shut out by Hyun Jin Ryu in a 3-0 loss on Monday night's Game 3 at Dodger stadium.

Still, the St Louis Cardinals have moved to within one game of advancing to the World Series on Tuesday night after besting the Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodgers Stadium.

St Louis took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the 3rd when Matt Carpenter hit a 1-out RBI double to put the Cards on the board before Matt Holliday hit a 2-out 2-run homer to make it a 3-0 ballgame. The Dodgers shaved the lead to one run in the bottom of the 4th after former Red Sox and Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez led off with a double and moved over to second when Andre Ethier walked. This set the stage for rookie phenom Yasiel Puig, who brought Gonzalez home with an RBI single. After Ethier moved up to 3rd on a Uribe fly ball, AJ Ellis drove in another run with an RBI single to make it 3-2.

However, the Cardinals would get some cushion in the top of the 7th when Shane Robinson belted a pinch hit solo homer to left field with one out to take a 4-2 lead. For the bottom of the 9th, Trevor Rosenthal came out of the Cards bullpen and gave up a leadoff single before Puig grounded into a double play and then got Juan Uribe to strike out to end the ballgame.

The Dodgers look to avoid elimination in Game 5 and will send Zach Greinke to the mound against Joe Kelly on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4:07 PM ET (1:07 Pacific) and the game will be televised on TBS.

Late Drama Sports Chowdah Update- Big Papi Adds to His October Legend With Clutch Grand Slam; Brady Being Brady- Patriots Top Undefeated Saints In Final Seconds; Bruins Shed Jackets

Yowza! What a Sunday! Looked as though I'd be trying to sugar-coat two high-profile, nationally televised New England losses today, but I don't mind being wrong. Turned out today was EXACTLY the kind of day I had longed to blog about when I started up NANESB! four years ago. Instead of writing for the umpteenth time how much I LOVE this time of year, I'll do my best to let Sunday's events speak for themselves.

Charlie Riedel- AP

RED SOX- On Saturday, the ALCS opened up with the AL Central champions holding the Red Sox to zero hits through 8⅓ innings in Game 1. Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez went 6 innings, striking out 12 and walking 6 batters before the bullpen took over with a 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI single by Jhonny Peralta off of Jon Lester. Daniel Nava broke up the Tiger's no-hit bid with one away in the bottom of the 9th and the Red Sox put pinch-runner Quentin Berry, who stole second with two away to give Boston a runner in scoring position, but after a lengthy battle between Tigers closer and Red Sox rookie Xander Bogarts, the Boston shortstop flew out to end the game and give Detroit the 1-0 win.

Sunday's Game was starting to look like more of the same as Tigers starter Max Scherzer picked up where Sanchez and the Detroit bullpen had left off. This was the pitching matchup alot of baseball fans wanted earlier in the regular season with Scherzer going up against Clay Buchholz. The Tigers got out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Alex Avila.

If you thought a 1-0 lead was insurmountable while being no-hit, then imagine how daunting a 5-0 lead would be. The Red Sox didn't have to imagine as Miguel Cabrera added to Detroit's lead in the top of the 6th with a 1-out solo homer, followed by a Prince Fielder double, an RBI from Victor Martinez and a 2 run homer from Aivla to give the Tigers a seemingly insurmountable 5-0 lead- all before Boston got their first hit of the night.

Shane Victorino broke up the Scherzer's no-hit bid with two away in the bottom of the 6th and one batter later, Dustin Pedroia ended the shutout with an RBI wall ball double that brought Victorino home before Big Papi struck out to end the inning.

After Buchholz allowed the four runs in the 6th, the Red Sox bullpen did a good job of keeping the Tigers hitless. Still, the Red Sox found themselves six outs away from heading to Detroit down 0-2 and facing a resurgent Justin Verlander in Game 3. After Drew led off the inning with a groundout, Will Middlebrooks doubled and Ellsbury followed that up with a walk. Victorino struck out swinging, but Pedroia singled to load up the bases with 2 away.

With David Ortiz coming to the plate, Tigers manager decided to go to closer Joaquin Benoit for a four out save. On the very first pitch Ortiz saw from Benoit, this happened:



Tigers outfielder came close to running Big Papi's grand slam down, but he hit the bullpen wall while running full tilt, tumbling into the Red Sox bullpen and needed a moment to shake it off. After the Detroit starters and bullpen notched more than 30 strikeouts against Boston hitters in the first two games of the ALCS, David Ortiz tied the game with one swing of his bat to make it a 5-5 contest.

Koji Uehara came on in the top of the 9th and retired the Tigers batters in order, bringing on reliever Rick Porcello. Johnny Gomes led off with an infield single and advanced to second when former teammate Jose Iglesias' throw got by Prince Fielder. Meanwhile, Jarrod Saltalamacchia battled with Porcello, staying alive after Prince Fielder attempted to catch a foul ball in the seats on the first base side only to have it clang off his glove.

A wild pitch from Porcello allowed Gomes to head to third and after working the count to 3-1, Saltalamacchia ended the ballgame in dramatic fashion.



Saltalamacchia's RBI single drives in the winning run and ties the series up at 1-1. Koji Uehara gets the win and Porcello is hung with the loss. The series resumes at Detroit's Comerica Park on Tuesday night- John Lackey is scheduled to get the start against Justin Verlander. First pitch is scheduled for 4:07 ET on Tuesday and the game will be televised on ESPN.

PATRIOTS- Fenway Park wasn't the only Massachusetts venue that was home to some late heroics.

New England was coming off of their first loss of the season with the rather daunting task of taking on the undefeated New Orleans Saints at Foxboro. Thanks to a Gostkowski FG and two Stevan Ridley rushing TDs, the Patriots got out to a 17-7 lead in the first half of Sunday's game. But the Saints started to chip away in the 3rd quarter, tying the game at 17-17 on their second possession of the second half. The Pats managed to briefly re-take the lead thanks to a 54 yard Gostkowski FG with 1:36 to go in the 4th.

Drew Brees was then picked off by Kyle Arrington on the Saints first possession of the 4th quarter. The Patriots would get as far as the New Orleans 4 yard line but ultimately have to settle for a FG to make it 23-17.

The Saints then got the ball back and took 5 minutes off the clock with an 81 yard scoring drive that had Saints QB Drew Brees hit paydirt on 3rd and 20 from the Patriots 34 yard line with three and a half to go in regulation. The Patriots would get the ball back but promptly turn it over on 4th and 6 after an incomplete pass from Brady. The Saints then added to their lead to make it 27-23 thanks to a 39 yard Garrett Hartley FG with 2:24 left in the game.

With 2:16 to go, the Patriots would get the ball back on their own 20, but would be picked off on a long pass to the Saints 30. All New Orleans needed was a first down to seal the ballgame, but ended up going three and out. With a rapidly emptying Gillette Stadium, New England got the ball back with 1:13 to go and nothing less than a TD would do it for the Patriots. Yet Brady put together an improbable drive- including two big completions to WR Austin Collie. With no timeouts and the two minute warning long gone, Brady spiked the ball after a big 4th and 4 completion to Collie, setting up 2nd and 10 at the Saints 17 yard line. Theoretically, that would give Brady time for two attempts, but all he'd need is one after finding Kenbrell Thompkins in the corner of the end zone with 5 seconds left on the clock.

What was left of the crowd went wild and the PAT made it a 30-27 Patriots lead with less than 5 seconds left. New England still needed to kick off- Darren Sproles fielded the punt but fumbled. Even though New Orleans recovered, it was a moot point as time expired.

One week after their disappointing loss to Cincinnati, New England rallies late to beat the undefeated Saints on Sunday in what would be Act 1 of a fast-paced Sunday in which New England prevailed late.

Next Sunday, the Pats will travel to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

Interestingly, the New Orleans loss whittles down the total number of undefeated teams in the NFL to two- both of them in the AFC West; the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.

BOSTON BRUINS- The Bruins rallied late in Ohio's capital on Sunday afternoon after falling behind 1-0 to the Blue Jackets. Boston would score three unanswered goals starting with Chris Kelly in the 2nd followed by Loui Eriksson less than a minute into the 3rd and an empty netter from Milan Lucic with less than 30 seconds to go in the 3rd.

Just because the Red Sox and Tigers have Monday off for a travel day doesn't mean there's no Detroit vs Boston action on Monday. For the second time this young season, the Bruins will host the Detroit Red Wings at TD Banknorth Garden. The puck for this Original 6 matchup drops at 1:00 PM on Monday and the game will be televised on NESN and the NHL Network for viewers in Canada.

Under the Dome Sports Chowdah Update- Falcons Rally Late, But Get Their Wings Clipped; Because 162 Isn't Enough- Rangers and Rays Head Into One Game Playoff;

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE this time of year?

Kevin Cox- Getty Images

PATRIOTS- In their second prime-time matchup since week two, New England found themselves facing off against an NFC South opponent for the second straight week.

If last week's game against the Buccaneers was any indicator, Brady seemed to be settling into a groove with his corps of new receivers and vice-versa. However, they would have their work cut out for them in Week 4 on the road in the Georgia Dome against Boston College alum Matt Ryan and two of the NFL's best receivers.

The Falcons got on the board first with a Matt Bryant FG in the first before New England capped a 75 yard drive with a Brady to Matt Mulligan completion to put New England up 7-3. A 48 yard FG from Gostkowski made it 10-3 New England before Atlanta tied the contest up at 10-10 thanks to a 21 yard reception from Matt Ryan to TE Tony Gonzalez with just 38 seconds to go in the first half.

After another FG from Gostkowski in the 3rd quarter put the Patriots back on top, New England looked as though they were going to blow this one wide open at the start of the 4th quarter thanks to a 47 yard TD run from LaGarrette Blount to make it 20-10. Although the Falcons managed to drive down into New England's red zone, Michael Buchanan sacked Matt Ryan on 3rd and 5 from the New England 18 yard line, forcing Atlanta to settle for three points but still making it a 1-score game at 20-13.

The Patriots struck back quickly, thanks to two long completions from Brady to Edelman before Brady connected with WR Kenbrell Thompkins for an 18 yard TD pass. On the very first play of Atlanta's next possession, CB Aquib Talib managed to pick off a Matt Ryan pass and got as far as the Falcons 31 yard line before settling for a field goal, making it a 30-13 game with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 4th.

However, Atlanta would not go quietly and closed the gap thanks to an 11 yard TD pass from Ryan to Gonzalez before recovering the onside kick at mid field. Ryan got the Falcons as far as the Patriots 7 yard line, but Atlanta would have to settle for a field goal. New England successfully recovered the ball on Atlanta's next onside kick attempt and was simply looking to wind the clock down and get a first down on 4th and 1 at the Falcons' 37, but Brady fumbled the snap and although he recovered it, the Patriots turned it over on downs. Ryan looked as though he would make the Patriots pay when he found Julio ones for a nearly flawless 49 yard completion. However, with 36 seconds left and on 4th and 7 from the Patriot's 10, Aquib Talib broke up a Matt Ryan pass attempt to Roddy White in the end zone. New England got the ball back and Brady took a knee to run out the final seconds of the game.

New England moves to 4-0 for the first time since their 2007 dalliance with perfection. Next week, the Patriots will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 PM kickoff on Sunday and will be televised on CBS Sports.

MLB- WILD CARD- It looks as though 162 games wasn't enough for the Texas Rangers or Tampa Bay Rays.

On the final day of the regular season, the Indians managed to leapfrog both Texas and Tampa Bay after winning 10 straight games to conclude the 2013 regular season to take the first Wild Card berth. This is Indians manager Terry Francona's first trip to the postseason since 2009 when he was still with the Red Sox. This is also Francona's first season as the Indians manager. The Tribe will await the winner of Monday's Rangers/Rays game.

First pitch for the Rays and Rangers Wild Card game is scheduled for 8:07 PM ET and will be televised on TBS.

Alan Diaz- AP

MIAMI MARLINS- And just like that the regular season is in the books, and it wasn't exactly uneventful.

While the Miami Marlins won't be going to the postseason, the end of their regular season was pretty noteworthy as starter Henderson Alvarez threw a no-hitter. Not only did the 23 year old Venezuelan starter get his no-hitter against the defending AL Champion Detroit Tigers, but he got it in an unorthodox manner and saw the game clinched when he was in the on deck, not the mound.

It was still a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 9th when Giancarlo Stanton came home on a wild pitch with the bases loaded for Miami's 1-0 win. The no-hitter was the Marlin's first since September 2006 when Anibal Sanchez no-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks.


RED SOX- The regular season for Boston ended on a less-than-glorious note after dropping two out of three to the Orioles over the weekend. Despite the losses, the Red Sox finish the season tied with St Louis for the best record in MLB with 97 wins and 65 losses.

This means that not only will Boston wait until Friday for their next game, they won't know who their opponent is until after two separate play-in games starting on Monday night. The Oakland A's finished one game behind Boston and will host the AL Central champion Detroit Tigers for the ALDS.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Tigers Bombed As Big Papi Reaches Milestone in Fenway Blowout

With apologies to Bugs Bunny, it's safe to say that Tigers manager Jim Leyland took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Matt Stone- Boston Herald

RED SOX- In all honestly, for all the attention the series between the two best teams in the American league received coming into Wednesday night's nationally televised rubber game, I'm a little surprised it didn't receive even more attention.

The Red Sox got on the board early thanks to a 2-run Stephen Drew homer that wrapped around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the second before Detroit got on the board with a Torii Hunter groundout that plated former Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias in the top of the 3rd. With a runner on second, Detroit took the lead on a two out Prince Fielder homer that followed a similar trajectory as Drew's 2nd inning homer to put the Tigers up 3-2.

Ellsbury knotted the score up at 3-3 with a one out solo homer that- AGAIN- made its way around the Pesky Pole. However, Dempster looked like he was struggling a bit when he loaded up the bases with only one away in the top of the fourth. Iglesias hit the ball to short and the runner was out at second, but Iglesias was quick enough to beat the throw to first to keep the inning going and allow the run to score, putting Detroit up 4-3.

That would turn out the be the last time Detroit would have the lead for the night. In the bottom of the 4th, David Ortiz led off the inning with a solo shot to right field [the first homer that DIDN'T wrap around the Pesky Pole that night- NANESB!] for career hit number 1,999 to tie things back up at 4-4.

Aside from a walk to Prince Fielder, Dempster seemed to settle back down in the fifth inning. In the bottom half of the frame, the Red Sox re-took the lead with a Dustin Pedroia sac fly to put Boston on top 5-4. However, the score wouldn't remain that way for very long.

After a 1-2-3 inning from Dempster, Tigers starter Rick Porcello had to face the Red Sox bats once again. He led off the inning by walking Daniel Nava and then gave up a double to Mike Napoli before it was decided to intentionally walk Stephen Drew to load the bases. Mike Carp pinch-hit for David Ross and drew a bases loaded walk to make it 6-4 with nobody out. Tigers manager Jim Leyland the decided to pull Porcello and bring Albuquerque out of the bullpen [I remain convinced Albuquerque is pitching under an assumed name- NANESB!]. Facing Will Middlebrooks as his first batter, Albuquerque served up a grand slam over the Monster seats and onto Landsdowne Street on only his second pitch to break the game open and put Boston up 10-4. But would you believe that wasn't even the highlight of the inning?

Albuquerque managed to get Ellsbury to strike out before hitting Victorino with a pitch- Pawtucket callup Quentin Berry would pinch-run for Victorino. Pedroia would get caught looking at strike three for the second out of the inning, bringing up Big Papi.



David Ortiz notches career hit #2000 with that RBI double and makes it an 11-4 lead. A visibly emotional Big Papi acknowledged the crowd as they gave him a standing ovation for that milestone, but the Red Sox still weren't finished up in the 6th inning. Daniel Nava homered to deep center to bring home Big Papi and make it 13-4 before Jeremy Bonderman came out of the Tigers bullpen to strike out Mike Napoli and finally end the Red Sox rally.

There would be more- MUCH more- as the Red Sox would score a total of 17 unanswered runs and steamroll over Detroit by a final of 20-4. The eight homers hit by Red Sox bats ties a club record while the 20 runs is an MLB high for the 2013 season. David Ortiz goes 3-5 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs while Will Middlebrooks went 3-5 with 1 homer and 4 RBI. Dempster threw six complete innings, getting plenty of run support by the time the bottom half of the 6th wrapped up.

After sweeping the White Sox, the Red Sox take two out of three from the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers [who, despite last night's thumping, still boast the second best record in the American League- NANESB!] on their next-to-last homestand of the regular season.

On Thursday night, the Red Sox will travel to Yankee Stadium to take on the Bronx Bombers who are still in Wild Card contention. Ivan Nova [8-4; 2.88 ERA] will get the start against Jake Peavy [11-5; 3.91 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 ET and the game will be televised on both NESN and the MLB network.

Trade Deadline Sports Chowdah Update- Peavy Changes His Sox; Seattle Slew- Choppy Waters For Mariners in Boston

RED SOX- For the last several weeks, there was talks along the lines of not if White Sox starter Jake Peavy would remain in Chicago, but where he would end up on July 31st. So it was to hardly anyone's surprise when the ChiSox announced that Peavy had been pulled from the rotation on Thursday night.

But shortly after Tuesday night's home game against the Mariners, the Red Sox announced that they had acquired Jake Peavy from Chicago and Brayan Villarreal from Detroit in a 3-team, 7 player trade involving the Red Sox, Tigers and White Sox. In exchange, Boston SS Jose Iglesias goes to Detroit and minor league pitchers J.B. Wendelken and Francelis Montas and infielder Cleuluis Rondon to the ChiSox and Detroit sends outfielder Avisail Garcia to Chicago.

Detroit's acquisition of Iglesias has fuelled speculation that Tigers sought an infielder before the trade deadline because SS Jhonny Peralta may be facing a lengthy suspension as part of the Biogenesis Labs scandal.

Peavy, who made his major league debut with the Padres in June 2002 and won the NL Cy Young award in 2007, was traded to Chicago by San Diego in 2009. Since playing for the ChiSox, Peavy has accumulated a 36-29 record- including going 8-4 with a 4.28 ERA this season and was one of the biggest names that any team had openly expressed an interest in moving before the July 31st nonwaiver trade deadline. Peavy is halfway through a 2 year, $29 million deal with the White Sox before his contract expires at the end of the 2014 season.

Earlier this month, the Red Sox made headlines not for announcing a trade, but announcing who they retained after agreeing to terms with 2B Dustin Pedroia on a $100 million, six year contract extension.

Elise Amendola- AP

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- With all this wheeling and dealing, it was still worth pointing out that there were still some games to be played. Boston was coming off of a stinging 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday to knock them into second place. The Mariners made their first trip to Fenway this season, but it wouldn't be their first time seeing rookie Brandon Workman this season. Workman had previously given up 3 runs on 4 hits in two innings of relief against Seattle three weeks ago.

Seattle drew first blood with a 2-out Kendrys Morales RBI single in the top of the first to make it 1-0, but Workman would be working with a lead after Victorino came home from 3rd on a passed ball to tie the game up at 1-1 before Big Papi had an RBI single that brought Pedroia home to give Boston the 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 2nd, the Red Sox added to their lead with a pair of homers- a solo shot by Jacoby Ellsbury and 2-run blast by Pedroia into the Monster Seats to make it 5-1. Now with a sizeable lead, Workman settled down and managed to throw five shutout innings- including getting out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 6th by striking out Michael Morse and Justin Smoak to end the Mariners threat.

Breslow, Thornton and Beato closed out the game for Boston after the Red Sox got some more insurance in the bottom of the 8th to seal the 8-2 win over Seattle.

Wednesday night's game will feature John Lackey [7-8; 3.19 ERA] going up against Hisashi Iwakuma [10-4; 2.87 ERA] with a first pitch scheduled for 7:10 . The game will be televised on NESN as well.

OTHER MLB NEWS- With so many teams still in it (or confident they're still in it), activity at the trade deadline was pretty subdued this season. Baltimore acquired Houston starter Bud Norris [6-9; 3.93 ERA] in return for sending outfielder LJ Hoes and pitcher Josh Hader to the Astros.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks sent starter Ian Kennedy [3-8; 5.23 ERA] to San Diego in return for left handed reliever Joe Thatcher, a prospect and a future draft picks.

Feeling Minnesota (and long overdue) Sports Chowdah Update- Target In Sight as Sox Sweep Minnesota; Ranger Danger- The Kids Are All Right As Bruins Jump Out to 2-0 Series Lead vs Blueshirts

Genevieve Ross- AP

BOSTON RED SOX- After a lackluster start to the month of May that included getting swept by Texas and dropping three out of four to the Minnesota Twins at Fenway, the Red Sox seemed to get some of their mojo back, winning five out of their last six games- including a 3-game sweep of Minnesota at Target Field over the weekend.

Boston came into the weekend series taking two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays- including a dramatic rally in the bottom of the 9th when the Red Sox down to their last strike when Will Middlebrooks belted a walkoff bases clearing double to give the Sox a 4-3 win. Like the Twins/Red Sox series opener at Fenway, Friday night's game 1 of the weekend series at Target Field required extra innings, but Boston ultimately prevailed on a Johnny Gomes RBI sac fly in the top of the 10th and Uehara got all three Twins batters he faced out to close out a 3-2 win.

For Saturday night, the Red Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to 3-run homer from former Twin Big Papi. Although starter Ryan Dempster didn't even make it the full five innings and the Twins would chip away at the Red Sox lead, Boston would go on to win by a 12-5 final.

On Sunday afternoon, the Twins were looking to avoid the sweep while Boston starter John Lackey was looking for just his second win of the season. Will Middlebrooks led off the scoring for Boston in the top of the second with a two out solo homer to right center. Another run came home with one away in the top of the third when Twins 3B David Plouffe threw away a Dustin Pedroia groundball with a pair of runners on base to make it 2-0 Red Sox. With storm clouds moving in over the Twin Cities, Pedroia and Big Papi each had one out singles before Napoli belted an RBI single to give Boston the 3-0 lead.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the 5th when Chris Parmalee came home on a Pedro Ciriaco throwing error in the bottom of the 5th. By the end of the 6th inning, the Target Field grounds crew put out the tarp as heavy rainstorms moved into the area. The rain delay of more than three hours was more than enough to show the 1993 movie The Sandlot in its entirety and since there had been enough innings played to make the game official, the dwindling crowd was left to wonder whether or not they'd try and get the complete game in. Since it was only a two run game before the delay, the Twins figured they had a shot at avoiding the sweep.

Instead, Catcher Joe Mauer struck out with the bases loaded to end a Minnesota threat in the bottom of the eighth. That's as close as the Twins would get as Dustin Pedroia hit a two run homer that clanged off of the wrist of Twins outfielder Josh Willmingham before clearing the fence in left field in the top of the 9th and after allowing back to back leadoff singles, Junichi Tazawa struck out the next two batters and got Chris Parmalee to ground out to second, ending the ballgame and completing the sweep of the weekend series.

The Red Sox will head further down the I-94 on Monday to take on the Chicago White Sox on the south side Monday night. Jon Lester [6-0; 2.72 ERA] is slated to get the start against Chicago's Dylan Axelrod [1-3; 4.27 ERA]- first pitch is scheduled for 8:10 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

BOSTON BRUINS- After the Maple Leafs jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Boston in the 3rd period of Game 7, the Bruins would score four unanswered goals to give them the series win. Patrice Bergeron scored both the goal that forced OT with 51 seconds left in regulation and the game winner just over 6 minutes into OT.

The Bruins opened up their second round series against the New York Rangers with a 3-2 win over the blueshirts on Thursday and this time they had some company- defensemen Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug were called up from Providence. Interestingly, Providence is in a playoff contest of their own- they're currently playing the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Penguins, the AHL affiliate of Pittsburgh.

After the Bruins took game 1 against the Rangers, the recent callups from Providence made an immediate impact with Krug getting Boston on the board first on Sunday afternoon. Less than three minutes later, the Rangers would tie the game up on Ryan Callahan's unassisted tally. After the Bruins and Rangers swapped goals early in the second, Boston took the lead on a Johnny Boychuck goal with just under eight minutes to go in the second period. Early in the third, Brad Marchand wasted no time in padding the Bruins lead with a goal 26 seconds in. Milan Lucic added a goal of his own to give the Bruins a 5-2 lead.

Boston goes on to win by a 5-2 final- interestingly, neither team scored on the power play. The Bruins went 0-1 while the Rangers were 0-5 with the man adavantage.

The two teams will be back at it on Tuesday night from Madison Square Garden at 7:30 ET. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports network.

Today's Train of Thought- Target Sighted, April 4th 2013

Today's Train of Thought takes us to the Twin Cities, which has seen a number of dramatic changes on recent years as far as both the railroad and sports landscape is concerned.

Since the last time the Twins won the World Series, there was the formation of the Twin Cities & Western, Union Pacific's acquisition of the Chicago & North Western, the merger between the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, Canadian National's acquisition of the Wisconsin Central, the formation of Progressive Rail, Inc to operate former Milwaukee Road and Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern trackage in the Twin Cities- not to mention the startup of the Hiawatha light rail line and the Northstar Commuter Rail starting in 2008.

The sports landscape has changed as well. The Minnesota Northstars moved to Dallas in 1993, but eventually a new NHL franchise was awarded and the Minnesota Wild began playing in the Twin Cities starting in 2000. Although the Vikings still play in the belegaured Metrodome, the Golden Gophers football team left the dome for TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2009 and the Twins began playing their home games outdoors for the first time since 1981 with their 2010 move into Target field

Started in July 1991, the Glencoe, MN-based Twin Cities & Western is actually one of the older shortline operations in the Twin Cities, purchasing more than 100 miles of former Milwaukee Road track west of the Twin Cities. Traffic includes soybeans, ethanol, lumber, molasses, coal,  frozen vegetables, aggregates and of course.....lots of grain. Motive power for the TC&W is typically a hodgepodge of Caterpillar re-engined first generation Geeps, although the line more recently acquired a pair of former Kennecott Copper GP39-2s and restored Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 Northern #261 sometimes shows up on TC&W rails for excursions and shakedown runs. The TC&W is also the parent company of the Minnesota Prairie, Red River Valley & Western and Sisseton-Millbank.

The eastern end of the TC&W connects the line with the Canadian Pacific, BNSF, Union Pacific and Canadian National- four of America's six Class I carriers. But these connections aren't without their own inherent problems. In the late 1990s, reconstruction of Minnesota Route 55 and plans for the Hiawatha light rail made the route less viable. Currently, the TC&W reaches Minneapolis by way of a temporary connection over a former Chicago Great Western line converted into a bike path with the BNSF Wayzata subdivision. To reach the Canadian Pacific interchange in St Paul, the TC&W also has to navigate its way past a number of Northstar commuter rail trains.

Here, railpictures.net contributor John Ryan caught TC&W GP39-2 #2300 leading an eastbound grain-laden freight in Minneapolis, MN on July 16, 2010. The train is making its way across the Mississippi River to the CPR yard in St Paul. In the background, a Northstar commuter train is parked beneath the overpass waiting to depart while even more prominently in the background is the Twins' new home, Target Field.

Incidentally, the Twins beat the White Sox by a 7-4 final that night in case anybody was wondering.

Wild Card Sports Chowdah Update- Chip Chop, Atlanta Tomahawked Out of Postseason On Dubious Call; O's Flying High; Caught Up on the Bills- Patriots Get 1st Win Against Division This Season

Chipper Bows Out- AP Photo/John Bazemore

NL WILD CARD- MLB's new expanded playoff format couldn't get through the first game without generating some controversey on Friday when the two National League Wild Card teams faced each other for a single elimination game at Turner Field.

Although the Braves got out to a fairly quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd thanks to a 2-run David Ross homer, the Cardinals came back in the top of the 4th to take the lead thanks to a throwing error from Braves 3B Chipper Jones followed by a a hit and some productive outs, giving the redbirds a 3-2 lead before the Braves were able to get out of the inning. This was followed by a Matt Holliday solo homer to make it 4-2 in the top of the 6th and another costly throwing error in the top of the 7th.

The Braves would get a run back on a Bourne RBI groundout in the bottom of the 7th and looked like they had a rally going in the bottom of the 8th until this happened.

Seemingly determined to take the heat off the NFL's replacement referees, Atlanta thought they had the bases loaded when what should've been a routine flyout to shallow left off the bat of Andrelton Simmons instead fell between Cards shortstop Pete Kozma and Matt Holliday. The disputed call led to irate Braves fans throwing garbage on the field and a 20 minute delay as the grounds crew attempted to clean up as the teams waited out the deluge in their respective dugouts.

As it turned out, that was the last, best chance for Atlanta. The Braves played the remainder of the game under protest and the Cardinals would go on to win by a final of 6-3. Before the final out was recorded, umpire Sam Holbrook's call had already drawn comparisons to the Seattle Seahawk's disputed 14-12 'Fail Mary' or 'Touchdeception' win over the Green Bay Packers when replacement NFL referees had alternately signaled touchdown and interception as time expired during the September 24th game.

However, as many Braves fans and players attested postgame, it wasn't the call that had cost them the game, but rather the errors that eventually led to St Louis Cardinals runs.

The win means that the defending World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals will face the reigning NL East pennant winners in Washington DC on Saturday. Interestingly, the Nationals-Cardinals game on Sunday night will mark the first time since 1933 there has been playoff baseball in the nation's capital.

Friday night also marked a couple of milestones- it was the final game in Braves third baseman Chipper Jones' 19 year career. Jones- who spent his entire career with Atlanta- had a career batting average of .303 with 2726 hits, 1623 RBI and 468 home runs.

This also was the first postseason win for freshman Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and the first Cardinals postseason win without Tony La Russa as manager since 1987.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB PLAYOFFS- The Baltimore Orioles were rewarded for their first playoff appearence since 1997 with a 5-1 win over the defending AL champion Texas Rangers on Friday night. O's starter Joe Saunders went 5 and two thirds innings and got the win against the Rangers' Yu Darvish. Although both starters would give up a run early, Adam Jones would come home on a JJ Hardy sac fly in the top of the 6th and Nate McClouth would get an RBI single in the top of the 7th to make it 3-1 Baltimore.

3B Manny Machado would get credited with an RBI single while McClouth would get another RBI in the form of a sac-fly in the 9th to make it 5-1. That would be the final score that sent the back to back AL champs packing on Friday night and set up a rematch with the team they faced in the next-to-last time they were in the postseason, the New York Yankees.

OTHER MLB NEWS- Detroit Tigers infielder Miguel Cabrera has become baseball's first Triple Crown winner in 45 years. For the 2012 season, Cabrera led the AL in with a .330 batting average, 44 homers and 139 RBI.

The last Triple Crown winner was in 1967 when Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski won the honors. Cabrera is also the first player from Latina America to win the Triple Crown.

Detroit clinched the AL Central title last week and will play the AL West Champion Oakland A's on Saturday in what will be a rematch of the 2006 ALCS.

BOSTON RED SOX- The Boston Red Sox regular season ended with a whimper following a three game sweep in the Bronx at the hands of the archrival Yankees, going 7-22 since Labor Day weekend and a disastrous West Coast road trip. All but five games took place against opponents in the AL East, with every game after September 7th taking place against the Devil Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays or Yankees. The month-long freefall marked an anti-climatic finish to the centennial season of Fenway Park.

A day after the close of the 2012 Red Sox season, the Red Sox made it official and fired manager Bobby Valentine. The 69-93 finish to the regular season under Valentine was Boston's worst in nearly 50 years and good for dead last in the AL East.

Valentine's dismissal has led to speculation that the Red Sox are actively pursuing former Red Sox pitching coach and current Toronto manager John Farrell.

AP Photo/Bill Wippert

NFL- Tom Brady and the New England Patriots rallied from a 14-7 defecit at haltime against Buffalo to win their first AFC East matchup of the 2012 season.

The Pats were fortunate to be down by just one TD before the half. Trailing 14-7 and With just over 2 minutes to go in the first half, Wes Welker fumbled after catching a 14 yard pass deep in New England's own end. However the Bills fumbled at the Patriots 4-yard line and Vince Wilfork was able to recover.

Even with the fortutious turn of events, Buffalo was able to take a 21-7 lead on a 68 yard completion and run from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to WR Donald Jones on their 1st posession of the 3rd. However, New England would come back to tie it by outtung together back to back TD drives while limiting the Bills offense to a couple of short porsessions where they had to punt almost immediately. The Partiots took the lead early in the 4th with a 28 yard reception and TD run from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski to make it 21-28 and the Patriots never looked back from there, going on to win by a final of 52-28. RB Stevan Ridley had a pair of rushing TDs while Brandon Bolden and Tom Bary each had a rushing TD between them. Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead and Brandon Lloyd each caught TD passes.

This Sunday, the 2-2 Patriots will return home to Foxbourough and take on a familiar face in a new uniform when they play the Denver Broncos and QB Peyton Manning. Kickoff is set for 4:25 ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

Summertime Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Snap Skid Vs Minnesota, Corral Rangers; USA's Phelps Set for Golden Retirement;

RED SOX- This past week has pretty much personified the 2012 Red Sox- with the struggling club taking two out of three from the Yankees or the Detroit Tigers, but dropping the first three of a four game series to the Minnesota Twins- who aren't quite in the basement of the AL Central, but certainly sitting on the basement steps.

After getting shut out 5-0 in the series opener on Thursday and blowing a 5-1 lead on Friday's 6-5 loss, the Red Sox made it three in a row with Saturday's 6-4 loss. On Sunday, the Red Sox got out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a Carl Crawford RBI groundout and an Adrian Gonzalez RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd.

The Twins would get a run back in the top of the 3th on a Ben Revere RBI sac fly to cut Boston's lead in half, but the Red Sox would add to their lead thanks to a 2-run Adrian Gonzalez homer in the bottom half of the inning to make it 4-1 Boston.

The Red Sox would add to their lead with a Cody Ross single in the bottom of the 7th and a Jacoby Ellsbury RBI sac-fly in the bottom of the 8th.

As it turned out, Boston would need those insurance runs as Vincente Padilla led off the top of the 9th by allowing a solo homer to Josh Willingham, followed by a walk to Justin Morneau before giving up a homer to Ryan Doumit to cut the Twins defecit to 6-4. Alfredo Aceves came out to relieve Padilla and got the next three batters out to end the ballgame and halt the Red Sox losing streak at four games.

Franklin Morales went six complete innings for the Red Sox, allowing just three hits, one earned run and striking out four batters. Gonzalez went 2 for 3 with a homer and 3 RBI and Aceves came out for his 23rd save of the season.

On Monday night, the Red Sox hosted the Texas Rangers. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, the Red Sox began to get to Texas starter Yu Darvish, taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to RBI doubles from Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. The Red Sox would then add to their lead in the bottom of the 4th on an RBI double from Jacoby Ellsbury, a Carl Crawford sac fly and RBI double from Dustin Pedroia, making it a 5-1 lead.

Steven Senne/AP

After David Murphy got to Aaron Cook for an RBI single in the top of the second, Cook threw five shutout innings before handing things over to Junichi Tazawa in the 8th while the Red Sox continued roughing up both Darvish and the Rangers bullpen, getting one run in the bottom of the 7th and three more in the bottom of the 8th.

Although Tazawa allowed a leadoff solo homer to former Red Sox 3B Adrian Beltre, followed by a Nelson Cruz single, Tazawa would get the next three batters in order and the Red Sox would go on to win convincingly by a 9-2 final.

Adrian Gonzalez would go 3-5 with 3 RBI while Carl Crawford would go 2-4 with 3 RBI and Dustin Pedroia would go 3-4 with an RBI. Aaron Cook went 7 complete innings allowing six hits, three walks and one earned run.

For Tuesday night, Jon Lester [5-9; 5.36 ERA] gets the start against Ryan Dempster[5-5; 2.82 ERA]. In his Rangers debut, Dempster only lasted four and two thirds innings against the Angels, allowng eight earned runs on nine hits. The game gets underway at 7:10 PM Eastern time and will be broadcast on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- With the trade dealing having come and gone, the Red Sox mostly stood pat on July 31st. The did send outfielder Scott Podsednik and RHP Matt Albers to Arizona for reliever Craig Breslow and sent 1B Lars Anderson to Cleveland for RHP Steven Wright.

Josh Beckett left after pitching less than 3 innings in Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers. Although he wasn't placed on the DL, he missed his next scheduled start on Sunday and is expected to go back onto the mound on Wednesday afternoon's game against the Rangers.

DH David Ortiz, out of action since July 16, is still reportedly sore from an achilles strain. Manager Bobby Valentine is uncertain when Ortiz will be returning to the starting lineup.

MLB TRADE DEADLINE- Although the Phillies broke the bank to keep starting pitcher Cole Hammels in the city of brotherly love earlier in July, two-thirds of their outfield were gone by the trade deadline last week.

The Phillies had sent outfielder Shane Victorino to the LA Dodgers in exchange for relief pitcher Josh Lindblom and minor league pitcher Ethan Martin while Hunter Pence went to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for outfielder Nate Schierholtz, minor league pitcher Seth Rosin and catching prospect Tommy Joseph.

Meanwhile, in the American league, the Texas Rangers won the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes, sending minor league infielder Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Hendricks to the Cubs. Dempster had reportedly vetoed a proposed trade with the Atlanta Braves while the Dodgers and Yankees had reportedly sought the services of the 35 year old right handed starter.

NFL- The 29 year old son of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid has been found dead in a dormitory room at the team's preseason facilities at Lehigh University.

Police said the death was not suspicious, and the cause was under investigation. The coach's oldest son had a long history of drug problems, once admitting "I liked being a drug dealer" and went to prison for a heroin-fueled car crash.

Owner Jeffery Lurie met with the team Sunday and told reporters afterward he expected Reid back this week. The Eagles host Pittsburgh in their preseason opener on Thursday night.

The police chief at Lehigh, Edward Shupp, said a 911 call was made at 7:20 a.m. about Reid, and that the 29-year-old was dead when a policeman arrived at the campus dormitory. The police and Northampton County coroner were investigating.

Reid had been staying at the camp where he assisted the Eagles' strength coaches at camp in an unofficial capacity, a not-uncommon sort of role for NFL coaches' sons. He was frequently seen on the sideline at practices and in the locker room after games. Many of the coaches and staff stay in the Lehigh dorms.

Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and Offensive coordiantor Marty Mornhinweg will take over coaching duties from Reid until he's expected to return to the team on Thursday.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- After beating the Arizona Cardinals 17-10 in the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints will next take on the Patriots on Thursday night in NFL Preseason action.

-38 year old free agent WR Terrel Owens has reportedly reached an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks after a tryout at the team's Renton, WA training camp.

Owens last played for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2010 season, catching 72 passes for 983 yards and nine TDs.

SUMMER OLYMPICS- American swimmer Michael Phelps has capped off his career by becoming the winningest Olympic athelete in the history of the modern games. Phelps had already come into the games tying American swimmer Mark Spitz for total Olympic medals won after Phelps had won during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Despite the slow start earlier in the London Games, Phelps won silver as part of the 4 X 100m freestyle relay and the individual 200m butterfly. Interstingly, the previous record holder for winning the total number of Olympic medals- a 77 year old Ukranian named Larisa Latynina who was a gymnast for the Soviet Union between 1956 and 1964- was present for Phelp's race when he broke her record; Latynina had reportedly offered to present Phelps with the silver medal herself, but that was reportedly against Olympic regulations to do so.

Less than 48 hours later, Phelps won the 16th and 17th gold medal of his Olympic career after edging out rival and team USA teammate Ryan Lochte in the 200m individual medley event and then the 100m butterfuly- his last individual event.

Heading into the London Summer Games, Phelps had stated that he would call it a career after the Olympics. With that in mind, the final event Phelps would be participating in would be the 4 X 100M medley relay in which Phelps and Team USA took gold.

Between the 2004 Athens games, the 2008 Beijing Olympiad and this year's London Olympics, Phelps retires with 18 gold medals, two bronze and two silvers. Phelps also holds a world record in the 100m and 200m butterfly event and 400m individual medley.

ELSEWHERE IN OLYMPIC SWIMMING- It isn't just Phelps who's having a good Olympics at the pool. Dana Vollmer, Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni and Allison Schmidt brought home the gold for Team USA in record breaking fashion for Team USA in the women's 4 X 100m individual medley relay, clocking in at a new world record of 3:52.05. Overall, The USA women's swimming team has won 8 gold medals, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals in the individual and relay events in London.

OLYMPIC BASKETBALL- After surviving a late scare from Lithuania in which Team USA went on to hold on for a 99-94 win over the dimunitive former Soviet republic, the all-star American team would go on to face Agrentina- gold medalists in the 2004 Olympics.

After a back-and forth first half in which the USA went to the locker room with a 60-59 lead, the USA came out dominant in the second half- outscoring Argentina 42-17 in the 3rd quarter alone. Team USA would go on to win by a final of 126-97; Kevin Durant lead the scoring with 28 points. Things got testy in the 2nd half when Carmello Anthony took a knee to to the groin from Argentina when it was becoming apparent that Team USA was running away with it.

The Americans will face the Australian team next, with the match scheduled for Wednesday.

OLYMPIC SHOOTING- The USA has swept the skeet shooting events by taking gold in the men's skeet event.

After USA Shooting teammate Kimberly Rhode made history by becoming the first Olympian to win medals in five consecutive Olympics, United States Army Sgt Vincent Hancock took the gold in the men's skeet shooting event. The 23-year old was by far the yongest in the qualifying round and had hit a record-setting 123 out of 125 targets in the qualifying round.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL- The USA Women's volleyball team remains undefeated through the 2012 Olympics. On Tuesday, they swept the Dominican Republic team 3 sets to none to advance to the semifinals. Destinee Hooker again figured prominently in the win with 19 points for Team USA in the 25-14, 25-21 and 25-22 sweep of the Dominican Republic.

In the preliminary round, the USA women's team have bested South Korea, China, Brazil, Turkey and Serbia. The women will now await the winner of the Italy/South Korea match later on Tuesday to see who they will play next.

WOMEN'S SOCCER- The USA Women's Soccer team advances to the gold medal round to face the Japanese women's team in a rematch of last year's World Cup.

They had to rally against the upstart Canadian women's team on Monday- not only did Christine Sinclair get Canada on the board first, she accounted for all three of Canada's goals. The USA was able to tie the contest up on two goals from Megan Rapinoe and another from Abby Wambach to force extra time with Alex Morgan getting the Game winner for USA at the 120th minute for the 4-3 win.

Sports Chowdah Update- Cody Red At Fenway, Red Hot Ross At It Again; Colts Stroke of Luck

RED SOX- On Thursday night, it was looking as though the Red Sox were going to squander a perfectly good start from Clay Buchholz where he went 8 full innings, allowing 1 run on six hits.

However, Chicago's Quintana had done one better than Buchholz, going eight shutout innings and allowing with Boston managing just 5 hits. Through eight innings, the only scoring in the game was Adam Dunn coming home on an Alex Rios sac fly in the top of the 4th.

In the top of the 9th, Alfredo Aceves got out of a 2-out situation with runners on 2nd and 3rd to keep the game at 1-0. In the bottom of the 9th, Carl Crawford led off the inning with a single, but was out on second on a Dustin Pedroia groundout. Adrian Gonzalez would follow that up with a single, setting up this bit of awesomeness from Cody Ross



Just in case the embedded video isn't working, Cody Ross belted his THIRD 3-run homer in 2 nights for give the Red Sox the walkoff 3-1 win [congratulations to whoever has Ross on their Fantasy team- NANESB!]. The game winning blast by Ross gave came off of White Sox reliever Addison Reed and gave the Red Sox their 3rd win against the White Sox in this week's 4-game series. White Sox manager Robin Ventura gave Kevin Youkilis the night off- his first and only in the 4-game series at Fenway.

Friday night's game will see the Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays with Beckett going to the mound [5-7; 4.44 ERA] against the Jay's Aaron Laffey [1-1; 3.38 ERA]. The game gets underway at 7:10 ET with the game being televised on NESN.

NFL- The Indianapolis Colts and first round draft pick Andrew Luck have agreed to terms on a 4-year, $22 million contract this week. A highly sought-after product of Stamford, Luck was the #1 overall draft pick in the NFL this year.

The Colts' interest in luck prior to the draft led to speculation that All-Star QB Peyton Manning would be released. He eventually signed with the Broncos for a 5 year, $96 million contract.

The Colts have included an option for a 5th year in their contract with luck.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Seattle Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch was arrested over the weekend for driving while intoxicated in the Oakland area. The California Highway Patrol said that Lynch submitted to a test while in custody and that it showed he was over the legal limit.

In March, Lynch had signed a 4-year $31 million contract extension with the Seahawks. His trial begins on Aug 14, although it isn't know if he faces any sanctions from the team or the NFL front office.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update: Cody's Ross-some 6-RBI Night at Fenway; Big Papi Goes on 15-Day DL, Pedroia Returning Soon

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

RED SOX- Coming off a 7-5 loss to Chicago which left many a Red Sox fan wondering why they didn't pitch around Youkilis on Tuesday night, White Sox rookie Pedro Hernandez took to the mound against Felix Doubront and the Big Papi-less Red Sox on Wednesday.

In the first frame, Doubront gave up back to back singles to De Aza and Youkilis to open up the game, althought he would then get 2 outs when Adam Dunn grounded into a double play while De Aza advanced to third.

With two away in the top of the 1st, Chicago drew first blood with a Paul Konerko RBI single to make it 1-0. The top of the inning would then end on an Alex Rios fly ball to center field.

In the botton half of the first, Jacoby Ellsbury led things off with a leadoff double. Carl Crawford would strike out and Cody Ross would then fly out with Ellbsury still on second base. However, instead of getting stranded, Ellsbury flew home on an Adrian Gonzalez RBI single to tie up the contest at 1-1 before Middlebrooks hit a ground ball to shortstop to get Gonzalez at second.

It was still 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Hernadez gave up a pair of back to back singles by Ellsbury and Crawford to start off the inning. With two on and nobody away, Cody Ross would then belt a homer that cleared the Monster seats in left field to give Boston the 4-1 lead. After coughing up the homer, Hernandez would then allow a 1-out single by Will Middlebrooks before getting the inning to end on a fielder's choice and a popout.

After a 1-2-3 top of the 4th by Doubront, lightning would strike again in botton half of the inning. Hernandez allowed back to back singles by Ciriaco and Ellsbury with one away before getting Carl Crawford to pop up. That left him facing none other than Cody Ross with two away. Care to guess what happens next? It was pretty awesome. If you guessed another bomb over (or into) the Monster seats, give yourself a gold star. Once again Ross belted a 3-run homer to give the Red Sox some more insurance. This was immediately followed up by an Adrian Gonzalez solo shot to make it 8-1 Boston.

Getty Images

Meanwhile, the only baserunner Doubront would allow after the massive outburst from Ross and Gonzo was a 6th inning 1-out walk to Konerko who was promptly erased when Alex Rios grounded into a double play to end the innning. Carl Crawford led off the bottom half of the 6th frame by getting hit by a pitch from Hector Santiago. For a second, it looked like Ross would have yet another homer to his name, but Cody's fly ball caromed off the Green Monster (instead of over it) and he was on board with a double. However, Gonzo would bring Crawford and Ross home with a 2-RBI single to make it 10-1 Boston.

That would be the final as Albers, Melancon and Miller came out of the bullpen to close out the game for Boston. Doubront went six complete innnings allowing four hits and just the one run while Cody Ross went 3-5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Gonzo would go 3-4 with the solo homer and 4 RBI on the night- all 10 of Boston's runs were driven in by either Ross or Gonzo on Wednesday. Meanwhile Ciriaco has been quitely batting .400 ever since Pedroia went on the DL.

The Sox-on-Sox action at Fenway will wrap up on Thursday night when Clay Buchholz [8-3; 5.54 ERA] takes to the mound against Jose Quintana [4-1; 2.60 ERA]. In what's supposed to be the last day of the MLB preview for Time Warner cable and DirecTV sattelite customers, the game will be televised on NESN with a first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM ET.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- DH David Ortiz was placed on the 15-day DL on Wednesday with a strained right achilles attachment. The Red Sox slugger came up limping while rounding 2nd base in the 8th inning of Monday night's 5-1 win over Chicago.

Ortiz underwent an MRI on Tuesday and reportedly sought a 2nd opinion which ultimately concurred with the results of the first MRI.

Meanwhile, 2B Dustin Pedroia- who went on the DL before the All-Star break with a thumb injury- is eligible to come off the DL on Thursday and could return to the lineup as early as the final game of the White Sox series.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update for 7/17- Red Sox Triumphant in Greek God Of Walks Return to Fenway

RED SOX- As we all know, Fenway park turns 100 this season. However, it only feels like it's been that long since Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford have all started in the same game- and of course, Youk wasn't batting for the Red Sox anymore, either.

In his first appearence at Fenway Park since the late June trade that sent him to Chicago's South Side, Youk went 3 for 4 and scored Chicago's lone run in the top of the first, reaching home on a fielding error by 1B Adrian Gonzalez.

Making his first start for Boston this season, outfielder Carl Crawford immediately had an impact when he reached in the bottom of the 1st, advanced to 3rd on a single by David Ortiz and then came home on an Adrian Gonzalez single off of ChiSox starter Dylan Axelrod.

Although Youk would have three hits for the night off of Aaron Cook, that was about all the offense that Chicago could muster. Meanwhile, the Red Sox would get some 2-out hits off of Axelrod, but could do nothing to bring the runners home through the first seven innings.

That would change, however, when Leyson Septimo came on to relieve Axelrod with two away in the bottom of the 7th. Although he would get Ellsbury to pop up and end the inning, in the bottom of the 8th Septimo led off the inning by walking Crawford and Big Papi before Adrian Gonzalez clobbered a 3-run homer off of him to make it 4-1 Boston. Cody Ross would then reach on a single, advancing to second on a wild pitch before Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out, then heading to third on a Will Middlebrooks groundout. Mike Aviles would then bring him home with a 2-out RBI single to make it 5-1 Boston.

Although Alfredo Aceves walked Paul Konerko with one away, he would get White Sox outfielder Alex Rios to ground into a double play to end the ballgame, giving the Red Sox the 5-1 win in the series opener at Fenway.

Aaron Cook went 7 innings for Boston,to get the win, allowing just five hits and the unearned run. In addition to scoring their only run, Youkilis accounted for three of the ChiSox's five hits on Monday night. Despite the loss, the White Sox remain two and a half games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central lead.

Tuesday night's game will have Phillip Humber [3-4; 6.01 ERA] go up against Jon Lester [5-6; 4.49 ERA] with a start time of 7:10 ET.

Sports Chowdah Update- Felix the Cat; Yankees Rivera Out for Season; Cole Minders- Philly Starter Gets 5 Game Suspension

RED SOX- Heading into Thursday night's series opener at Fenway against the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox had won exactly two games since the April 28th pitchers duel between Jon Lester and White Sox starter Jake Peavy- including an excruciating 17 inning affair at Fenway that saw the O's cap a sweep of the BoSox and Baltimore infielder Chris Davis get the win over Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald last Sunday. Yes- by the time the 17th inning rolled around, both Boston and Baltimore had depleted their bullpens and were using position players; the first time two teams had put a position player on the mound since George Sisler of the St Louis Browns went up against Detroit's Ty Cobb on the final day of the 1925 season.

Although the road trip to Kansas City got off to a promising start, the Red Sox dropped the next two games at Kauffman Stadium and then dropped the opening game against the Tribe after returning to Fenway. Beckett went up against former Red Sox starter Derek Lowe and lasted all of 2⅓ innings as the Indians teed off against him for 7 earned runs before he was pulled. Turns out the Tribe didn't even need Danielle Peck as a distraction for Beckett's most recent start

NOT a factor in Thursday night's fiasco against the Indians

Instead, it was Beckett's golf game was at the fore when after being scratched from the lineup with a sore lat muscle in his back. Yet, on his day off, Beckett was able to get in a game of golf- sore back and all. Beckett stood by his golf game, insisting that what he did on his day off was his business.

After good start by Clay Buccholz where he went 6⅓ innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, the Red Sox managed to hang on for the 7-5 win on Friday night. Saturday's game saw Felix Doubront go up against Zach MacAllister and was a much more brisk and lower scoring affair than Friday's game. The Red Sox got on the board in the bottom of the third on RBI doubles from Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. Mike Aviles would bring in another runner with an RBI sac fly to make it 3-0 Boston in the bottom of the 4th. Indians 2B Jason Kipnis would put the Tribe on the board in the top of the 6th to make it a 3-1 game, but the Red Sox would make it a 3-run game once again thanks to a booming solo homer that cleared Landsdowne St off the bat of Cody Ross.
Alfredo Aceves would come out of the bullpen for a 1-2-3 ninth inning and preserve the Red Sox win- their first back to back wins since their torrid 6-1 road trip at the end of April.

The Red Sox try for the win of the 4-game series on Sunday afternoon with Cleveland starter and former Red Sox product Justin Masterson [1-2; 4.89 ERA] will go up against Daniel Bard [2-4; 4.83 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS<- The Red Sox have acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Philadelphia Phillies for cash considerations on Friday. A member of the 2005 World Series Champion White Sox, Podsednik was a non-roster invitee to the Phillies spring training. After spring trainin, Podsednik was assigned to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs where he's been batting .203 with six stolen bases so far. The transaction will have the sppedy outfielder sent to Pawtucket first and reportedly includes an opt out provision if Podsednik isn't called up by this time in June.

OTHER MLB NEWS- New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is out for the season after tearing an ACL during batting practice before the Yankees hosted the Kansas City Royals last week. Rivera was carted off the field and is scheduled to undergo surgery and has been taking blood thinners for a recently discovered blood clot in his right leg.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels has recieved a 5 game suspension from MLB for throwing at Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper. Hamels admitted to intentionally throwing at Harper during the May 6th game inside the Beltway. Harper got a measure of revenge by stealing home in the Nationals 9-3 loss to Philadelphia that night.

Hamels is scheduled to return to the mound on Sunday at Citizens Bank ballpark on Sunday night against the San Diego Padres and starter Jeff Suppan. Interestingly, Harper survived Hamels' plunking only to risk injury at him own hand a few days later after throwing a fit in the visitor's dugout in Cincinnati. After going 0-5 against the Reds, Harper slammed his bat against the wall before it shattered, with part of it catching him right below the eye. This resulted in a gash that required 10 stitches and he was sporting a bandage for Saturday night's game against the Reds.

Trade Deadline Sports Chowdah Update- Sox To Be You, Sox on Sox Action in Chicago's South Side; Lets Get Bedarded

RED SOX: This weekend saw the Red Sox head off to Chicago's South Side for a quickie 3-game road trip against the Pale Hose. Friday night saw the series get off on the wrong foot for Boston, with Gavin Floyd outlasting Tim Wakefield in Friday night's 3-1 win. ChiSox catcher AJ Pierzynski's 2-run homer in the bottom of the 7th proved to be the game winner while BoSox 2B Dustin Pedroia's hit streak came to an end at 25 games.

On Saturday, the Red Sox finally broke a scoreless deadlock in the top of the 4th with an Saltalamacchia RBI double, RBI sac flies from Pedroia and Marco Scutaro and an RBI single from Youkilis to make it a 4-0 game. That really would be all they needed, although they got another RBI from Scutaro in the top of the 8th before breaking it open with a 5-run 9th inning. Jon Lester would go 8 complete innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits (two solo homers- one from Paul Konerko and the other from Gordon Beckham) while striking out 8 and walking two for Saturday's 10-2 win.

That set up a rubber game for Sunday with Andrew Miller getting the start against Mark Buehrle against Boston's Andrew Miller. Miller would last 5 and two thirds innings, but would leave trailing 3-2 before Boston rallied thanks to a 2-RBI single from Dustin Pedroia after Buehrle left in the top of the 7th to put the Sox up 4-3. The Red Sox would then get some insurance thanks to a 1-out Adrian Gonzalez RBI single to make it a 5-3 game. Papelbon was able to come in from the pen and strike out all three batters he faced to preserve the Red Sox 5-3 win and Alfredo Aceves gets credited with the victory pitching in relief. Boston takes two out of three in the South Side and manages to maintain a 2-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East standings (not to mention the best record in the AL).

The Red Sox will next head home to take on the Cleveland Indians for a Monday night game that will be televised on ESPN. John Lackey (9-8; 6.20 ERA) will get the start against Josh Tomlin (11-5; 4.01 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: The Red Sox have acquired starting pitcher Erik Bedard from the Seattle Mariners in a 3-team trade at the Sunday deadline. For Bedard, the Mariners get minor league outfielder Trayvon Robinson from the Dodgers and Taiwanese outfielder Chih Hsien Chang from Boston while the Red Sox send righties Stephen Fife and Juan Rodriguez along with catcher Tim Federowicz to LA.

The trade took place less than a day after a tenative deal with the Oakland A's for starter Rich Harden fell apart after closer scrutiny of his medical records by the Red Sox led to doubts about his ability to complete the season.

Bedard (4-7; 3.45 ERA with Seattle this season) didn't even last 2 innings in Friday night's 8-0 Mariner's loss to Tampa at SafeCo field on Friday night. It was his first start in nearly a month after spending time on the DL.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Although Boston may not get to see him this week, the Tribe made some waves in the AL Central with their acquisition of starter Ubaldo Jimenez (6-9; 4.46 ERA)from Colorado shortly after acquiring outfielder Kosuke Fukudome from the Chicago Cubs.

The Astros dealt most of their outfielders to the NL East, sending Hunter Pence to Philly and Michael Bourne to Atlanta.

The Cardinals acquired SS Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers while the Diamondbacks obtained Jason Marquis (8-5; 3.95 ERA) from the Nationals.

Curiously, the Yankees did hardly anything before the deadline- a time in which the organization is usually looking to make a move. Reportedly their scouts were present in Seattle when Bedard had his meltdown.