After taking 5-of-6 on the homestand, including the final five games, the Boston Red Sox head to the road for their next eight games. Tonight, they'll kick off the road trip with the first game of a two-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Rays television market, you can catch the game on Sun Sports. And if you don't live in either market, the game will also be available nationally on ESPN. It will also be available online at ESPN3.com or on your mobile device at WatchESPN where available. If you can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Clay Buchholz looks to continue to bring his ERA down in his eighth start of 2012. In his previous seven starts, Buchholz is 4-1 with an 8.31 ERA. He picked up the win in his only start of 2012 against the Rays after allowing five runs in seven innings of work on April 14. He's made nine career starts against the Rays and is 5-2 with a 2.38 ERA. Five of those starts have come at the Trop where he is 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA.

Jeremy Hellickson gets the ball for the AL-East leading Rays in his eighth start of 2012. In his previous seven starts, Hellickson is 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA. He took a no decision in his only start of 2012 against the Red Sox after allowing five runs in five innings of work on April 14. He's made six career appearances (five starts) against the Red Sox and is 2-1 with a 4.99 ERA. Two of those starts have come at the Trop where he is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA (6 ER/13 IP).

Click on the read more button below to see today's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you're on the home page.

When Josh Beckett last walked off the mound at Fenway Park, the Fenway Faithful let him know what they thought of his pitching performance that night. After that start last Thursday, he then watched the other four fellow starters all put up quality starts and picking up the wins.

So on his 32nd birthday and the way starters compete with each other plus the way he was perceived after his last outing, you just knew Beckett would come out and silence his critics.

And he did exactly just that as he dominated the Mariners lineup for seven innings in a 5-0 win for the home team.

He allowed four hits, all of which were singles, and two walks while striking out a season-high nine. Beckett threw just 93 pitches, getting 11 swings-and-misses. His fastball velocity got as high as 94 MPH but he was consistently around 92-93 with great command and location on it. He also mixed in his curveball and cutter along with a nasty changeup.

Now some people out there are saying that Beckett dominated because this was the light-hitting Mariners. Does that really matter people? With the way Beckett pitched last night, there weren't going to be too many teams that would hit him. He did what he was supposed to do last night and that's all that should matter.

Now you hope that he takes the positives from this start and uses them going forward.

Rich Hill and Alfredo Aceves backed up Beckett each throwing a perfect inning to finish up the game.

David Ortiz got the scoring going for the local nine with a solo home run in the 3rd inning. He finished the afternoon going 2-for-3 with his other hit a bunt single to beat the shift employed by the Mariners. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, catching Beckett for the first time in a long time this season, also had two hits as did Mike Aviles, both of which were doubles, who also knocked in two runs.

Will Middlebrooks added another hit and RBI, his 14th since being called up. He also stole his second base of the season.

With Kevin Youkilis starting his rehab assignment today, the Red Sox will have to make a decision on what to do with Middlebrooks. Youk shouldn't lose his starting spot because of injury but how do you send down someone who is hitting .300 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. It won't make sense for Middlebrooks to sit on the bench in the big leagues so he probably will be sent down when Youk returns.

When you look at things, you want Youk to play. You want him to be able show that he can be healthy and perform. Why's that? Because if he can show that he can stay healthy and perform, there's the possibility you can use him as trade bait to pick up a piece that you need. I'm just throwing that out there for everyone to think about.

The Red Sox are playing good baseball right. Let's hope they can continue that roll now that they head back out on the road for eight straight games. They'll kick that off tonight with the first of a two-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays, a team they took 3-of-4 from back in April.

We'll be back later with today's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let's take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

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Note: Pitching matchups are subject to change

Wednesday, May 16 @ 7:10 PM

Clay Buchholz, RHP (4-1, 8.31) vs Jeremy Hellickson, RHP (3-0, 2.95)

TV: NESN, ESPN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Gameday Audio

Thursday, May 17 @ 7:10 PM

Felix Doubront, LHP (3-1, 4.46) vs Matt Moore, LHP (1-3, 5.31)

TV: NESN, MLB Network, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Gameday Audio

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New England Patriots All-Pro wide receiver Wes Welker has signed his franchise tender according to a team official.

The Patriots gave Welker the franchise tag back on March 5th as one of 21 teams to select a franchise player.

By signing the tender Welker is guaranteed to make $9.51 million dollars for the 2012 season.  He and the team still have until July 14 to reach a longterm agreement and drop the franchise tender.

If no agreement on a new contract is reached prior to July 14, Welker will play this season on the one-year guaranteed deal.

By signing his tender it allows him to participate in the OTA’s and training camp instead of being on the outside looking in.

It was anticipated all along that Welker would not hold out of camp looking for a comtract and he hinted earlier Tuesday morning during a WEEI interview that he wouldn’t miss any of the season.

Welker, whose on the verge of becoming the most prolific pass receiver in Patriots history, has said New England is the place he wants to be.   He is just four catches shy of breaking the team record for most catches by a wide receiver which is currently held by Troy Brown who had 577.

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photo credit: AP Photo

After being honored by the Boston Red Sox in a very touching pregame ceremony, Tim Wakefield stopped by the NESN booth to talk with Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy.

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The New England Patriots signed 2nd round draft pick safey Tavon Wilson of Illinois.  Wilson was taken with the 48th pick of the second round and was the third selection the team made in the draft.

Wilson was an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention for defense in 2010 and 2011 and was named the teams outstanding defensive back this past season.

He played all 13 games at safety making 48 tackles and had 1 INT and recovered two fumbles.  He has also played cornerback before being moved to safery.  He will give the Patriots some versatility on defense and he could be a possible punt return option.

The team also released QB Mike Hartline, a Canton OH native, who was signed as a free agent out of the University of Kentucky shortly after the season ended.

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photo credit: Getty Images

Here is the video from a very touching pregame ceremony as the Boston Red Sox honored their former pitcher Tim Wakefield for his contributions to the team as well as in the community.

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After winning 6-1 last night, the Boston Red Sox look to finish off the six-game homestand with another win this afternoon in the finale of a two-game set with the Seattle Mariners at Historic Fenway Park.

First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Mariners television market, you can catch the game on ROOT Sports. If you can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

The Red Sox will also be honoring former knuckleballer Tim Wakefield before the game. The ceremony is expected to start at approximately at 3:30 p.m. and will be shown on NESN as well. It will also be posted here on the site after the ceremony.

After being booed off the mound in his last start, Josh Beckett looks to continue the good string of starting pitching in his seventh start of 2012 and on his 32nd birthday. In his previous six starts, Beckett is 2-4 with a 5.97 ERA. He made two starts against the Mariners in 2011 and was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA (6 ER/12 IP). Overall in his career, Beckett has made nine starts against the Mariners and is 6-2 with a 3.39 ERA.

Blake Beavan is also making his seventh start of the season for the Mariners. In his previous six starts, Beavan is 1-3 with a 4.32 ERA. Both of his career starts against the Red Sox came last season when he went 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA (9 ER/13 IP). He took the loss in his lone Fenway start after allowing three runs in 6.2 innings of work.

Click on the read more button below to see today's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you're on the home page.