Come on Red Sox Nation! We are disappointing Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis in his bid to join his teammates in Anaheim for the 2010 MLB All-Star Game.

After taking over the lead in the voting for the AL All-Star final roster spot on Tuesday, Youkilis has fallen back in second place behind New York Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher by just one percentage point. On the NL side of the things, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto still leads Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

Let's not disappoint Youk, folks. We didn't get any Red Sox starters in the game but let's show the players and Youk especially, that we care and want him there. Do your part and get Youk back to the top, vote now!!!! And don't forget, the Red Sox and Reds have teamed up for a Youkilis/Votto ticket so show your support for Votto in the National League when voting.

Get your vote in before 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

Here's how the first three days of voting look:

American League:

1. Nick Swisher, Yankees
2. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
3. Paul Konerko, White Sox
4. Michael Young, Rangers
5. Delmon Young, Twins

National League:

1. Joey Votto, Reds
2. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals
3. Billy Wagner, Braves
4. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
5. Heath Bell, Padres

For all intents and purposes, the Boston Red Sox lost their game to the Tampa Bay Rays last night when Kevin Youkilis (vote Youk) left the game before his at-bat in the 4th inning when he left with what was announced as right ankle pain. But why is this reason the Red Sox lost last night?

It's quite simple actually. Why in the world are you going to pitch to David Ortiz (who hits before Youk) when you can take your chances with Niuman Romero, who had just two hits in 14 career at-bats before last night. And that's exactly what Rays skipper Joe Maddon did last night.

With a runner on second in the 5th inning, Maddon had his starter Jeff Niemann intentionally walk Big Papi to face Romero who ended up flying out to leave two runners stranded on base. In the 7th inning with a runner on first, Maddon had reliever Lance Cormier intentionally walk Big Papi to face Romero who ended up grounding out to first to leave two more runners on base.

And it happened again in the 9th inning after Eric Patterson's triple brought in Bill Hall to cut the Rays lead to 3-2. With Patterson on third, Maddon had his closer Rafael Soriano intentionally walk Big Papi for the third straight time. Interestingly enough, instead of having Mike Cameron pinch-hit for Romero, he had him pinch-run for Big Papi. That move backfired for Terry Francona as Romero grounded out to second to end the game.

There wasn't much Francona could do when Youk went down. He only had Romero who could play first. Sure he could have used Big Papi at first base but then the Red Sox would have had their pitcher batting cleanup for the rest of the night.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, it doesn't appear the injury to Vote Youk is all that serious and he could be back in the lineup tonight. Things won't be easy though as the Rays will be looking for the sweep with their All-Star ace David Price.

We'll be back later with tonight's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, news and any links from the day but for now enjoy the overnight links after the jump.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

DC answered a few questions in his mailbag [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Graham Stewart's Unofficial Visit To... [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Season Ticket Sales Update [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

UConn Football Losing Money? An Update [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

UConn Women's Basketball links

Former UConn Star Ketia Swanier Suspended By WNBA For One Game [John Altavilla - Hartford Courant]

LSU, Lehigh Join Howard For November Tournament [John Altavilla - Hartford Courant]

Huskies To Host Baylor Nov. 16 [Rich Elliott - CT Post]

Men's soccer releases 2010 schedule [UConnHuskies.com]

Men's Ice Hockey: Four Huskies Earn Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team Honors [UConnHuskies.com]

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.

Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays 7:10 p.m Tropicana Field SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs Matt Garza TV: NESN, MLB Network, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight - 7/6 [SOX & Dawgs]

After a tough loss last night, the Boston Red Sox will look to get back into second place with a win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in game two of a three-game set.

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 shown on Sun Sports in the Rays television market. If you don't live in either market, you're in luck as the game will be 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.

Felix Doubront takes the place of Red Sox All-Star starter Clay Buchholz, who was placed on the disabled list yesterday. This will be the second big league start for Doubront. He was a winner in his first start back on June 16th at Fenway Park where he allowed three runs in five innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jeff Niemann has made 16 starts in 2010 for skipper Joe Maddon. In those starts, he is 6-2 with a 2.80 ERA. He's made one start against the Red Sox and picked up the win on Patriot's Day when he allowed two runs over seven innings. This will be his third career start against the Red Sox and he has a 1-1 record with a 6.30 ERA.

Lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, and links after the jump.

Bloguin and the fine folks at Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook are teaming up to give you a chance to win a free copy of the 2010 Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook.

If you're not familiar with the Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook, it is known as the "Bible" of college football and gives its readers the most thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country. It also has a conference-by-conference breakdown as well as their Top 25.

So if you're a college football die-hard like myself, this is the book that you want to have. If you're interested in winning a free copy here from SOX & Dawgs, the contest is simple.

Just head over to my contact page and send me a message with BRCFY contest in the subject line. It's that simple. I have two copies to give away. The winners will be chosen randomly. One entry per person will be accepted through July 13th with the winner being announced on July 14th. You are not responsible for the shipping costs as I will cover those. All you need to do is enter.

For those UConn Huskies fans out there, here is what the Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook has to say (click on PDF file below):

• About
• Offense
• Defense
• Special Teams
• Newcomers
• Analysis

Okay Red Sox Nation, let's keep those votes rolling in to keep Boston Red Sox first baseman on top so he can join his teammates in Anaheim for the 2010 MLB All-Star Game on July 13th.

After trailing New York Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher after the first day of voting, Youk has moved into first place in the AL All-Star final vote. Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto still leads Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the National League side of things.

Let's not disappoint Youk, folks. We didn't get any Red Sox starters in the game but let's show the players and Youk especially, that we care and want him there. Do your part and keep Youk at the top, vote now!!!! And don't forget, the Red Sox and Reds have teamed up for a Youkilis/Votto ticket so show your support for Votto in the National League when voting.

Here's how the first two days of voting look:

American League:

1. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
2. Nick Swisher, Yankees
3. Michael Young, Rangers
4. Paul Konerko, White Sox
5. Delmon Young, Twins

National League:

1. Joey Votto, Reds
2. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals
3. Billy Wagner, Braves
4. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
5. Heath Bell, Padres

Daisuke Matsuzaka could be the most frustrating pitcher that I've ever seen pitch for the Boston Red Sox.

There's been times this season (almost no-hitter against Philadelphia Phillies) where he's completely baffled the hitters. There's been times where he's had one bad inning but then looked dominating. And then there's been times like last night where he's completely looked lost.

Sure he might be out of his comfort zone a little without Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek behind the plate, but that's no excuse.

In last night's 6-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Matsuzaka was staked to a 5-1 lead behind two home runs by Eric Patterson. But he came unglued in the 5th and 6th innings where he allowed two runs per inning.

His big mistake though came in the 6th when he botched a bunt play.

The Rays had runners on first and second with no outs and were willing to give up an out with a bunt by Jason Bartlett. The Red Sox had Adrian Beltre charging from third, Kevin Youkilis from first with Marco Scutaro covering short and Bill Hall covering first. Bartlett's bunt went to Dice-K who initially looked at third to find no one covering and he didn't even attempt a throw to first.

It's obvious he forgot which bunt play was on because it ended up costing him on the next batter as John Jaso singled in the tying runs.

The Red Sox have a $103.1 million investment in Matsuzaka. The returns have not been consistently good. As I said above, he's shown flashes of brilliance and he's shown flashes of all out suckiness. But the one thing he's lacking is consistency in being good. You have to wonder how much longer the Red Sox brass will tolerate this.

Remember we're talking about a pitcher who dominated hitters in Japan and one who's led Japan to two World Baseball Classic title and two WBC MVP's. The question is will we ever see that in Boston from him.

We'll be back later with tonight's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, news and links from the day, but for now enjoy the overnight links after the jump.