Alberta Bound Sports Chowdah Update- What Can Browns Do For You? Slick Bruins Get Past Oilers Thanks to Iginla

Elise Amendola- AP

NFL- It doesn't seem to matter who the opponent is- ever since that Monday night game against the Carolina Panthers, the Patriots have this habit of falling into a hole in the first half and then climbing out of it in the second half.

Sunday afternoon's game- which pitted Belichick against the team that gave him his first head coaching gig in the NFL- was no different. In fact, after the Cleveland Browns jumped out to a 6-0 in a sluggish first half and only added onto that lead in the 3rd quarter. With Cleveland leading 12-0, things only got worse for New England as Rob Gronkowski was knocked out of the game after a 21 yard completion.

The Patriots got on the board thanks to a short FG from Gostkowski to make it 12-3 but Cleveland would jump out to a 19-3 lead late in the 3rd thanks to an 80 yard TD reception from Jason Campbell to WR Josh Gordon. With less than 1:20 to go in the 3rd, New England got great field position thanks to a 28 yard return from Josh Boyce. Brady then connected with Shane Vereen twice for gains of 50 and 16 yards, respectively- giving New England the ball on the Browns 6. Vereen then punched it in for the TD and Brady successfully connected with Edelman for a 2 point conversion to make it 19-11 to close out the 3rd quarter.

After a drive that took nearly 6 minutes, the Patriots once again got on the board but had to settle for a Gostkowski FG from the 50 after Brady was flagged for intentional grounding and then sacked inside the Brown's 30 yard line.

The Browns responded with a drive of nearly 3 minutes that started out on their own 13 but ate up huge chunks of yardage before Campbell connected with TE Jordan Cameron from the New England 4 yard line for the TD. This put the Patriots in a 26-14 hole with a mere 2:39 to go in regulation.

At this point, most fans would've changed the channel of started walking out of the stadium. With just over two and a half minutes to go and the Patriots pinned back on their own 10 yard line, even if the Patriots could get another TD, they'd still be down 26-21 with (in all likelihood) less than a minute to go. And that was assuming the Patriots COULD get a quick score out of Brady and the offense.

Alternating between Vereen and Julian Edelman, Brady and each receiver was able to take advantage of the sideline while getting chunks of yardage against the Browns' defense, getting the ball as far as the Cleveland 2 before Brady connected with Edelman to hit paydirt on 3rd and goal and made it a 21-26 game. Moreover, a penalty was assessed against the Browns on the Edelman TD pass that would be enforced from the kickoff.

If you were still watching, you had to wonder if there was anything else New England could do to pull off the comeback. Of course, if the onside kick from the 50 wasn't recovered it would be a moot point as all Cleveland had to do was get a first down and bleed out the clock if they recovered it.

They didn't. Gostkowski's kick didn't go the necessary 10 yards, but a Browns player was the first to touch it and Kyle Arrington recovered for New England at the Browns 41.

After a 10 yard pickup from Brady to Amendola, Brady attempted to throw to Boyce in the end zone, but the pass attempt was incomplete. Officials called Browns CB Leon McFadden for pass interference and since the infraction took place in the end zone, the ball was automatically placed on the 1 yard line. With 31 seconds to go, Brady found Amendola in the end zone to give New England their first lead of the day. The two point attempt failed, but New England was nursing a 27-26 lead with 30 seconds to go.

However, the way Campbell had been playing for the Browns on Sunday afternoon, 30 seconds might've been too much time to give the Cleveland offense. After starting out on their own 20, Campbell got Cleveland as far as the Patriots 40. With a sense of deja-vu, kicker Billy Cundiff came out for a 58 yard FG attempt with 2 seconds left in the game. There was no 'Hand of Myra' this time around as Cundiff's kick fell short of the uprights- New England barely holds on for the 27-26 win.

Tom Brady went 32-52 with an interception, 418 yards and 2 TDs while Jason Campbell went 29-44 with 391 yards and 3 TDs, but the real story was and remains the loss of Gronkowski for the rest of the season. Further examination after the game showed Gronkowski suffered from a torn ACL after the 3rd quarter hit.

A depleted Patriots team will travel down to Miami on Sunday to take on the Dolphins, who are currently 2nd in the AFC East and sitting pretty in the wild card chase as well. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 ET on Sunday from Miami and the game will be televised on CBS.

Jason Franson- AP

NHL- After last week's loss to Montreal, the Boston Bruins are on a 4 game winning streak, three of those wins coming at the start of a lengthy road trip north of the border. This includes a sweep of the province of Alberta where the Bruins bested Jarome Iginla's former team, the Calgary Flames, in the Saddledome before Iginla scored two goals for Boston against the Oilers in Boston's 4-2 win over Edmonton at Rexall Palace.

The Bruins will next take on the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday night with a scheduled start time of 10:00 ET on Saturday night. The rematch of the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup Finals will be televised on NESN and the CBC.

Weeknight Sports Chowdah Update- Paterno Fired, Students Riot As Fallout From Abuse Scandal Continues; B's Slick Against Oilers; Thursday Night Lights

PENN STATE: As a Pennsylvania Grand Jury released a graphic report detailing the 40 charges being filed against former Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State University Board of Trustees fired head football coach Joe Paterno and University President Graham Spainer.


News of Paterno's dismissal was met with rioting from irate Penn State students who overturned vehicles, ripped out light poles and pelted pedestrians and police officers with rocks and bottles in State College, PA Wednesday night.

The 84-year old Paterno was fired after 46 seasons as Penn State's head football coach, with a career record of 409 wins and 136 losses, making him the winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 football history. Assistant coach Tom Bradley is expected to act as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

The Nittany Lions are currently ranked #12 in the country and are expected to host the #19 Nebraska Cornhuskers in Happy Valley on Saturday- Penn State's final home game of the season.

Assistant coach Mike McQueary, who testified to the grand jury that he had seen former offensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky molesting a young boy in the locker room showers in 2002, will reportedly miss Saturday's game due to unspecified threats. McQueary later told Paterno about what he had witnessed and Paterno had told then-athletic director Tom Curley, but no further action was taken.

Curley and former university Vice President Gary Schultz are charged with perjury and failing to report the 2002 incident.

In a twist that seems right out of a Stieg Larssen manuscript, the Centre County, PA District Attorney who investigated 1998 claims that Sandusky was engaged in inappropriate relationships with boys as young as 8 at Penn State facilities has been missing since 2005 and declared legally dead by his family. Although it would be tempting to fall into some conspiratorial mindset thinking that the Penn State scandal just now coming to light played a role in DA Gricar's disturbance, if foul play was behind the disappearance of the Pennsylvania DA, it came just weeks after Gricar was at a press conference announcing Centre County's biggest drug bust.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: There was some more ACC Football tonight. Mercifully, this didn't involve the hapless and outmatched BC Eagles getting stomped.

Under the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, it was the Virgnia Tech Hokies who continued their win streak against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Thursday night.

Georgia Tech was leading the Hokies 26-21 late in the 3rd period and appeared to have the Hokies as good as stopped on 3rd and 19 when Yellowjackets LB Jeremiah Attaochu took a swing at Hokies QB Logan Thomas for a 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down. Aided by a 44 yard run from RB David Wilson, the Hokies would score on that drive to make it 27-26 Virginia Tech. The Hokies would then get 10 more points in the 4th quarter to put the game away by a 37-36 final.

MISSOURI: The Mizzou Tigers made official their move to the SEC this week during an announcement at the campus student center. Missouri is the second team to leave the Big 12 for the SEC, with both Mizzou and Texas A&M expected to join the SEC at the start of the 2012 season.

MLB: 24 year old Washington Nationals rookie catcher Wilson Ramos was abducted by gunmen in his native Venezuela on Wednesday.

AP File Photo

According to a spokeswoman for Ramos' Venezuelan-league team, Ramos was abducted by multiple gunmen in full view of his fathers and brothers inside of his home at Santa Ines at 6:45 Wednesday night.

Reportedly no contact has been made with Ramos' family. In the recent past, family members of MLB players in Venezuela sometimes abducted for ransom, but this is reportedly the first time an active player has been abducted.

Ramos was acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a 2010 trade that sent All Star relief pitcher Matt Capps to the twin cities. This season, Ramos batted .267 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI while throwing out 28% of the runners who attempted to steal on him.

Kidnappings targeting wealthy and middle-class Venezuelans have been on the increase for more than a decade.

Venezuelan police said 618 kidnappings were reported in 2009, and the numbers have grown rapidly in recent years. In 1998, when President Hugo Chavez was elected, just 52 kidnappings were reported. Security experts say the real number of kidnappings today is much higher because many cases aren’t reported to authorities.

The wealthy have taken steps to protect themselves. Sales of armored cars have soared in the past several years. Bodyguards typically shadow major leaguers when they return to their homeland to play in the winter league.

It is not known what, if any, security precautions Ramos took while returning to Venezuela.

[Personally, I think Ramos' abduction is the logical outcome of more than a decade of socialist dictator Hugo Chavez's economic policies centered around avarice and class envy- NANESB!]

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Wow- I might've actually called this at the end of October.

Seven years after defeating the Cardinals to lead the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918, former Red Sox manager Terry Francona interviewed with St. Louis on Tuesday after Tony LaRussa announced his retirement last week just days after the Cardinals won their 11th World Series title.

Other potential candidates include former Cub Ryne Sandberg and Cardinals 3rd base coach Jose Oquendo. Among the anticipated candidates, Francona is the most experienced.

RED SOX: Speaking of interviews, the Red Sox are continuing their offseason interviews to replace Francona.

This week, they interviewed Cleveland Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar and are expected to interview Tigers 3rd base coach Gene Lamont and former Pawtucket Red Sox manager and Blue Jays 1st base coach Torey Lovullo.

Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux had announced that he was withdrawing his name for consideration for Boston's managerial vacancy.

Image- NBA Entertainment

NBA: Former Celtic and basketball hall of famer Ed Macauley passed away at the age of 83 in St Louis on Tuesday.

The lanky Macauley, also known as 'Easy Ed' played for a season with the St Louis Bombers of the Basketball Association of America before the Franchise went under and the Boston Celtics selected him in a 1950 dispersal draft.

Between the 1950-51 season and 1955-56 season, Macauley played for Red Auerbach's Celtics before being traded to the St Louis Hawks for Bill Russel. A few years after the deal, Russel and the Celtics faced off against Macauley and the Hawks in consecutive NBA Championships in 1957 and 1958. The Celtics won the title in '57 and the Hawks beat Boston in '58.

Macauley would go on to coach to Hawks for two seasons, taking them to the playoffs, but not making it to the NBA finals. In 1960, 'Easy Ed' was named to the basketball hall of fame at age 32- to this day, the youngest player to be admitted to the Naismith Hall. Interestingly, after moving back to the St. Louis area Macauley became an ordained deacon in the Catholic church in 1989.

The Celtics have retired Macauley's number 22.

NHL: After their forgettable October, the Bruins are now back to .500.

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Of course, it helps when you start piling up the wins against teams in your own division, but the Bruins homestand continued on Thursday night when they played host to the Edmonton Oilers (9-3-2).

The Bruins got out to a pretty quick 2-0 lead in the first before the Oilers knotted things up to send both teams to the locker room tied at 2-2. Early in the 2nd, the B's would get the lead back on a power play goal from Brad Marchand followed by a Tyler Seguin tally less than 3 minutes later to make it a 4-2 lead.

Heading into the 3rd period, neither team was able to find the back of the net until less than 5 minutes to go in regulation when Ryan Smyth was able to convert an Oilers power play with 7 seconds to go on the man advantage to make it a one-goal game. However, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand would score 30 seconds apart to pad the Bruins lead and give them the 6-3 win, making them a .500 team at 7-7-0.

Tukka Rask turned aside 27 of 30 shots for his second win while Devan Dubnyk allowed 6 of the 28 shots he faced by him. The Bruins went 2 for 5 on their power play opportunities on Thursday night.

Interestingly, Thursday night's game featured the top two picks of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft (the Bruins were using Tornto's pick that they obtained in the Kessel trade)- Boston's Tyler Seguin and the Oiler's Taylor Hall. Seguin had a goal and an assist while Hall had an assist.

The Bruins homestand continues with their next game on Saturday night, where they will host the 9-5-0 Buffalo Sabres at 7PM ET. The game will be televised on NESN for those of you in New England and the MSG network for those of you in Upstate NY.



NFL: Are you ready for some football? Some Thursday night football?

Don't sweat it- neither were the San Diego Chargers. Recently acquired from the Cincinnati Bengals, Raiders QB Carson Palmer went 14-20 with 299 yards, 2 TDs and an interception.

To be honest, I tuned in just in time to catch River's pass to Jacob Hester to make it a 24-17 game with the Raiders on top. And that was it- no more scoring. None.

With the win, the Raiders take posession of 1st place in the AFC West.

Next week's Thursday night game will feature the Jets and the Broncos.

3rd Helping of Western Sports Chowdah- Bruins Looking Slick vs Oilers; Jazz Hit Flat Note Against C's;

NBA: Ray Allen was looking pretty ageless on Monday in Salt Lake City, getting 25 points on the night including and a pivotal 3 pointer in Boston's 107-102 of a rejuvenated Utah Jazz. Paul Pierce had 21 points on the night while Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The tenacious win is the Celtics 2nd in a row as they wrap up a 4-game road trip out west immediately after the NBA All Star break, going 3-1 to start off the 2nd half. The Celtics return home on Wednesday night to the Garden where they'll take on the Phoenix Suns at 7:30 PM ET.


NHL: After a pair of 3-1 wins against league leading Vancouver and a resurgent Calgary Flames club, the Bruins had to hold off a late rally to come away with a win in the capital of Alberta Sunday night.

The last-place Edmonton Oilers got on the board first against Boston with a goal from Ales Hemsky barely a minute into the game. Michael Ryder would provide the equalizer with five minutes left in the first, followed by Nathan Horton putting Boston up 2-1 with less than two minutes remaining.

New acquisition Rich Peverly would get on the board with a goal with two seconds remaining in the 2nd period to make it a 3-1 game. This would be Peverly's first tally as a Boston Bruin.

The Oilers showed signs of life in the 3rd stanza, with Gilbert Brule scoring for the Oilers about 3 minutes into the 3rd and the Bruins. Tukka Rask managed to turn aside a flurry of Edmonton shots late in regulation, but Rask held on for the win, stopping 15 of 17 shots faced. The win is Boston's 5th in a row- all of them on the road.

The Bruins road trip through Canada continues into Tuesday when the Bruins head back to the Canadian capital to take on the Senators at 7:30 PM ET.

SPRING TRAINING: Some disconcerting news out of Ft. Meyers as P Josh Beckett is reportedly exhibiting mild concussion symptoms after being struck in the back of the head by a ball during batting practice at City of Palms Park.

He left the field under his own power, but was accompanied by Red Sox trainers before being sent home to rest after being examined by team doctors. The team is awaiting a more detailed report on Tuesday.

Sports Chowdah Update, June 25-26- Ghana Baby, Gone; Giant Problems Ahead for Sox?; Feeling Another Draft?

WORLD CUP: Extra time giveth, extra time taketh away. After advancing on a last-minute goal by Landon Donovan on Wednesday against Algeria, team USA faced Ghana earlier today. And while that game wasn't settled in regulation either, things didn't go team USA's way this time around. Ghana's Asomah Gyan scored the deciding goal three minutes into the overtime of their first elimination game, giving Ghana a 2-1 win. Landon Donovan scored the only goal for team USA, giving them a game-tying goal on his penalty kick in the 62nd minute.

It was a good effort by team USA, but they fell into a hole one too many times throughout the tournament. Ghana will advance to take on Uruguay next week after the Uruguayans beat South Korea 2-1 earlier today.

Elsewhere in the World Cup: Authorities in Zimbabwe say they have arrested two Pakistani men using fake passports at the South African border; one of them reportedly involved in planning the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166. The men- which included Imram Muhammed who is sought by Pakistani and international authorities for his role in the mass-casualty attacks on India- were detained in the southern border town of Beitbridge last Sunday according to Zimbabwe's state-controlled Herald newspaper [A Bobby Mugabe mouthpiece, so caveat emptor, NANESB! readers- NANESB!]

AP/Boston Herald

MLB: While I was bracing for the worst in Tim Wakefield's start last night, it was a much closer game than I anticipated. Wake held the Giants to 3 earned runs (plus one unearned) over 7 innings- although he did give up 11 hits and had a costly throwing error with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 2nd. Londonderry, NH native son Brian Wilson came on in the 8th to close out the game for San Francisco and got some insurance (that he would need in the 9th) on a sac-fly that plated Nate Schierholtz to make it a 5-3 game for San Francisco. Youk would belt a triple to deep center with 2 outs in the 9th and get driven home on a Victor Martinez single before an Adrian Beltre single and Bill Hall walk would load up the bases , but Darnell McDonald would ground out to short to finish up the ballgame.

Just to make matters even more suck-tastic, Dustin Pedroia left the game in the 3rd inning on Friday night after fouling a ball off his foot in the top of the inning. X-Rays on the foot showed a non-displaced fracture on the navicular bone of his right foot earlier today and he was placed on the 15-day DL.

If that wasn't enough, things were looking as though they'd take a turn for the even-worse to start off earlier today. While Darnell McDonald kicked things off with a solo homer in the 1st inning, Clay Buccholz hyperextended his knee while running the bases after getting his first career base hit in the top of the 2nd. Scott Atchison came in and pitched two-and-one-third innings of relief starting with the bottom of the second, followed by Ramon Ramierez, Manny DelCarmen, Dustin Richardson, Hideki Okajima and Daniel Bard among others. The bullpen got alot of help from Mike Cameron- both with his bat- a 3-run homer in the top of the 2nd (Cameron's first with the Red Sox)- and his glove- a running, weaving catch on a well-hit Pablo Sandoval fly ball that looked like Cameron had lost in the sun before he slid into the outfield wall. The centerfielder was 1 for 3 on the day with the 3 RBIs on the day while Scott Atchison was credited with the win and Papelbon closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning good for the Red Sox 4-2 win and Pap's 17th save of the season.

The rubber game of the series tomorrow promises to be pretty interesting as Jon Lester (8-3) will start against 2-time NL Cy Young winner Time Lincecum (8-2). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM Pacific time and 4:05 Eastern.

Other Red Sox news: Boston acquired infielder Eric Patterson from the Oakland A's this weekend in exchange for minor-leaguer Fabian Williamson. Patterson is batting .204 on the season with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs.

Elsewhere in MLB: It took 149 pitches, but we have another no-hitter for this season. Arizona's Edwin Jackson looked so wild at times that it was doubtful he could even get out of the inning, let alone go the distance without surrendering a hit. Jackson gave up eight walks and zero runs while striking out 6 in the Diamondback's 1-0 win over Tampa Bay Friday night. Jackson threw 149 pitches and faced 30 batters without giving up a hit. This is the fourth no-hitter of the season with the perfect games by Philadelphia's Roy Halliday and Oakland's Dallas Braden and the first no-hitter of the 2010 MLB season thrown by Colorado's Ubaldo Jiminez barely 2 weeks into the season.

NHL: The Tyler Segiun era has begun in Beantown. The Bruins selected the 6ft 1 Center from the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL as the second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft at a much-more-serene Staples Center this weekend. The B's got the high pick from Toronto when they traded Phil Kessel last offseason. The Edmonton Oilers had the #1 pick of the draft and went with Taylor Hall of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires.

Weekday Sports Chowdah Update; The Joy of 6th- Bruins to Face off Against Buffalo; Sox Fall Short of Target in Twin Cities; Bulls Make C's See Red

(AP/NESN.com)

The Bruins finished the regular season on a high note in the nation's capital on Sunday with a shootout win over the Washington Capitals. There was even a Tim Thomas sighting, with last season's Vezina winner stopping 34 of 37 shots faced in the regular season finale. Thomas also didn't allow a goal in the shootout and got in the grill of Caps LW Jason Chimera in the 1st, letting loose with a series of haymakers. Micheal Ryder had two goals before the Bruins fell behind 3-2 and Marco Sturm tied the game up with about 5 minutes left in the 3rd.

As glad as I was for the point and the win, it didn't change much in the standings. Also worth noting that Washington sat their normal netminder Jose Theodore and went with Seymon Varlamov, who stopped 35 of 38 shots faced in regulation and overtime, but gave up the two shootout goals to David Krejci and Miro Satan.

The one point for the shootout loss left Washington with 121 points on the season, although they had locked up the President's trophy well before Sunday's game with the next closest team (San Jose) finishing with 113 points on the season. Alexander Ovechkin was held scoreless on the day, which left Vancouver's Henrik Sedin the winner of the Art Ross Trophy (the NHL's scoring title) with 112 points versus Ovechkin's 109. Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos both have 51 goals to their name for the 2009-2010 season, one ahead of Ovechkin's tally for the league lead.

Boston, on the other hand finished with 91 points, good for 6th place overall in the Eastern conference. As mediocre or craptastic as that might sound, I think even the most partisan Hub hockey fan would've thought that limping across the finish line barely squeaking past with an 8th place finish would've been unrealistic in the middle of that 10 game skid back in January. The 6th place finish earns them a first round matchup against the Buffalo Sabres beginning Thursday.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: Sunday afternoon's Flyers/Rangers game had alot riding on it- and since there's no shootouts during the Stanley Cup playoffs, why not make the final shootout of the regular season all the more dramatic? Heading into the final day of the regular season, the NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers were tied at 86 points each, good for the 8th and final playoff spot....in theory. Montreal's regular season finished the night before with an overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, leaving them with 88 points on the season. Montreal had the advantage in a couple of tie-breakers over the Rangers, but a Flyers loss in either regulation or OT would leave Philadelphia a point behind both New York and Montreal and out of the postseason.

Leading 1-0 on Jody Shelly's 1st period goal, the Ranger's Henrik Lundqvist entered the 3rd period stopping all 30 shots on goal from the Flyers until Philly's Matt Carle notched a power-play goal a little over halfway through the 3rd to tie the game up at 1-1 and send it into overtime, and each team being awarded a point did nothing to break the deadlock.

After a scoreless OT, the game went to a shootout where Philly's netminder Brian Boucher stopped 2 of the three shots he faced, both teams' season hinging on Olli Jokinen's attempt that Bouchet saved. Philly wins, gets the 88 points, good for 7th place finish (they had a tie-breaker over the Canadiens) and a first round matchup with the New Jersey Devils. Montreal has the misfortune of landing the Washington Capitals as their 1st round opponent.

NHL draft: The Bruins landed the second overall pick of the 2010 NHL draft Tuesday. The pick was originally the Maple Leaf's, but Toronto gave up their 1st round draft pick as part of the Phil Kessel deal. The Edmonton Oilers were awarded the 1st overall pick, and it's believed that Boston will select Taylor Hall {Windsor Spitfires, OHL} or Tyler Seguin {Plymouth Whalers, OHL}.

[h/t Stanley Cup of Chowder]

(Hanna Foslein/Getty Images)

MLB: Some 24 hours after their 8-6 win over Kansas City on Sunday, the Red Sox traveled to Minnesota to take on the Twins in what would be the regular season debut of Target Field. The game would pit Jon Lester against former Yankee Carl Pavano.

Leading off in the top of the 1st, SS Marco Scutaro would get the first hit in the new ballpark only to get picked off by Pavano. Minnesota's Denard Span had the first walk of the new ballpark in the bottom of the 1st before Lester gave up a single to Orlando Hudson before Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau to pop out. However, with two out, Micheal Cuddyer would have the ballpark's first RBI after his 2-out single drove in Span. Jason Kubel would add to that with an RBI single of his own before Lester would walk Delmon Young to load the bases before getting J.J. hardy to hit into a fielder's choice.

The Twins would add to their lead with a 2-out Joe Mauer RBI double to make it 3-0 in the bottom of the second. The Red Sox were kept off the board until the 4th, when Big Papi hit a booming double (that would've been out of most parks) that clanged off the glove of Delmon Young. However, Minnesota would get one back in the bottom of the 4th to make it 4-1 Twins.

Perhaps the highlight for the partisan crowd was Jason Kubel's leadoff homer in the bottom of the 7th to make it 5-1 Twins, with the home crowd witnessing the 1st ever homerun in the new ballpark. Minnesota would go on to win 5-2 in their Target Field debut. Interestingly, the last time the Red Sox were the visiting team in a ballpark's debut was 1923 in the toilet Yankee Stadium.

After having the day off today, the two teams will go at it again tomorrow in another day game. Kevin Slowey will start for Minnesota against John Lackey.

Other Sox-Centric News: Jacoby Ellsbury bruised his ribs in a collision with 3B Adrian Beltre during Sunday's 8-6 win over Kansas City. He was out for Monday's game against the Twins and is expected to miss a few more days according to Terry Francona. Beltre was able to start at third for Monday's game while Jeremy Hermida is expected to continue play left field in Ellsbury's absence.

Boof 'That's-Not-A-Sound-Effect-That's-My-Name' Bonser had another rough outing with the PawSox on Tuesday, lasting only two innings and giving up 9 runs in a 12-0 loss to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Bonser was reportedly limited to a 90-pitch count, but only threw for 50 in his outing and currently maintains an ERA of more than 17

A female knuckleballer from Japan who sought pointers from Tim Wakefield during spring training is set to make her debut with the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League this season. Eri Yoshida, Japan's first female professional ballplayer, will report to the Outlaws for spring training in May.

“I want to practice knuckle pitching more, and I want to become a stable knuckleball player like Wakefield,” Yoshida said. Yoshida had previously pitched for Kobe in the Kansai Independent League in Southern Japan.

NBA: After Boston's win at Milwaukee on Saturday, they seemed to be phoning it in against the Bulls at the United Center Tuesday night. Even for Chicago, the 101-93 win over Boston seemed overshadowed by reports of a physical altercation between head coach Vinny Del Negro and Bulls executive VP John Paxson. The Bulls are currently in 8th place in the Eastern conference heading into the final day of the regular season- one point ahead of Toronto.

Paul Pierce led the scoring for Boston with 28 points, followed by Ray Allen with 25. The Celtics will close out the regular season at home against the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow night- with the Atlanta Hawks clinching the #3 spot in the conference, it is looking like the Bucks will be #4 Boston's opponent in the first round of the NBA playoffs.