Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Sweep Into Second Half With Strong Homestand Against Kansas City; C-See-Ya Sabathia, Yankees Starter to Have Season Ending Surgery

RED SOX- I'm not going to come right out and say that AJ Pierzynski was part of the problem, but Boston's record since cutting the veteran catcher should speak for itself [although with the All-Star Break, it's a relatively small sample size- NANESB!].

The series against Kansas City got off to a promising start with a come-from-behind 5-4 win against the Royals at Fenway Park on Friday night. On Saturday, the Red Sox once again trailed early but were able to tie the game at 1-1 before Mike Napoli's solo homer in the bottom of the 6th put the Red Sox up for good, as it turned out.

Heading into Sunday's game against the Royals, the Red Sox had managed to go 6-1 with a team .292 batting average (.290 with runners in scoring position) and a combined ERA of 2.57 in their last 7 games [granted some of this was padded by the 11-0 romp in Houston immediately before the All Star break- NANESB!]. In just four games with the Red Sox, C Christian Vasquez- who is splitting time at backstop with David Ross- has a .385 batting average with 5 RBI.

On Sunday, the Red Sox got out to an early lead after back to back singles by Brock Holt and Daniel Nava off Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura opened up the bottom of the first. Holt, who moved to 3rd on Nava's single, came home after Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice to give Boston a quick 1-0 lead.

Jon Lester, who had struggled a little bit in the first after hitting Eric Hosmer with a pitch in the top of the first, had settled down and was cruising along nicely through the Royals lineup.

In the bottom of the 3rd, David Ross led off the inning with a walk and Jackie Bradley Jr followed that up with a single. JBJ and Ross advanced to 2nd and 3rd respectively on Borck Holt's groundout, and with two runners in scoring position, Daniel Nava belted a ground-rule double to right field to make it a 3-0 Red Sox lead. Ventura then walked Pedroia, but got David Ortiz to ground out and Mike Carp to fly out to shallow center to get out of the inning.

Shane Victorino, who returned to the Red Sox lineup on Saturday, led off the bottom of the 4th with a double to left field. Although Ventura got Stephen Drew on a fly ball to center field for the first out of the inning, David Ross took a 1-1 offering from Ventura and put it into the Monster seats for a 2-run homer, making it a 5-0 game. This was followed up by back to back singles from JBJ and Brock Holt, with Bradley moving to 3rd on Holt's hit and then coming home on Daniel Nava's sac fly to deep center, making it a 6-0 game.

Meanwhile, Lester would throw 8 complete innings of shutout baseball giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. Tazawa and Mujica would come out of the pen to close out the game. The Red Sox win by a 6-0 final and compete a sweep of the Kansas City Royals to start off the second half of the season.

Up next is a big 4-game series against the Blue Jays north of the border at the Rogers Centre. John Lackey [10-6; 3.79 ERA] is scheduled to start on Monday night against the Jays' Drew Hutchinson [6-8; 4.16 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 ET and the game will be televised on NESN. Toronto just wrapped up a homestand where they took two out of three from the struggling Texas Rangers to start off their second half of the season.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL EAST- New York Yankees starter CC Sabathia is expected to undergo season-ending surgery on his right knee this week. So far this season, Sabathia has gone 3-4 with a 5.28 ERA for New York. Earlier this month, Sabathia had a setback while in the minors on a rehab assignement after going on the Yankee's DL.

Yankee's general manager Brian Cashman seemed optimistic that Sabathia could be back with the Yankees by Spring Training in 2015.


ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Angels have acquired closer Houston Street from the San Diego Padres for a number of prospects on Friday. Street saved 24 games in 33 appearances for the 3rd place Padres this season with a 1.09 ERA. In exchange for Street, San Diego gets prospects in the form of 2B Taylor Lindsey, pitchers Elliot Morris and Roy Alvarez and SS Jose Rondon.

Sports Chowdah Update- Twice as Freaky, Giant's Lincecum No-Hits Padres For Second Time Since 2013; Sweepless in Seattle, Red Sox avoid M's Sweep; V is For Vandetta Vanderbilt

MLB- For the second time in less than a year, San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum has thrown a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. The lanky San Francisco starter known as 'The Freak' when he first came up through the Giants organization in 2007 threw a total of 113 pitches and allowed just one baserunner in nine innings of Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Padres. Wednesday afternoon's outing was much more efficient than his career high 148 during the July 13, 2013 no-hitter against the Padres at San Diego's PetCo Park. During his outing, Lincecum struck out 6 batters and allowed just one walk.

Lincecum's no-no was the Giant's fourth no-hitter since 2009- three of them against the Padres. Last season, Lincecum's no-hitter at PetCo Park came less than two weeks after Cincinnati's Homer Bailey threw a no-hitter against the Giants at the Queen City's Great American Ballpark. Interestingly, the Reds- the last team to no-hit San Francisco- are in the city by the Bay this weekend to face the Giants.

With Wednesday's no-hitter, Lincecum became the first Giants pitcher to throw two no-hitters since Christy Matthewson no-hit the Chicago Cubs in 1905. Lincecum also is the first MLB pitcher to no-hit the same team twice since Cleveland's Addie Joss no-hit the Chicago White Sox in 1908 and again in 1910.

RED SOX- Wednesday night also marked the return of Clay Buchholz from his rehab stint in AAA Pawtucket as the Red Sox were looking to avoid the sweep in Seattle.

The Red Sox got off to a promising start early as David Ortiz belted a 2-run homer off of Hisashi Iwakuma in the first inning, but the Mariners would take the lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Kyle Seager belted a solo homer off of Buchholz, followed by a 2-run homer off of Mike Zunino to give Seattle a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the 3rd, Jackie Bradley Jr led off with a double to right center followed by a Brock Holt single that put JBJ on 3rd with nobody out. Bradley then came home on a Nava RBI single to tie the contest while Holt moved to second. Dustin Pedroia then flew out to right field with no advance by the runner before Big Papi beat the shift and hit a single to right, bringing Holt all the way home and once again giving Boston the lead before Iwakuma struck out Gomes and Pierzynski to end the inning.

The Red Sox managed to chase Iwakuma from the mound in the top of the 5th after the Mariners starter gave up back to back singles to Holt and Nava before walking Pedroia to load the bases with nobody out. Tom Wilhelmsen came out of the Seattle bullpen and got Big Papi to hit into a double play, but not before another run crossed the plate for Boston to make it a 5-3 Red Sox lead.

As it turned out, that extra run would come on handy as Brad Miller belted a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the 8th for Seattle and make it a 1-run game. Buchholz would then get Stefen Romero to fly out before Andrew Miller came in from the Red Sox bullpen and got Mariners pinch hitters Willie Bloomquist and Cole Gillespie to strike out.

For the bottom of the 9th, Koji Uehara came out of the Sox bullpen and quickly got Robinson Cano out before allowing a single off the bat of Kyle Seager and then walking Logan Morrison to give the Mariners the potential game-tying run in scoring position with only one away. However, Koji would get Mike Zunino to strike out and then get Dustin Ackley to ground out to first to end the Seattle threat and close out Boston's 4-5 win over the Mariners.

Wednesday night's game closes out a rather lackluster West Coast road trip in which the Red Sox lost three out of four to the Oakland A's in Alameda County and dropped two out of three to Seattle at Safeco Field.

The Red Sox road trip continues on Friday night, albeit much closer to home, when they take on the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Brandon Workman [1-0; 2.88 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against New York's Vidal Nuño [1-4; 5.88 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the MLB network.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES- For the first time in Vanderbilt's 120+ year history, the Commodores can celebrate winning a men's national title in any sport after besting Virginia in the College World Series in Omaha on Wednesday night.

On Monday, the Commodores were seemingly poised to squander a considerable lead and held off the Cavaliers to win Game 1 by a 9-8 final. Virginia evened up the series on Tuesday night with a 7-2 win over Vanderbilt, forcing the deciding Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Commodores got out to a quick 1-0 lead after Virginia catcher Robbie Coman threw a ball into center-field with runners at first and second who were attempting the double steal. Dansby Swanson came home from 3rd while Bryan Reynolds went from 2nd to 3rd on the errant throw.

Virginia managed to tie the game at 2-2 in the 6th inning on a bases loaded grounder to Vandy SS Vince Conde that clanged off his glove and allowed the runners to advance safely. However, Vanderbilt took the lead for good when John Norwood belted a solo homer in the top of the 8th inning just past the 335 sign at Omaha's TD Ameritrade Field. Vanderbilt's Adam Ravenelle came out of the bullpen to close out the game and Vandy's first NCAA baseball title.

FIFA WORLD CUP- Despite losing Thursday afternoon's contest to Germany by a 1-0 final in rainy Recife, Team USA advances out of Group G and will face Belgium on Tuesday July 1. In Pool play, the USA has amassed a 1-1-1 record with a 2-2 draw against Portugal over the weekend. Although Portugal has a similar 1-1-1 record, the USA edged Portugal out by virtue of the goals allowed differential. Portugal's first win of the 2014 FIFA World Cup came on Thursday afternoon in their 2-1 victory over Ghana in the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia- besides the draw against Team USA, the Portuguese were shut out by Germany 4-0 in the first game of the 2014 FIFA tournament.

OTHER WORLD CUP NEWS- Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been banned from the 2014 World Cup after FIFA determined he intentionally bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's' 1-0 win over Italy on Tuesday. Suarez left for Uruguay on Thursday after FIFA came down with the ruling.

According to the BBC, this isn't the first incident involving biting that Suarez was involved in. In April 2013, while playing for Liverpool, Suarez was given a 10 game ban for biting Chelsea's Brianaslav Ivanovich's arm during an English premier league match. As captain for Dutch soccer club Ajax in 2010, Suarez received a 7 game suspension for biting the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal.

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.

Opening Day Is Here!

Nobody could sum up my love of baseball better than the late Ernie Hariwell and the final portion of his 1981 Hall of Fame Induction speech.



The 2014 MLB Baseball season technically got underway last weekend in Sydney, Australia when the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground, sweeping the two-game series Down Under.

However, Sunday night marks the beginning of the 2014 season in the USA- the LA Dodgers will take on the San Diego Padres at PetCo park at 8:05 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN. The Dodgers come into Sunday's game already two games up on the Padres by virtue of the fact that the two games they played in Australia counted as regular season wins. LA's Hyun Jin-Ryu will get the start against San Diego's Andrew Cashner.

Closer to the Hub, the Boston Red Sox will embark on their defense of their 2013 World Series title at Baltimore's Camden Yards. Jon Lester will get the start against Chris Tillman in Baltimore's home opener, and the game will be televised on ESPN2 with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 ET. Once a perennial doormat in the AL East, Baltimore was the only opponent in the division to have a winning record against Boston in 2013 with an 11-8 record versus the BoSox.

The Red Sox home opener is set for Friday, April 4th and it will be interleague play right out of the gate when they host the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch for the Fenway Park home opener is scheduled for 2:05 and the game will be televised on NESN.

Auld Ang Syne Sports Chowdah Update- Winter Classic Big Time Hit in Ann Arbor; Fenway Freezes Over for New Incarnation of 'Holy War'; A Star for the Ages, Marine Veteran and Padres Broadcaster Jerry Coleman Passes Away at 89

My understanding is that there's been some football games of significance taking place lately- I'll get caught up on that as best I can, but for now here's some of what's happening with the non-pigskin sports.

Brian Babineau- Getty Images

NHL- As much as I'm not a fan of either team involved, I gotta say that the 2014 Winter Classic went off without a hitch.

Before a crowd of 105,491 at the University of Michigan's Big House in Ann Arbor, the 'home' Red Wings faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, kicking off 2014 with an Original 6 matchup.

After a scoreless first period, former Senator Daniel Alfredsson put Detroit on the board first with a goal about midway through the second period before Toronto's James van Reimsdyk got the equalizer for the Leafs in the dying seconds of the 2nd.

Less than 5 minutes into the 3rd, the Leafs took their first lead of the day on a Tyler Bozak goal to put Toronto up 2-1. With less than five minutes to go, the 'home' team got the equalizer in the form of a goal from Justin Abdelkader to knot things up at 2-2. With nothing resolved late in regulation or in OT, the Winter classic headed for a shootout for the second time in its history.

Pavel Datsuk got the first shootout goal of the game for Detroit, but Joffery Lupul and Tyler Bozak would get back to back goals for the Toronto shootout win. Toronto's Jonathan Bernier stopped 41 of 43 shots faced in regulation and OT while the Wing's Jimmy Howard faced 26 shots on goal and successfully turned aside 24 of them.

This game was actually slated to take place on New Year's Day 2013, but was cancelled due to the lockout and abbreviated season. Interestingly, this will be the first of many outdoor games scheduled for the 2013-2014 season.

In a move that was likely designed to offset the loss of the 2013 Winter Classic, there are at least five more games in four more venues scheduled this season in what's been dubbed the NHL Stadium Series. On January 25th, the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks will face off in Dodger Stadium. The following day, on the other side of the country the New York Rangers will host the New Jersey Devils at Yankee Stadium. Three days later, hockey returns to Yankee Stadium when the Rangers and Islanders go head-to-head. On March 1st, the Stadium Series resumes at Chicago's Soldier Field when the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. The NHL's stadium series is slated to wrap up the following day north of the border in Vancouver when the Canucks will host the Ottawa Senators at the BC Palace in the 2014 Tim Horton's Heritage Classic.

As for the New Year's Day Winter Classic, the Washington Capitals are slated to host the game next year, although a venue or opponent haven't been formally announced. There has also been speculation since the inaugural 2008 Winter Classic that Beaver Stadium on the Penn State campus in State College, PA would host an outdoor matchup between Pennsylvania's two NHL franchises- the stadium boasts an even larger seating capacity than Michigan's Big House and is roughly halfway between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins are getting off on the right foot for 2014. After a 3-2 win against Nashville at home the day after the Winter Classic, the Bruins hosted the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

Although the Jets got on the board first thanks to a Dustin Byfuglien goal midway through the first, Danny Paille tied it up at 1-1 with a tally for the B's less than 3 minutes later.

The second period was all Torey Krug as he scored two goals a little over four minutes apart for what would turn out to be the game-winner, putting Boston up 3-1. In the 3rd, Reilly Smith would add to Boston's total midway through the period making it a 4-1 game....which would also be the final. Tukka Rask turned aside 35 of 36 shots faced and the Bruins are now in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic division.

The Bruins will hit the road and next play on the west coast on Tuesday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks- a team that has yet to lose at home in regulation this season- from the Honda Center in Orange County, CA. This one is a pretty late start at 10:00 PM ET and it will be televised on NESN.

Frozen Fenway- the Holy War on Skates. Matthew J Lee photo via @BostonGlobe #NDvsBC #NotreDame #BostonCollege pic.twitter.com/JOvQg6yCxA
— Fenway Nation (@Fenway_Nation) January 6, 2014

NCAA HOCKEY- Ann Arbor's Big House wasn't the only outdoor hockey venue this week. With an outdoor rink set up at Fenway, America's Favorite Ballpark hosted an NCAA Hockey doubleheader over the weekend.

After a 1-1 tie between Providence College and Merrimack, #6 Boston College and #14 Notre Dame took to the ice for the Holy War (on skates!). The Eagles jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Brendan Silk and Johnny Guardeau before Mario Luca scored late for the Irish to cut the lead to 2-1.

The Irish tied it up early in the second with a power play goal from TJ Tynan- the only scoring that would take place in the second period. In the 3rd, the re-took the lead on a shorthanded goal from Bill Arnold, but less than 3 minutes later, the Irish's Bryan Rust tied it back up at 3-3.

Less than a minute later, Johnny Guardeau got his second goal of the night and Eagles netminder Brian Billett would hold off a furious late surge by the Irish for the 4-3 win.

Saturday's game is actually the first of two NCAA Doubleheaders at Fenway- UMass Lowell is slated to take on Northeastern on the afternoon of Jan 11th while Maine will take on the BU Terriers that evening.

Andy Hayt- Getty Images

MLB- Former Yankees 2nd baseman, WWII Marine fighter pilot and Hall of Fame Broadcaster Jerry Coleman passed away at a California hospital on Sunday at the age of 89. A California native, Coleman reported to the Yankees minor league affiliate in Wellsville, NY after graduating high school at the age of 17. At age 18, he joined the Marine Corps and was flying Dauntless SBD dive bombers on missions in the pacific theater in WWII.

After World War II, Coleman made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1949 and was named the AP's Rookie of the Year that season. Starting in 1951, Coleman missed the bulk of two seasons serving in the Korean war where he served alongside Ted Williams. Coleman, the only big-leaguer to fly combat missions in WWII and Korea [Williams served as a flight instructor during WWII- NANESB!] recounted a harrowing close call Ted Williams had, crash landing after returning from a mission over North Korea.

After returning to the Yankees, Coleman was beset by vision problems and broke his collarbone in 1955. His last season with the Yankees was in 1957, when the Bronx Bombers lost to the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in the World Series. After retiring as a player, Coleman worked in the front office for awhile before making his way to the broadcast booth.

In 1970, Coleman returned to California and broadcast games for the then-California Angels for two seasons. By 1972, Jerry made his way down Interstate 5 to San Diego and would work in their broadcast booth for the San Diego Padres every year except for 1980- which marked an uneventful stint as the Padres manager. The following season, he returned to the broadcast booth and remained there through the 2013 season, earning the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C Frick award in 2005.

The veteran broadcaster was known for peppering his play by play with phrases such as "Oh doctor!" and "You can hang a star on that one!" after a particularly impressive play as well as frequent malapropisms. In recent years, Coleman was working a reduced schedule, covering select daytime home games and doing pregame interviews with Padres manager Bud Black.

Coleman was admitted to a San Diego-area hospital around Christmastime with cerebral hemorrhaging and his condition had worsened over the next several days.



Prior to his being hospitalized, Coleman appeared in a video message filmed in front of the USS Midway  museum for Veteran's Day that was released by the San Diego Padres. Coleman is also one of only two people the Padres organization erected statues at PetCo Park to honor- the other being Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn.

Sports Chowdah Update: Shine on You Crazy Diamond(Backs)- Sox Take Two Out of Three From Arizona; MLB Announces More BioGenesis Suspensions

Brian Snyder- Reuters

RED SOX- Jake Peavy made his much-anticipated Red Sox debut on Saturday night at Fenway in an interleague game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Arizona got on the board first with a solo home run off of 1B Paul Goldschmidt in the top of the 4th before Shane Victorino belted a solo homer to left field to get Boston on the board in the bottom of the 5th. In the bottom of the 7th, the Red Sox broke the 1-1 deadlock thanks to an RBI single by Ellsbury and a sac fly by Victorino to make it 3-2 Boston.

Peavy would go seven complete innings and come out for the top of the 8th- allowing a leadoff single to Will Nieves before Farrell had Craig Breslow come out of the bullpen. However, Breslow would his Cliff Pennington with a pitch and allow a single to Gerardo Parra to load the bases with nobody out. Junichi Tazawa came on in relief of Breslow and gave up a single to Aaron Hill- the Diamondbacks sent Pennington home to try and tie the game, but he was out at the plate on a throw by Johnny Gomes from center field. Tazawa then got Goldschmidt to strike out and Eric Chavez to fly out to left field to end the Arizona threat in the 8th. The Red Sox still led 3-2 in the bottom of the 8th when Mike Napoli drew a leadoff walk and Saltalamacchia hit a 1-out homer into the Red Sox bullpen to give the Sox some insurance heading into the 9th with a 5-2 lead.

Fresh from catching Salty's home run ball in the pen, Koji Uehara would come on in the 9th and give up a leadoff walk to Martin Prado before getting former Red Sox outfielder Cody Ross to hit into a fielder's choice and former Twin Jason Kubel to ground into a double play.

After the Diamondbacks threatened to spoil Peavy's Boston debut with bases loaded and nobody out in the 8th, the Red Sox go on to win Saturday's game by a 5-2 final. Peavy notches his first W with the Olde Towne Team after going 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, two earned runs and striking out seven batters.

With Friday night's 7-6 loss to Arizona, Sunday was the rubber game in the weekend series. The day game pitted Brandon McCarthy against Felix Doubront and was pretty much a scoreless pitcher's duel until the bottom of the 5th when Stephen Drew and Brock Holt led off the inning with back to back singles. The Red Sox got on the board when Drew came home from 3rd to put the Red Sox on the board and Holt came home on a Pedroia double to make it a 2-0 lead for Boston.

The Red Sox led off the bottom of the 6th with another pair of back-to-back singles- this time from Saltalamacchia and Drew- before Holt laid down a sac bunt to put runners at second and third with one out. Ellsbury and Victorino then managed to hi back-to-back RBI singles to give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead. Meanwhile, Doubront was cruising through seven innings. Matt Thornton came on to relieve Doubront in the 7th, but gave up a leadoff single to Tuffy Goesewich before leaving the game with an apparent injury [it was announced he'd travel with the team to houston and be examined by medical staff there- NANESB!]. Drake Britton came on to close out the inning.

Koji Uehara came on in the 9th and gave up a leadoff single to Gerardo Parra before getting the next three batters out to preserve the shutout and clinch the win for Boston.

Doubront pitched seven complete innings, allowing five hits and striking out five in Sunday's start. The win means the Red Sox are still in first place in the AL East by 1 game.

On Monday, the Red Sox will head to Houston's Minute Maid Park to take on the struggling Astros. This upcoming 10-game road trip will take the Sox to Houston, Kansas City and Toronto. John Lackey [7-8; 3.23 ERA] will get the start against Brett Oberholtzer [1-0; 3.77 ERA]. The game gets underway at 8:10 ET (7:10 CT) and will be televised on NESN.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Major League Baseball announced the suspension of 13 more players as a result of their ongoing probe into the south Florida Biogenesis anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided MLB players with Human Growth Hormone.

The most prominent name on the list includes Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who still has five years and $114 million remaining on his contract with the Yankees. A-Rod received a 211-game suspension, which would be the remainder of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 season. There was talk of a lifetime ban for A-Rod from MLB, which would've freed the Yankees from their considerable monetary and contractual obligations to Rodriguez.

Other suspensions include Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera, Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli and Phillies pitcher Antionio Bastardo as well as five minor-leaguers. MLB reported that many of the players agreed to waive their right to appeal in exchange for a lighter suspension. However, A-Rod never agreed to any such deal and is technically eligible to play against the White Sox this week should he appeal his suspension.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun accepted a 65 game suspension from MLB last month- the sanctions came a year and a half after he successfully appealed a suspension from another positive test, claiming the sample was mishandled.

NFL- Are you ready for some football?

Me neither, but the NFL preseason kicked off last night with the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, OH with the Dallas Cowboys beating the Miami Dolphins by a 24-20 final. New England's first game will be this Friday against the Philadelphia Eagles at 7:30 ET.

Quicke All Star Break Sports Chowdah Update- Red Sox Come Up Short After Workman-Like Effort in Oakland; Lincecum No-Hits Padres

Ben Margot photo

RED SOX- The Red Sox wrapped up the first half of the season with a Sunday afternoon game against Oakland out on the west coast. It also marked the MLB debut of Brandon Workman as starting pitcher. Workman had a 5-1 record and 3.43 in 11 games for the AA Portland Sea Dogs and a 3-1 record with a 2.80 ERA in 6 games for AAA Pawtucket and made his first appearance of the season for Boston on Tuesday in relief of Felix Doubront against Seattle.

Although the Mariners managed to rough up Workman- including giving up two doubles, a homer and 3 RBI in two innings of work- it was a different story in Oakland. Workman managed to confound the Oakland bats, not allowing a hit through the first six innings. The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead thanks to RBI singles from Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt and managed to chase Bartolo Colon from the mound after 6⅔ innings. The A's managed to break up Workman's no-hit bid in the bottom of the 7th with a leadoff infield single from former Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp. A's outfielder Josh Donaldson then homered to the deepest part of the stadium to tie it up at 2-2. The game remained deadlocked at 2-2 until the bottom of the 11th when recently-acquired Red Sox reliever Matt Thornton gave up a walkoff RBI single to Donaldson to give Oakland the 3-2 win. Oakland wins the weekend series by a margin of 2 games to 1.

The silver lining is that despite the lackluster road trip to the West coast, the Red Sox still have the best record in all of MLB. And keep in mind that this is without Lester at his sharpest, the services of Buchholz or a clearly defined closer in the bullpen for the last several weeks.

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS- What was a battle for last place in the NL West in San Diego's PetCo Park on Saturday night garnered the attention of MLB as San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum threw his first career no-hitter.

Lincecum threw 148 pitches in the complete game 9-0 win over the Padres in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. The no-no was the Giants third no hitter since 2009, with two of those coming against the Padres and one of them against the Houston Astros. Jonathan Sanchez no-hit the Padres in July 2009 in what was the first-ever no-hitter at San Francisco's AT&T Park while Matt Cain threw a perfect game against Houston in June 2012 for the first-ever perfect game at the park.

The successful no-hit bid was the first one from a pitcher not named Homer Bailey since September 2012. Lincecum's no-no on Saturday was the first ever no hitter thrown in San Diego's PetCo park, which opened in 2004. The Padres remain the only MLB club that doesn't have a no-hitter to their name.

ALL STAR GAME- Oakland Outfielder Yoanis Cespedes won the 2013 Home Run Derby at New York's Citi Field on Monday Night. The Cuban defector bested Washington's Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round to take the 2013 title.

Tuesday night's All-Star game is set to have the Mets' Matt Harvey [7-2; 2.35 ERA] go up against Detroit's Max Scherzer [13-1; 3.09 ERA] . Scherzer lost his first start of the season on Sunday afternoon against the Rangers.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 ET and the game will be televised on FOX with ESPN Radio carrying the radio broadcast feed.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- The Devil Padres and Mr Webster; Tyler Seguin's seeing Stars as Iginla saga comes Full Circle in the Hub

AP Photo/Winslow Townson

RED SOX- The Red Sox wrapped up their interleague series with San Diego with a 4th of July day game on Thursday. Having won the first two, Boston was looking for the sweep against the Padres and things were looking good early when Ellsbury and Victorino opened up the bottom half of the first with back to back base hits. Pedroia brought them home with a 2-RBI double to left, but Big Papi grounded out and Mike Napoli hit into a double play to end the early threat.

Brandon Snyder added to Boston's lead with 1-out a solo homer in the bottom of the second. Rookie Red Sox starter Allen Webster struggled mightily in the top of the third after starting off with a walk to former teammate Pedro Ciriaco, hitting Logan Forsyth with a pitch followed by a single to Will Venable. However, he managed to get out of the jam with two fly balls- which included a Chase Headly sac fly to bring home the Padres' first run of the game- and ended the inning by getting DH Mark Kotsay to ground out.

Webster would have a much easier 4th inning, getting the first two batters he faced to fly out before getting ciriaco to ground out to short. In the bottom half of the frame, Mike Napoli led off the inning with a single before Gomes and Snyder lined out. Ryan Lavarnway singled with two away and that brought up Iglesias who belted a long fly ball that ultimately ended up rattling around the right field corner by the Pesky Pole and was ruled a ground rule double. Iglesias and the runners on base initially thought that was a triple and both Lavarnway and Napoli crossed the plate, but after the umps conferred, it was ruled a ground-rule double and one of the runs was taken off the board with Iglesias at second and Lavarnway at third instead of in the dugout, making it 4-1 before Victorino flied out to end the inning.

San Diego's Jesus Guzman smacked a two out RBI single to cut the Red Sox lead in half in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the frame, the Red Sox chased Stults off the bump and looked as though they were poised to chase themselves out of a scoring opportunity. Pedroia led off the inning with a single, and after getting Big Papi to fly out to center the Padres pulled Stults for reliever Tyson Ross. Pedroia was immediately gunned down after attempting to steal second to make it two out and nobody on for the Sox in a 2-run ballgame, but Napoli would hit a booming fly ball that would one hop off the wall in deep center and ricochet into the Red Sox bullpen for a ground rule double. Napoli would then come home on Gomes' single to make it 5-2 before Snyder struck out to end the inning.

In the top of the 6th, Webster would allow a 1-out single before getting Ciriaco to ground into a double play and end the inning. The Red Sox would then chase Ross off the mound with a 2-out bases loaded single from Big Papi to make it 7-2 Boston, and the Sox would add to that with a leadoff solo homer from Jacoby Ellsbury in the top of the 8th inning to go on and win by an 8-2 final.

Webster would go six complete innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits while walking four and striking out four in his first big league win. Dustin Pedroia went 2-4 with two RBI's while Ellsbury and Snyder each had solo homers for the Sox. Jesus Guzman led San Diego's bats by going 3-3 with an RBI. The Boston win- coupled with a Pittsburgh Pirates loss on the 4th of July- gives the Red Sox a record of 54-34, best in the majors. The Independence Day win is also Boston's 8th win in their last nine games.

While the Padres move on to the nation's capital to play the Nationals, the Red Sox will travel to the west coast for a weekend series against the Angels in Orange County. Felix Doubront [4-3; 4.22 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against the Halo's CJ Wilson [8-5; 3.63 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 10:05 ET, 7:05 PT and the game will be televised on NESN.

BOSTON BRUINS- The Bruins opened up the first day of what was expected to be a busy free agency period by sending Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverly and prospect Ryan Button to Dallas for Loui Eriksson and prospects Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser.

The Bruins have also lost Nathan Horton to free agency after the Columbus Blue Jackets signed the 6"2' RW to a 7 year deal worth more than $37 million. Horton still requires some shoulder surgery this offseason, and the earliest he's expected to return would be December.

And in a continuation of the Jarome Iginla saga, the Bruins reached a one year $7 million deal with the RW. Reports from the regular season had Iginla going to Boston at the trade deadline, but the Calgary winger reportedly invoked his contract's no-trade clause and opted to go to Pittsburgh at the last moment. The snub took on even greater significance when the Bruins and Penguins met in the Eastern Conference finals- Milan Lucic was quoted as saying Iginla's snub 'lit a fire' under the Bruins in their four game sweep of the Pens.

All American Sports Chowdah Update- Forgive Me Padres, For I Have Sinned; Beat-All Bailey, Red's Starter Part of No-No Homers Club Again; The Butler Did It- Celtics Wrap Up Short Head Coaching Search With Stevens Hire

NEW POLL UP- With about 10 days to go until Major League Baseball's All Star Break, look to the left for a new poll to vote in. Feel free to weigh in on what you think is the most difficult division in MLB this season. For some reason, Blogspot will only let me put in four possible answers (instead of being able to list all six divisions), so looks like you can only choose from those four.

Jim Rogash, Getty Images

BOSTON RED SOX- The Red Sox second interleague series of the season got off to a pretty good start on Tuesday night when John Lackey allowed just one unearned run during eight innings of work against the Padres during Boston's 4-1 win. Lackey allowed six hits- including a solo homer to San Diego 1B Jesus Guzman in the 7th- and struck out six while recent Paw Sox callup Brandon Snyder continues to impress, breaking a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the fourth by hitting a 1-out bases-clearing double off the Monster towards deep center to give Boston a 3-0 lead [although he got greedy attempting to and was thrown out at third attempting to stretch it out into a triple- NANESB!].

Wednesday night's matchup was more of a pitcher's duel with Lester getting the start against San Diego's Edinson Volquez. Playing in an American League park, the Padres slotted OF Kyle Blanks into the DH spot and it paid immediate dividends as he drove in a two out RBI in the first inning to give San Diego the early lead.

Although the Red Sox were able to get runners on board in the bottom of the first thanks to a ground-rule double by Victorino, an infield hit by Dustin Pedroia followed by a stolen base, a familiar face put the kibosh on any further attempts at bringing a run home when Padres SS Pedro Ciriaco caught a line drive off the bat of Big Papi and stepped on second to get Pedroia out and end the threat.

The Red Sox were able to tie the game up at 1-1 after Mike Carp led off the bottom of the 4th with a single and came home on a Saltalamacchia RBI double. The Padres looked like they were in trouble in the bottom of the 7th after Nick Vincent led off the inning by giving up a double to Dustin Pedroia and then intentionally walking David Ortiz, but Luke Gregerson came out of the bullpen and struck out Daniel Nava, got Carp to fly out to shallow center before striking out Saltalamacchia to end the Red Sox threat.

After Junichi Tazawa struck out the side in the top of the 8th, Koji Uehara came on in the top of the 9th and got the first two batters out before walking Guzman. However, he got Yasmani Grandal to fly out and end the inning for the Padres.

For the bottom of the 9th, John Farrell decided to lead off the inning with Johnny Gomes coming on as a pinch-hitter. That paid off handsomely, as this happened after working the count to 2-2:

Red Sox win it in walkoff fashion for the 8th time this season, with Gomes' pinch hit solo homer giving Boston the 2-1 win in the bottom of the 9th. The Red Sox will wrap up their homestand with a 4th of July day game at Fenway- Eric Stults [6-6; 3.51 ERA] gets the start against Allen Webster [0-2; 9.50 ERA]. The game gets underway at 1:35 PM ET, 10:35 AM Pacific and will be televised on NESN.

After the Independence Day game at Fenway, the Red Sox will take off for a 10-game west coast road trip, starting with the Angels in Orange County on Friday night before moving on to Seattle for a four-game series and then a 3-game set against Oakland before the All-Star break.

AP Photo/Al Behrman

OTHER MLB NEWS- Cincinnati's Homer Bailey threw a complete game no-hitter against the defending World series champion San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. This is the first no-hitter of the 2013 and second of Bailey's career- the first of which was the second most recent no-hitter in MLB, dating back to September 28, 2012 when Bailey no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park towards the end of the regular season.

Bailey's no hitter was in jeopardy in the top of the 7th- after a leadoff walk to San Francisco outfielder Gregor Blanco, former Red Sox and Blue Jays SS Marco Scutaro grounded out to third as Blanco advanced to second. Giants catcher Buster Posey then hit a broken-bat ground ball towards first with Reds 1B Joey Votto shaded about midway towards second. Bailey broke late from the mound to first and it looked like Posey would reach first and break up the no-no until Votto threw to third base where Blanco was caught in the rundown.

The Reds got runs on a Votto sac-fly in the first off of Giants starter Tim Linceum and a 2-run Brandon Phillips homer in the bottom of the 6th for the 3-0 win. While there have been a couple of flirtations with no-hitters, the closest anyone came prior to Tuesday night was Texas' Yu Darvish, who was one out away from a perfect game against Houston when Astros SS Marwin Gonzalez singled the first week of the regular season.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Dallas Morning News is reporting that former Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians outfielder Manny Ramirez has signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. The controversial slugger tested positive twice for banned performance enhancing drugs- the most recent of which took place in 2011 before the outfielder abruptly announced his retirement rather than face a 2nd suspension.

In 2012, the Oakland A's signed Manny to a minor league contract where he batted .302 with 19 hits and 14 RBI in 17 games with the AAA Sacramento River Cats. The deal called for a $500,000 bonus if he was called up from the minors, but within two weeks of his reinstatement, he requested (and was granted) an outright release from Oakland.

Since then, he has been playing ball for Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League and the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese professional league over in Taiwan. Since the 2008 trade that sent him from Boston to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny has played for the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

Manny is expected to start as a DH for the AAA Rangers affiliate, the Round Rock Express. Manny will report to Round Rock on July 4th and participate in team exercises before being activated.

The Rangers have a history of giving second chances to players long suspected of using performance enhancing drugs. Texas was the last MLB team Sammy Sosa played for in 2007- two years after his English-speaking abilities seemed to abandon him while being questioned about steroid use in Major League Baseball. Sosa reportedly tested positive for performance enhancing drugs as far back as 2003- the findings were uncovered as part of a federal investigation of the infamous BALCo labs.

PATRIOTS- A witness in the Aaron Hernandez case that police were hoping to interview was killed in a single-car accident in Connecticut over the weekend.

Police say 33-year-old Thaddeus Singleton III of Bristol was killed when the car he was driving slammed into the Farmington Country Club early Sunday morning. The Hartford Courant reported that investigators wanted to speak to Singleton because of his relationship with Hernandez.

Singleton is married to Hernandez's cousin, and police say the car involved was registered to Hernandez's uncle. Their home has been searched several times by Massachusetts police investigating a 2012 double homicide linked to the former NFL star.

Police seized a vehicle from that home on Friday.

The cause of the accident has not been determined. Police said a woman in the car was in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Her name has not been released.

Meanwhile, investigators continue to gather and search for more evidence as Hernandez remains in a jail cell charged in the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, of Dorchester

Police documents show that police located a white hooded-sweatshirt and a baseball cap allegedly worn by Hernandez the night Lloyd was murdered at an apartment Hernandez rented in Franklin.

Investigators said they also found a valet parking ticket from the W Hotel, which is within walking distance of the Rumor nightclub.

Investigators initially believe that Hernandez had Odin Lloyd killed after the semipro player was seen talking to people at the Rumor nightclub that Hernandez had a falling out with. However, police are also looking at Hernandez's involvement in a 2012 double homicide in South Boston and believe that the former Patriots TE orchestrated Odin's death because they thought he knew too much about the South Boston killings.

BOSTON CELTICS- With the Doc Rivers era over for barely a week, the Celtics made an early and highly unexpected move to fill their coaching vacancy on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Celtics GM Danny Ainge announced the hiring of Butler University head coach Brad Stephens to replace Doc Rivers as head coach of the Boston Celtics. Stephens led the Butler Bulldogs to back to back NCAA Men's title games in 2010 and 2011 (where they lost to Duke and UConn, respectively). Most recently, Butler lost to Marquette in the third round of the 2013 NCAA tournament.

The Celtics and the 36 year old head coach agreed to terms on a 6 year, $22 million contract. This would not be the first time the C's had hired a coach out of the NCAA- in 1997, the Celtics hired Rick Pitino away from the Kentucky Wildcats. However, this would be the first time since 1948 that the Celtics would hire a collegiate coach with no professional experience when the NBA's predecessor- the Basketball Association of America- was only two years old.

Meanwhile, the Butler basketball program made official their move from the Atlantic-10 to the Big East effective July 1st.

Sports Chowdah Update- Boston Ruins, Chicago Clinches Stanley Cup With Pair of Late Goals; Tigers Motor Past Sox in 4-Game Series

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

STANLEY CUP FINALS- A lot can happen in 17 seconds. On Monday night at the TD Garden, a defensive collapse in the span of 17 seconds decided the outcome of the Stanley Cup finals.

The Bruins came into Monday Night's Game 6 losing their last two games and needing a win to force a Game 7 in Chicago on Wednesday night. Game six seemingly got off to a good start with the Bruins pressing the Chicago defense, with Boston outshooting the Blackhawks 12-6 in the first period. Chris Kelly got the Bruins on the board in the first with a goal at the 7:19 mark.

The Blackhawks started out the second period much stronger and Jonathan Toews got Chicago on the board at the 4:24 mark with an unassisted tally.

It wasn't until there was 7:49 remaining in regulation that the Bruins managed to break the deadlock thanks to a Milan Lucic goal, putting Boston up 2-1 with the clock ticking down. With less than two minutes to go, it appeared as though the series was headed to a Game 7 in Chicago's United Center. The Blackhawks pulled the Corey Crawford- a move that seldom pays off- with less than 90 seconds to go. In this case, it didn't pay off because Crawford was barely on the bench when Bryan Bicknell got one past Tukka Rask to tie the game up with 1:16 to go in regulation, deflating the crowd at the TD Garden. All of 17 seconds later, Rask was caught out of position and Dave Bolland managed to find the back of the net, essentially putting the dagger in any hopes for even an OT to force game 7.

So as Chicago celebrates their second Stanley Cup in three seasons, the Bruins are left to contemplate a monumental collapse in the final minute of a do-or-die championship game.

Chicago goes on to win by a final of 3-2 and win the series 4 games to two to hoist the Stanley Cup at the Garden on Monday night. Patrick Kane, who was also on the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion squad, was awarded the Conn Smyth trophy [The NHL's award for playoff MVP- teammate Jonathan Toews received the honor in 2010- NANESB!]. Corey Crawford stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in Game 6 while Rask turned aside 28 of the 31 shots he faced, but none so critical as the ones allowed in the final 90 seconds of regulation. Instead of a Game 7 on Wednesday, a parade for the triumphant Blackhawks is scheduled for Chicago's loop on Friday.

Meanwhile, after a lockout-shortened season, its back to the drawing board for the Bruins (and everybody else for that matter) with the start of a much longer 2013-2014 campaign looming around the corner versus a months-long lockout and a season that never happened.

RED SOX- After getting off to a promising start last week by sweeping a day/night doubleheader with the Rays, Boston took to the road for what turned out to be a disappointing road trip against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

On Thursday's opener, Lackey gave up all of two runs in his seven innings of work, and altho the Red Sox would take the 3-2 lead on a Big Papi RBI single in the top of the 8th, only to have the Tigers win on a walk-off Jhonny Peralta 2 run homer in the bottom of the 9th.

Boston cruised to a fairly easy 10-6 win on Friday night thanks to Shane Victorino's 5 RBIs. However with Clay Buchholz going onto the DL last week, on Saturday baseball was denied a Buchholz [9-0] vs Max Scherzer [10-0] matchup and instead the Tigers set the tone early as Victor Martinez put Detroit on the board with a grand slam in the 1st inning in what would be a 10-3 rout for Detroit.

On Sunday, the Red Sox had a chance for the series split after taking a 4-3 lead into the 7th, but the Tigers tied it up after Andrew Miller brought home the tying run on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch to Peralta. In the bottom of the 8th, the Tigers would take the lead thanks to a Torii Hunter sac fly and 2-RBI single from Prince Fielder to make it 7-4. Although the Red Sox would get a run back in the 9th thanks to a Gomes RBI double with two away, it was too little too late as Detroit goes on to win by a 7-5 final.

The Red Sox will return to Fenway on Tuesday night for their second interleague series at home, a quick two game homestand against the Colorado Rockies, who are tied with the San Diego Padres for second place in the NL West. Ryan Dempster [4-8; 4.23 ERA] will get the start against Colorado's Juan Nicasio [4-3; 4.78 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox have traded infielder Pedro Ciriaco to the San Diego Padres for a player to be names later. Although the speedy utility player had a paltry .216 batting average in 28 games with Boston this year, Ciriaco is batting .333 with four stolen bases and four RBI in 11 games with San Diego so far this season.

Clay Buchholz has been places on the 15 day DL retroactively, starting June 9th. Buchholz has been sidelined since the first week of this month with shoulder and neck discomfort and is expected to throw in the bullpen starting on Wednesday. If the bullpen sessions go well, the Red Sox will likely have him pitch for one of their minor league affiliates before coming back on the Boston roster.


Meanwhile, C David Ross has been placed on the 60 day DL with concussion-like symptoms and the Red Sox sent 3B Will Middlebrooks down to Triple A Pawtucket.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL EAST- The Red Sox aren't the only AL East team suffering from a rash of injuries. Although they came out of spring training expecting to miss a number of starters through mid-season, but instead of healing, even more starters have been placed on the DL.

The latest is former Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis, who missed most of May with a lumbar spine strain and returned to the lineup for a few weeks before complaining of discomfort again during the Yankees west coast road trip last month. After being examined by a specialist, the Yankees announced that Youk will require surgery and will miss anywhere from 10 to 12 weeks to recover.

Perennial All-Star SS Derek Jeter was expected to return around the All Star break, but that timetable has been moved back. Both outfielder Curtis Granderson and 1B Mark Texiera returned from the DL only to return after apparently re-aggravating their injuries a few weeks apart from each other.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS- Somebody break up the Blue Jays!

After being mostly a non-factor in the American League East this season, the Blue Jays put together a franchise-best 11 game winning streak and 15 of their last 19 to put them back within striking distance of the AL East lead. Although they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, the Jays are within five games of first place.

The resurgent Jays will travel to Fenway to face the Red Sox once Boston finishes their two game series against Colorado.

Championship Chowdah To Go Update- Red Sox Go Gonzo; Huskies Go to a Fiesta; B's Go to Shootout; C's Go For 7 Straight; Colonial Goes for FCS Monopoly

MLB: The Padres and Red Sox Have agreed to a trade that would send San Diego's All Star 1st Baseman Adrian Gonzalez to Boston in exchange for prospects Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo and Reymond Fuentes as well as a player to be named later. The two clubs are expected to formally announce the deal on Monday.

During the 2010 season, Gonzalez hit for a .298 BA and 31 homers in San Diego's pitcher-friendly PetCo Park. On the road, Gonzalez was batting .315 with 20 HR and .279 with 11 HR at San Diego. Defensively, Gonzalez won two Gold Gloves with the Padres.

The Red Sox are also reportedly working on extending Gonzalez's contract beyond 2011 due to the high-level prospects Boston is giving up as part of the trade. The first baseman was entering the final year of a 5 year $15 million contract with San Diego. Although no formal agreement to an extension had been reached with Gonzalez, his agent and the Red Sox had exchanged parameters and were hoping to work out a deal from there. There's also the matter of some minor surgery Gonzalez had on his shoulder this fall, but he is expected to be ready by Spring training, whether it's in the Grapefruit or Cactus League.

Boston had previously tried to acquire Gonzalez in the 2009 offseason, but instead signed Adrian Beltre from the Mariners. It was considered likely that the Padres would deal Gonzalez at the trade deadline in the middle of the 2010 season, but the team remained atop the NL East and were in need of his services for the whole year.

For those of you who remember back to the Beltre deal last winter and were somewhat alarmed by his .266 BA in 2009, supporters of the deal pointed out that Beltre spent at least half the season in a pitcher-friendly park such as Safeco.

Now....apply that same line of thinking to Gonzalez and his .298 average at cavernous PetCo Park. Or better yet, take a look at his spray chart for home games in San Diego.

Then take a look at his spray chart overlaid with Fenway Park's dimensions.

Umm...yeah. I'm just a little bit giddy right now.

NCAA FOOTBALL: The UConn Huskies managed to get by the South Florida Bulls on Saturday night to win their final regular season game of 2010 and be guaranteed the Big East's automatic BCS Bowl by virtue of their tie-breaker over West Virgina. The only touchdown UConn scored in the game came late in the 2nd period as LB Lawrence Wilson intercepted a pass from South Florida QB Bobby Eveld and ran it back 55 yards to paydirt. The pick 6 put UConn up 10-3 heading into the half.

Connecticut and South Florida traded field goals in the 3rd quarter, and while the 4th quarter opened up on a Dave Teggart FG for UConn to make it 16-6 the Bulls would come storming right back thanks to a 28 yard TD reception from Eveld to WR Dontavia Bogan and a game tying FG from the 22 off the leg of USF's Maikon Bonani to make it a 16-16 game with 1:19 left in the 4th.

After a good kickoff return that gave UConn starting position on their own 40, Huskies QB Zach Frasier was able to drive the ball as far as the USF 35 yard line, setting up Dave Teggart for his game-winning 52 yard FG with only 23 seconds left in regulation.

The win means that UConn will now face the Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan 1st in Tempe, AZ. This will be UConn's first ever BCS appearence since transitioning from Division I-AA in 2002.

BIG 12: The #13 Nebraska Cornhuskers and #10 Oklahoma Sooners met in Arlington, TX for what would be the last time they'd match up as members of the Big 12- as well as the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday night.

The Sooners held on to win by a final of 23-20, guaranteeing them a berth in the BCS (against UConn, as it was revaled a day later). The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, would be joining the Big East conference at the start of the 2011 Football season.

ACC: No Boston College Football this week. Instead, the ACC Championship game took place on Saturday night at Charlotte, NC pitting #20 Florida State against #12 Virgina Tech. The Hokies won this one handily by a final of 44-33, giving them a berth in the Orange Bowl on January 3rd against the Stanford Cardinals.

Boston College did manage to secure a bowl bid and will be heading back out to AT&T Park in San Francisco just like last year for the Emerald Bowl- Except this year it's being called the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. and will take place the second weekend in January. The Boston College Eagles are expected to go up against the #14 Nevada Wolfpack. [I should have a comprehensive list of Bowls and matchups in the next couple of days- NANESB!]

COLONIAL/FCS: Although William & Mary Tribe finished the regular season atop the Colonial Athletic Association, their season is over now that they were upended by the Georgia Southern Eagles on Saturday by a final of 15-31.

That said, three of the remaining four teams in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision hail from the CAA and will play to advance to the FCS Finals in Frisco, TX on January 7th, 2011 [remember what I said about the Colonial Athletic Association last year?- NANESB!].

The Delaware Blue Hens, who finished 2nd in the CAA this season, took down Lehigh by a 42-20 final on Saturday while the Villanova Wildcats downed Stephen F Austin by a 54-24 margin.

The sole remaining New England team in the FCS is the New Hampshire Wildcats, who finished tied for 3rd with Villanova to end the regular season. They brought down Beth-Cook by a 45-20 final and will go on to face Delaware on Friday night, Dec 10th.

Defending FCS Champions Villanova will take on 3 time Champion Appalachian State on Saturday.


NHL: The Boston Bruins got out to the early lead on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, but the Maple Leafs rallied to tie the game with less than a mintue left in the 3rd period and force overtime and then a shootout. And if you really savor irony, it was former Bruin Phil Kessel who netted the game winner in the shootout.

Nathan Horton got the first goal of the game unassisted in the first period, although the Leafs would manage to tie it by the time the 1st intermission rolled around. Boston would take a 2-1 lead on a goal from Gregory Campbell early in the 3rd before Toronto rallies late in regulation to tie the game. Out of the three shooters for Boston in the shootout, only Tyler Seguin was able to get the puck past Jean-Sebastian Guigere while Nazem Kadri and Kessel both got the puck past Thomas in the shootout.

The win halts the Leaf's 4 game skid and is Boston's first loss in the last three games. Toronto wins by the final of 3-2, although Boston was able to get a single point before leaving Toronto. Thomas stopped 38 of 40 shots faced in regulation and OT while Guigere stopped 25 of 27 faced.
The Bruins head back to the Garden to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at 7:30PM ET. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on Versus.

NBA: Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the Celtics have put together a pretty impressive 7 game winning streak. Game #6 of the current strak took place in Friday night with their 104-92 home win over the Chicago Bulls.

Sunday night, the C's made a fairly quick road trip to New Jersey and made pretty quick work of the Nets (Nate Robinson led scoring for the C's with 21 points) and cut New Jersey down by the curiously-divisible-by-25 margin of 100-75.

The next game for the C's will be at the Garden against Carmello Anthony and the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, with a tipoff at 7PM ET. ESPN is scheduled to be carrying the game that night.

Sports Chowdah Update for July 27-29- Scutaro Slam Sees Sox Seal SoCal Sweep; Tick Tock- Trade Deadline Looms

John Lackey got the win against his former team to put him at 10-5 with a 4.26 ERA on the season. The Red Sox were trailing the Angels 1-o for 6 and 2/3rds innings thanks to Angels starter Jared Weaver, but with two outs in the top of the 7th, he walked Darnell McDonald and gave up a single to Marco Scutaro to bring up Jed Lowrie. Lowrie drove home McDonald and Scutaro with a double to put Boston up 2-1.

Boston would get some insurance off of Kevin Jepsen in the top of the 8th when Big Papi was walked, then scored all the way from first base on an Adrian Beltre double.

Anaheim, or the Los Angeles of Anaheim, would get a run back in the bottom of the 8th when Bobby Abreu belted a 1-out solo shot off of Lackey. Daniel Bard would come in the relieve Lackey, and he would get Torii Hunter to strike out, walk Hideki Matsui and get Mike Napoli to end the inning on a flyball to deep center.


The Red Sox would get another insurance run in the top of the 9th when Big Papi hit into the overshift, but Howie Kendrick air-mailed the ball past first base with Scutaro scoring all the way from 2nd.

Papelbon would come on for a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th for his for his 24th save of the season.

Wednesday's affair was a day game with the Red Sox travelling back to Fenway to play host to the Detroit Tigers this weekend. Things didn't start out too well for the Angels when scheduled starter Joel Piñeiro was scratched with a left oblique strain and could miss 6-8 weeks.

Unlike the earlier games in the series, the Red Sox took the lead first with solo homers from Adrain Beltre and Bill Hall in the top of the 2nd, knocking Halos pinch-starter Scot Shields out of the game. However, the Angels would come right back with two RBI singles in the bottom of the 2nd off of Josh Beckett before taking a 3-2 lead in the 5th inning off of a Maicer Izturis sac-fly.

In the top of the 7th, Kevin Youkilis tied the game with a solo homer into the bullpens. In the next inning, Angels reliever Fernando Rodney walked the first two batters he faced before Eric Patterson reached on a bunt single.

That set up this at-bat by Marco Suctaro:


Pretty awesome, huh? Yeah...I thought so.

Anywhoo, the slam was enough to give the Sox the 7-3 win and Beckett the W (making him 2-1 with a 6.33 ERA on the season). Manny DelCarmen and Ramon Ramirez closed out the game on the mound for Boston.

Friday night's game at Fenway will feature Detroit's Armando Gallaraga (3-3; 4.43 ERA) against Jon Lester (11-5; 2.92 ERA).



OTHER SOX NEWS: OF Jacoby Ellsbury saw some limited playing time in the Gulf Coast League and is expected to make an apprerence at AAA Pawtucket for this weekend's series against the Durham Bulls. 3B Mike Lowell had just finished up a stint with the PawSox where he went 3 for 4 with a homer on Wednesday night and three homers and five RBIs against the Toledo Mudhens. Lowell could re-join the Red Sox as early as this weekend in the series against Toledo's parent club, the Detroit Tigers.

ELSEWHERE: Houston Astros starter Roy Oswalt has reportedly agreed to a deal that will send him to Philadelphia in exchange for JA Happ and two prospects. Oswalt is 6-12 on the season while sporting a 3.24 ERA for the next-to-last-place team in the NL Central.

The LA Dodgers acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals for two minor-leaguers yesterday. Podsednik has been batting .310 with 5 homeruns and 44 RBIs for Kansas City this season.

UPDATE 7/29: The San Diego Padres have reportedly acquired SS Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles for minor-league pitcher Wynn Pelzer on Thursday afternoon. Tejada was batting .269 with 7 HRs for the O's this season and is expected to fill in for Padres infielder David Eckstein who went on the 15-day DL with a strained right calf on July 21st.

The Minnesota Twins have made a move to shore up their bullpen by acquiring Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps for two minor-leaguers on Thursday. The twins will send C Wilson Ramos and relief pitcher Joe Testa to DC in exchange for Capps. Minnesota's closer Joe Nathan will miss the entire 2010 season after undergoing surgery on his right elbow.

Capps is 3-3 with a 2.80 ERA for the Nats this season.

The Washington Nationals put rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his right shoulder. Strasburg was scratched from his scheduled Tuesday night start against the Atlanta Braves, although pinch-starter Miguel Batista gave DC a 3-0 win over Atlanta that night. Strasburg is 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA in nine starts this season.