Woe Canada Sports Chowdah Update- Red Sox Take Two Out of Three From Heavy Hitting Toronto; Something Bruin in Omaha; O Noes! Yaz's Grandson Drafted by Baltimore

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

RED SOX- On Sunday afternoon at Fenway, the Red Sox were hoping to help themselves out by closing out the four game series against Toronto with a victory while hitting the 50-win mark before the calendar turned over to July. After roughing up Wang and smacking around Johnson, the Jays bats came alive for Game 3 on Saturday and they won thanks in part to two homers to Jose Bautista.

Sunday's game would feature Mark Buehrle against Ryan Dempster. The Red Sox got on the board early thanks to a Lavarnaway RBI ground rule double and a two RBI double from Paw Sox callup Brandon Snyder in the bottom of the second. In the top of the 4th, Toronto would get two runs back on an RBI single from Colby Rasmus and an RBI groundout from Maicer Izturus to cut Boston's lead to 3-2. In the bottom of the 5th, the Red Sox once again made it a two run game after Johnny Gomes double brought Jacoby Ellsbury home to make it 4-2.

Dempster was starting to struggle in the top of the 6th, and Craig Breslow came in with the bases loaded for the Jays and only one out. Breslow managed to get Izturus to pop out to short and struck out pinch hitter Emilio Bonifacio to end the Toronto threat. However, in the top of the 7th, Breslow would give up a solo homer to Jose Reyes to make it a 4-3 game.

For the fourth time in five games, Koji Uehara came on in the top of the 9th to close the game out. While he seemingly effortlessly cruised through the Jays lineup the first time around, he struggled mightily on Sunday. After RF Shane Victorino made a spectacular diving catch on a Joes Reyes fly ball towards right, Uehara gave up a solo homer to Bautista to tie the game at 4-4 before getting the next two batters out.

The Red Sox would start off the bottom of the 9th with Jose Iglesias grounding out before Snyder singled to right. Jacoby Ellsbury was walked and Snyder was replaced at second with pinch-runner Jonathan Diaz while Toronto made a pitching change, pulling Juan Perez for Casey Janssen with runners at first and second with only one away. It's also worth noting at this point that Jays 1B Adam Lind left the game earlier with an unspecified ailment and was replaced with AAA Buffalo callup Josh Thole.

The first batter Janssen faced was Shane Victorino who chopped an 0-1 offering to Thole only for the Jays infielder to have it glance off his glove and roll into shallow right field as Diaz sped home for the game-winning RBI. This would be Boston's 7th walk off win of the season and knocks Toronto back to .500 and 8 games out of first place in the AL East. The win is Boston's 50th of the season and good for the best record in the American League [the Red Sox and St Louis Cardinals entered Sunday tied for the second best record in MLB; the Pittsburgh Pirates currently have the best record in all of baseball this season- NANESB].

The Red Sox will next host the San Diego Padres who, despite being two games under .500 are only two and a half games out of first place in the NL West. John Lackey [5-5; 2.99 ERA] will get the start against Padres rookie Robbie Erlin [1-0; 3.60 ERA in the MLB while going 6-2 with a 5.25 ERA for the AAA Tucson Padres in the Pacific Coast League] on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM and the game will be televised on NESN.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES- The UCLA Bruins won their first ever college World Series with a two game sweep of the Mississippi State Bulldogs last week.

The Bruins clinched the title in an 8-0 shutout of the Bulldogs while starter Nick Vander Tuig went eight shutout innings allowing five hits and striking out six before closer Eric Berg pitched a scoreless ninth to close out Game 2 of the best of three series.

Vander Tuig had help offensively from outfielder Eric Fillia, who went 2-3 with 5 RBI and 2B Cody Regis who went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

OTHER COLLEGE BASEBALL NEWS- The Baltimore Orioles selected Vanderbilt Commodores outfielder Mike Yastrzemski in the 14th round of this year's MLB draft. If that name sounds familiar, that's because Yastrzemski is the grandson of Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. The Red Sox selected him in the 36th round of the 2009 MLB draft, but Yastrzemski opted to play college ball with the Commodores, who were ranked #1 overall through much of the NCAA regular season before being swept from the Super Regionals by Louisville.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update: Knockaround Guys- Former Sox Hitters Feast on Boston Pitching; Gone in 60 Seconds- Minutemen Flat in MAC Football Debut

RED SOX- What a way to head into the final month of the season- and make no mistake about it; September WILL be the final month of the Red Sox 2012 season.

Following Monday's win against Kansas City at Fenway, the Sox made their way to the West Coast where they proceeded to get swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, including closer Alfredo Aceves blowing a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 9th on Tuesday.

As bad as that was, it paled in comparison to Friday night's series opener against the Oakland A's. A number of former Sox players and prospects came back to haunt the Old Towne Team in a 20-2 drubbing.

Aaron Cook didn't even last three innings in Friday night's start, leaving the game as the Sox trailed 6-0. Limiting my mentions of Oakland's offensive contribution to just the former Red Sox or farm hands, catcher George Kattaras went 3-5 with 2 homers and 5 RBI, Brandon Moss went 4-5 with a homer and 4 RBI, Josh Reddick went 2-5 with 4 RBI and a homer and Coco Crisp had a relatively quiet night, going 0-5 with a walk and a run scored....but hey- why do down when the former Red Sox now in green and gold accounted for 13 RBI against their former team.

The A's bats burned through Cook, Tazawa, Aceves, Bard, Breslow, Melancon and Padilla during Friday night's romp. So far on this west coast road trip, the Red Sox are winless and have been outscored by a 31-12 margin in three games against the Angels and the Labor Day weekend series opener against Oakland.

For those of us who inexplicably feel that the remaining month of Red Sox baseball will be a worthwhile investment of our time, Saturday's game from Oakland gets underway at 9:05 PM Eastern, 6:05 Pacific. Felix Doubront [10-6; 4.79 ERA] will get the start against AJ Griffin [3-0; 2.42 ERA] and the game will be televised on NESN.

NCAA FOOTBALL- The UMASS Minutemen football program's debut as a member of the FBS Mid-America Conference took off with a resounding *splat!* Thursday night after getting shut out by former Yankee conference archrival UConn 37-0 at East Hartford, CT.

UConn's sophomore QB Chandler Whitmer threw for 219 yards going 15-25 while UConn scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams against the Minutemen. The Minutemen hope to rebound next week with a 'home' game at Gillette Stadium in Foxbourough, MA against the Indiana Hoosiers. Curiously, the away game at East Hartford was closer to UMASS' Amherst campus [where they played for decades as a FCS and Division 1AA team- NANESB!] than upcoming home games in Foxbourough- on the opposite end of the Bay state from Amherst.

UConn, meanwhile, will host the North Carolina State Wolfpack at East Hartford next weekend. NC State is coming off a 21-35 loss to Tennessee on Friday night.

Meanwhile, New England's better know FBS College Football team- the Boston College Eagles- will kick off their regular season on Saturday against archrival Miami at the home opener on Chestnut Hill.

NCAA VOLLEYBALL- The Lady Eagles trek out the the West Coast has been a little more successful than the Red Sox- although now that I think about it, that's not saying much.

Mississippi State freshman Middle Blocker Sarah Nielsen had 13 kills for the Bulldogs in Friday night's losing effort against Boston College at the Luxe City Center Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles. Mississippi State Bulldogs Photo

The Lady Eagles started out their West Coast road trip by dropping their opening match against the Northern Iowa Panthers 3 games to 1 on Friday, but rebounded against the Mississippi State Bulldogs later on in the day to win by a 3 games to 1 margin and improving their record to 4-2.

Boston College's Katty Workman lived up to her surname with 20 kills against the Bulldogs on Friday- Courtney Castle added to that total with a strong performance of her own including 16 kills. On the Mississippi State side of the court, freshman Sarah Nielsen led the Bulldogs with 13 kills followed by Taylor Scott with a dozen to her name.

The Lady Eagles will take on host USC on Saturday afternoon before their next match is set to take place at the Spring Hill Suites Invitational at College Park, MD next weekend where they will face Maryland, George Washington and Tennessee.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA VOLLEYBALL- The defending NCAA women's champions got their regular season off to a rather unique start with an exhibition game against professional Chinese volleyball club Jiangsu ECE at the John Wooden center earlier this week. The Chinese club would win the contest in five sets, with the professionals from the other side of the Pacific never trailing in the decisive fifth set.

On Friday, the defending national champions faced off against Northeastern at the UCSB Invitational- just up highway 101 from their campus- where they handed the Lady Huskies their first defeat of the season with a 3-0 sweep, winning 25-21, 25-18 and 25-21. The Bruins head into the 2012 season ranked #3 in the nation while Northeastern is 4-1 despite the loss. On Saturday, Northeastern will take on the tournament host UCSB Gauchos followed by the Idaho Vandals before facing off against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Sunday.

DL Edition Sports Chowdah Recap for June 30 to July 3rd- Depleted Sox Add to O's Woes; Dutch Treat as Brazilians Whacked

Take your pick- the DL could stand for 'Disabled list' or 'Distraught Latinas'.

MLB: For the second year in a row, the Red Sox head into Independence Day with a 49-32 record. Friday night's 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles was probably to accommodate all the speed-daters present, since that took all of 2 hours and 7 minutes. Tim Wakefield scattered 7 hits through 8 innings of work while JD Drew had two solo homers and went 2 for 3 on the night with Daniel Nava coming on to pinch hit for Eric Patterson in the bottom of the 8th to break the 2-2 deadlock with a bloop RBI single- not as dramatic as a grand-slam in his 1st ever at bat, but just as effective.

Papelbon came on in the 9th for another 1-2-3 save opportunity, his 19th of the year.

Tonight's game wasn't as brisk, but who am I to complain about the results? Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie lasted only four innings while giving up nine hits, six runs- including a one out 2 RBI double in the bottom of the 1st to JD Drew- and walking three while Jon Lester improved his record to 10-3 with 7 innings pitched, an earned run, three walks and seven strikeouts. JD Drew has gone 5 for 6 with 4 RBIs in the series so far. Boston wins by a 9-3 final. Game three of the series will have Brian Matusz (2-9; 4.90 ERA) start for Baltimore against Lackey (9-3; 4.46 ERA)at 1:35 PM Eastern time tomorrow.

All this comes with more additions to the DL. If losing Buchholz, Ellsbury, Lowell, Beckett and Pedroia to injury wasn't enough, Sox Captain Jason Varitek was placed on the DL with a broken left foot on July 1st. The same day 'Tek went on the DL, Boston reacquired a familiar name, C Kevin Cash from the Houston Astros in exchange for infielder Angel Sanchez. No State Police escort from the airport this time around, but Cash did a good job of backstopping Wake Friday.

MLB All-Star Game: The rosters for the 2010 American League and National League All-Stars will be announced at noon eastern time tomorrow on TBS prior to their broadcast of the Blue Jays/Yankees game.


WORLD CUP: Well...stick a fork in Brazil- they're done like a churrasco after the Dutch put a wooden clog to their collective backsides...actually the game was alot closer than that, but scantily clad dames of varying nationalities and ethnicities in the stands and snarky hyperbole are typically the only things that can maintain any interest in the World Cup on my part.

Brazil got out to a quick 1-0 lead, but the equalizer came on an own-goal off the noggin of Felipe Melo and the Dutch went up for good on Wesley Sneijder's header for the 2-1 win. My offer to the sultry and no doubt dejected Brazil fanbabes fanbase via backrubs and assisting in the application of sunblock still stands, however.

In other World Cup news....wow....what a bunch of worthless douchebags Spain turned out to be. Screw you, Spain!

[*ring ring* You keep watching the game, Larissa- I'll get it!]

Paraguayan Lingerie model Larissa Riquelme promised to strip naked and run through the capitol city of Asuncion's main plaza should Paraguay win the World Cup (although some variations of the rumor reported she'd be wearing bodypaint in the team's colors). However, in order for that to happen, they had to get past Spain.

OK....Spain...how hard would it have been to take a dive? But nooooooo....what's his name Villa scored in the 82nd minute for the only goal of the match in Spain's 1-0 win. You better have somebody of equal or greater hotness in red & yellow paint willing to do the Lady Godiva thing (sans horse) in Plaza de de España.

[Must...practice...headball....drills]

Of course, on the flip side of the coin it's not often I get to say this, but "Thank you, Germany". Apparently a similar exhibitionist wager was made by bloated, coked-up Argentina coach Diego Maradona. So it seems Maradona promised to run naked around the obelisk in the middle of Buenos Aires' Av. 9 de Julio should Argentina win the 2010 World Cup. The Germans convincing 4-0 on Saturday's rout of the Argentines meant that Maradona would not be able to make good on his threat.

Danke shein, baby!

Also- Uruguay ousted Ghana in a scoreless contest that was decided by penalty kicks. Apparently this was the match that was being watched in that village in the Eastern part of Congo when a fuel tanker crashed and exploded.

So the semifinals will look something like this:
Germany vs. Spain on 7/7 from Durban
Uruguay vs The Netherlands on 7/6 from Cape Town

NCAA Baseball: Shoot....missed that whole College World Series thing. Besides being the home of the AAA affiliate of Kansas City (the Omaha Royals) Omaha's Rosenblatt stadium also hosted the College World Series every year since 1950. The 2010 World Series would be the last one played at Rosenblatt, with South Carolina winning the series 2-0 on a walk-off Whit Merrifield RBI single in the bottom of the 11th to beat UCLA by a 2-1 final. This is south Carolina's first ever College World Series title.

A new ballpark- TD Ameritrade Park- is slated to open in Omaha next to the Qwest Center in the North Downtown area of Omaha.

Sports Chowdah Update- Perfection Denied; NCAA Coaching Legend Passes Away, All Roads Lead To Strasburg, Fisher-Man Masters the C's

(Getty Images)

Man oh man.....as well as the Red Sox have been playing, I've been missing some pretty choice baseball elsewhere lately (much of it caught after the fact). The biggest story heading into tonight was the highly anticipated debut of last year's #1 MLB Draft pick, Stephen Strasburg, for the Washington Nationals.

I distinctly remember during last year's draft all sorts of sports columnists clucking their tongues at the folly of the Nats betting their future on a player who only takes to the field once every five or six days (there is something to that)- and that was if he panned out.

Almost a year to the day later, Strasburg was fast-tracked through the Nats minor-league system and made his Major League debut Tuesday night. To say he lived up to expectations would be something of an understatement. In front of a sellout crowd at Nationals Park, Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 innings of work in Washington's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 14 K's is the second highest number of strikeouts in an MLB debut- topped only by J R Richard's 15 strikeouts in his 1971 debut with the Houston Astros.

Strasburg gave up 2 earned runs ans no walks in his debut, throwing 94 pitches and getting run support on solo home runs from Adam Dunn, Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham.

Today also marks the start of the 2010 MLB draft, with Washington getting the #1 overall draft pick again- this time outfielder Bryce Harper.


Then there's last week's saga of what could've been the third perfect game this season were it not for umpire James Joyce's blown call with two out in the 9th inning

Armando Galarraga had a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the 9th inning at Comerica on June 2nd with 2 away, the Tribe's Jason Donald softly hit the ball in the infield and first baseman Miguel Cabrera softly tossed the ball to Galarraga who was sprinting over to the mound to cover. First Base umpire Joyce ruled Donald 'safe' and Galarraga's bid for perfection ended one out shy of the requisite 27 up and 27 down. However, the replay clearly showed that Galarraga reached before the baserunner. Donald would then advance to 2nd on defensive indifference before Trevor Crowe grounded out to Tigers 3B Brandon Inge to finish the game (and what some would say was the 28th out).

Over the next several days, the story wasn't whether or not Joyce made the right call, but how Galarraga and Joyce handled the immediate aftermath of the call that Joyce himself admitted he got wrong. The 22-year veteran apparently approached the pitcher after the game and immediately admitted that he got the call wrong and apologized. The following night [after being awarded a brand-new Corvette from the Chairman of GM] Galarraga would ceremonially present Joyce with the lineup card before that night's game. There were also appeals to Bud Selig to award Galarraga the perfect game ex post facto, although Joyce's erronious call was allowed to stand by the MLB front office.

While it does suck that Joyce blew the call, I'm glad to see that both parties handled it with a tact and maturity that too often seems like it's missing from professional sports.

RED SOX: Kind of unusual for me to go on for this long without any mention of the Olde Towne Team. After taking two out of three from the A's and O's, the Red Sox started out this week on the road at Cleveland. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw eight scoreless innings on Monday night, with most of Boston's offense coming from 'productive outs' in the Sox 4-1 win over the Tribe at Jacobs Field.

After getting roughed up in his previous two outings, Tim Wakefield set all sorts of club milestones in Tuesday night's game against Cleveland. Wake got his 191st career win in Tuesday night's 3-2 win over the Tribe and passed Roger Clemens' club record with 2,777 innings pitched in a Red Sox uniform. Wake gave up 4 hits, one earned run and struck out six in seven and one third innings of work and after falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, got some run support from a Kevin Youkilis RBI-double, a Big Papi RBI single and Bill Hall RBI double in the top of the 4th.

Tomorrow's game will pit Clay Buccholz (8-3) against former Sox hurler Justin Masterson (1-5), who Boston traded last year in the deal to pick up Victor Martinez.

Other Red Sox News: Jacoby Ellsbury will have his ribs examined at the Kerlan Jobe clinic in Los Angeles. The team gave the outfielder permission to undergo another examination at an outside clinic and expects him the re-join the team this upcoming weekend in Boston.

Jonathan Papelbon was placed on the 3-day Bereavement List on June 7th. No details were provided, but Terry Francona told The Springfield Republican that "It's a personal, serious issue and he has our full support". RHP Boof Bonser was activated from the DL and is expected to join the Sox bullpen while Papelbon's gone.

NBA: After knotting up the series 1-1 at the Staples Center, the NBA Finals moved back to the Garden. While the Lakers were able to hold onto a double-digit lead for much of the first half, the Celtics were eventually able to pull within one before LA pulled away, thanks in part to Derek Fisher's 11 points in the 4th quarter, to win Game 3 by a final of 91-84. Kevin Garnett had 25 points and 6 rebounds for the C's while Kobe Bryant had 29 points and 7 rebounds for LA. Fischer had 16 total, with most of his production for LA coming late in the game.

The Lakers take a 2-1 series lead in the finals, with Game 4 tipping off on Thursday night.

JOHN WOODEN: 1910-2010

NCAA HOOPS: Ten time NCAA Men's Champion coach and Basketball Hall of Famer John Wooden passed away on June 4th. As both a player and a coach, Wooden had 11 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships to his name. Wooden was on the 1932 Purdue Boilermakers as a player when they were selected as the Men's national champions (tournament play didn't begin until 1939- prior to that, winners were determined via a panel) and served in the US Navy as a Lieutenant in World War II. As the UCLA Bruins head coach, Wooden earned the moniker 'The Wizard of Westwood' and coached the Bruins to 10 NCAA Men's titles between 1959 and 1975.

Wooden was also a devout Christian who would later on write in his autobiography:

"I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior."

Here's to a life well-lived. Rest well, coach.

NHL: It was all Chicago early on as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Sunday evening. The Flyers were able to get on the board but would ultimately lose 7-4 at the United Center. The Blackhawks lead 3 games to 2 and could clinch their first Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years with a road win at Philly tomorrow night.

Sports Chowdah Update for Dec 14- Fresh from the Hot Stove: Winter Classic Preview? Patriot Pat Flagged For Illegal Contact, C's Make it 11 Straight

The two teams slated to play at Fenway on the New Year's Day NHL Winter Classic took a tour of the ballpark, locker rooms and incomplete rink on Monday before facing each other at the TD Banknorth Garden. Now as thrilled as I am to have America's first NHL team play an outdoor winter game in America's oldest big-league park, one of the first thoughts to cross my mind was that the home teams are 0-2-1 in these outdoor games (going back to the Heritage Classic held at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in 2003).

Monday night's performance did not bode particularly well for the black & gold, despite getting off to a 1-0 lead in the closing minutes of the 2nd period on Vladmir Sobotka's goal. Philly started off the 3rd by tying the game just after the two minute mark on a James van Riemsdyk goal. Kimmo Timonen broke the tie after getting one past Tim Thomas at the 9:32 mark of the 3rd and then an empty-netter with 41 seconds left in regulation after Thomas was pulled for an extra attacker. Tim Thomas stopped 35 or 37 shots faced while Philly's Brian Boucher stopped 26 of 27 faced. Elsewhere on Monday Night, the Sabres took on the Canadiens and won 4-3, giving them sole possession of first place in the Northeastern Division with the Bruins losing 2 in a row and presently trailing by 4 points.

The Bruins will face the Blackhawks at Chicago's United Center on Friday night, and I'm really hoping for better results in a few weeks when the Flyers and B's take to the ice at Fenway on New Year's Day.

Speaking of better results, The Celtics won their 11th straight game in Memphis on Monday Night and are currently 12-1 on the road this season. Paul Pierce had 19 points, and Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo had 18 each, including a 3-pointer to ice the game with 17.5 seconds left in the 4th and Rasheed Wallace came off the bench for 15 points in the game. The Celtics will take on the 6-18 76ers in Philadelphia on Friday night.

ELSEWHERE: The San Francisco 49ers upset the visiting Arizona Cardinals 24-9 on Monday Night Football. And if your team turned the ball over seven times in one game, you'd be pretty upset too. The 49ers took a 17-3 lead into halftime, with all 17 points coming off of Arizona turnovers. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that the Cardinals managed to muster up nine points (it could've been 10 if the PAT wasn't blocked).

A Warwick, RI man who acts as New England's Patriot Pat mascot was arrested for solicitation and prostitution related crimes late last week. Robert Sormanti was among 14 people arrested in an undercover sting at a hotel. Sormanti could face several misdemeanor charges and a 15-yard penalty for illegal use of the hands. [hat tip: Wyatt Earp].

VITTLES FROM THE HOT STOVE: The Red Sox are reportedly close to agreements with both free agent starting pitcher John Lackey and outfielder Mike Cameron. Lackey is said to be getting a 5-year contract reportedly worth anywhere between $16 and $17.5 Million a year. Lackey is coming off a 11-8 regular season with a 3.83 ERA for the Angels.

The 2-year Mike Cameron deal is reportedly worth $7 to $8 Million a year and is seen as an indication that the Red Sox will no longer try and retain outfielder Jason Bay. The 36 year old outfielder batted .250 with 24 homers and 70 RBI for the Brewers last season.

However, most of the offseason buzz seems to be centered around the proposed trade that would send Roy Halliday from Toronto to the Phillies, Cliff Lee from Philly to Seattle and prospects back to Philly and Toronto. After failing to trade the Blue Jays ace by last season's trade deadline, Toronto resumed shopping Halliday once the offseason began. This brought renewed interest from the Phillies, who made an unsuccessful bid for Halliday's services prior to last season's trade deadline. The deal could be finalized by Wednesday, although there are now reports circulating that the Blue Jays might have to ship a prospect off to Oakland as well in order to complete the deal. Upon being traded to the Phillies, Halliday would also recieve a contract extension that could keep him in the club 2013.

NCAA FOOTBALL UPDATE: Navy beat Army 17-3 at the annual Army-Navy game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, which means that Army is not bowl-eligible this year. Instead, the UCLA Bruins will take on Temple on December 29th 2009 at RFK stadium in Washington DC.