After having the last three days off for the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox return to action tonight as they'll host the Texas Rangers in the first game of four at Fenway Park

Tonight's game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest in the Rangers television market. If you're lucky enough to live in the Dodgers or Cardinals television markets, you can catch the game on the MLB Network. If you can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Tim Wakefield gets the ball from Terry Francona to kickoff the unofficial start to the second half of the season. Wake has made 18 appearances (14 starts) in 2010 and is 3-6 with a 5.22 ERA. He's made one start against the Rangers this season back on 4/20 where he took a no decision after allowing six runs in six innings. Overall in his career, he's made 34 appearances (27 starts) against the Rangers and is 10-15 with four saves and a 6.09 ERA.

Tommy Hunter will make his just his seventh start of the 2010 season tonight. In his previous six starts, he is 5-0 with a 2.34 ERA. He's made two career appearances against the Red Sox and is 1-1 with an 11.74 ERA. He's made just one start at Fenway where he took the loss after allowing nine runs in 1 2/3 innings back in 2008.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

The New England Patriots open training camp on Thursday, July 29 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. Not all of the practices, sessions and scrimmages are open to the public but the team does a good job of keeping the fans updated.

One thing you need to be aware of before you travel to the Razor is that the staff can and will and has closed an open practice just prior to its start. You can keep updated on the fly at patriots.com through the training camp page as well as on the teams Facebook and Twitter sites.

As we get closer to the start, Ian or myself will post the open practice schedule for the day as well.

And be sure to check out the Doc's Sports Journal. The 160 page publication has the complete football schedules for the NFL and college teams as well as information on the teams.

Here's what it includes:

• Exclusive information and articles
• COMPLETE College and NFL team information
• College and NFL Statistics
• Odds, Trends, Historical Angles
• Individual Game information Including:
  (Kick off time, Artificial Turf vs. Grass, Match-up information, Last years Final score, Next weeks opponent.)
• An excellent handicapping tool

After being off for three days, the Boston Red Sox return to action tonight as the AL West-leading Texas Rangers come to Beantown for four games. They won't be the only ones playing as some of the DL crew will also start getting back to action.

The Red Sox announced yesterday that reliever Manny Delcarmen and outfielder Jeremy Hermida will be coming to my neck of the wood here in Connecticut with the Portland Sea Dogs as they take on the New Britain Rock Cats. Also, Clay Buchholz will make a rehab start for the Pawtucket Red Sox on Friday night in Syracuse followed by Josh Beckett on Saturday night.

Declarmen will start for the Sea Dogs tonight and throw one inning while Hermida will DH tonight,  play the outfield on Friday and then DH on Saturday before heading back to Boston to be checked out by the medical staff.

Other than that it was relatively quiet as far as the Red Sox news went so for now enjoy the overnight links after the jump.

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 some of the other sports. 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.

Thank you for stopping and by making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings are after the jump.

The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is used to winning and not losing like they did at Wednesday night's 2010 ESPYs at the Nokia Theatre LA Live in Los Angeles.

The UConn women's basketball program had garnered eight nominations for the ESPYs but only came away with two.

Former Husky and current Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi was named as the Best WNBA Player. And if you blinked at all during the ESPYs telecast, you missed Maya Moore being named the Best Female College Athlete. Moore also won the award in 2009.

But like always, I've got you covered with the video:

If you missed the telecast, I definitely suggest you try to catch at least the opening part and Seth Meyer's monologue. Absolutely hilarious. Also be sure to check out the presentations for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and the Jimmy V Award for Perserverance. Both of those moments were very moving.

Thursday, July 15^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Tommy Hunter, RHP (5-0, 2.34) vs Tim Wakefield, RHP (3-7, 5.22)

TV: NESN, MLB Network (only in Dodgers and Cardinals markets), MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Friday, July 16^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Colby Lewis, RHP (8-5, 3.33) vs Felix Doubront, LHP (1-1, 4.22)

TV: NESN, MLB Network (only in Rays and Yankees markets), MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Saturday, July 17^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Cliff Lee, LHP (8-4, 2.64) vs John Lackey, RHP (9-5, 4.75)

TV: NESN, MLB Network, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Sunday, July 18^th @ 1:35 p.m.

C.J. Wilson, LHP (7-5, 3.35) vs Jon Lester, LHP (11-3, 2.78)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

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 some of the other sports. 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.

Thank you for stopping and by making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings are after the jump.

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away at the age of 80 on Tuesday after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in Tampa, FL.

Steinbrenner may not have been the most liked person here in Red Sox Nation but he commanded a respect like none other. He brought the rivalry between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox back to the forefront engaging in many different types of battles. He did so much for the game and the cities of Tampa and New York that it would take forever to list.

So whether you like or hate Steinbrenner, today is a sad day in the world of baseball

Our condolences go out to his family, friends, the entire Yankees organization and Yankees fans on their loss. The Big Stein will be greatly missed.

Photo credit: Reuters pictures