Thursday, May 27^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Brian Bannister, RHP (3-3, 4.73) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (3-1, 5.76)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Friday, May 28^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Kyle Davies, RHP (3-3, 4.53) vs Tim Wakefield, RHP (1-2, 4.44)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Saturday, May 29^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Zack Greinke, RHP (1-5, 3.57) vs Clay Buchholz, RHP (6-3, 3.07)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Sunday, May 30^th @ 1:35 p.m.

Gil Meche, RHP (0-4, 6.66) vs Jon Lester, LHP (5-2, 3.15)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

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

Early Evening Red Sox Delight - 5/26 [SOX & Dawgs]

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After quality starts and wins from Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester, the Boston Red Sox will look for a three-game sweep of the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays tonight at Tropicana Field.

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 can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

John Lackey will look to jump on the quality start train tonight for Terry Francona. In nine starts, Lackey is 4-3 with a 5.07 ERA but has been roughed up his last two times out. He's made one start against the Rays on Marathon Monday and took the loss after allowing eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. He has had good success against the Rays as he is 9-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 13 career starts. He is just 2-2 with a 6.75 ERA in four starts at the Trop.

Matt Garza will look to help Joe Maddon and the Rays avoid the sweep in his 10th start of 2010. In his previous nine starts, he is 5-2 with a 2.79 ERA. He's faced the Red Sox once this season back on April 16th and picked up the win after throwing eight shutout innings. He's made 13 career starts against the Red Sox and is 6-2 with a 2.92 ERA. He is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in six starts against the Red Sox at the Trop and the Rays have won all six of those games as well.

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

Having played soccer for over 2/3 of my life, I, like many people across the world, will be following the action in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. One of my favorite teams to watch is Brasil but I will be watching and supporting the United States Men's National Soccer Team while they are in South Africa.

The United States will kickoff their 2010 FIFA World Cup being held in South Africa starting on June 12th at 2:30 p.m. when they will take on England.

Here's the 23 man squad that head coach Bob Bradley will be bringing to South Africa:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico).

Here's a press release from UConn Athletics Communications Department concerning the 2010 season opener for the UConn Huskies football team.

STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut football game at Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 4, will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and be televised regionally by ABC. The game will be the season opener for both the Huskies and Wolverines and will be the rededication game of historic Michigan Stadium.

Ticket and travel information for the game will be sent to all UConn Club members and football season ticket holders in the upcoming weeks.

On Monday afternoon, the UFL's Hartford Colonials showed off their new logo to the world and also announced they will be wearing blue and gold for the 2010 UFL season.

What do you think of the new logo? To me it looks a little bit like a police shield.

Here's a guest post from Marc Parker of Sports A La Mode about the United States bidding to host either 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

In a couple weeks when the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa it will bring with it a new level of attention and popularity for the game of soccer. The majority of the world is accustomed to the popularity of the sport since soccer is widely considered the "globe's game." However, in the United States, soccer isn't considered as interesting in comparison to the other four major sports the country has to offer. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Soccer doesn't get the respect it rightfully deserves in the States, but when it comes down to Team USA versus the world and bringing a cultural event to the country, no matter how Americans feel about the game, they pay very close attention.

The 1994 World Cup (the last time the games were held in the United States) was attended by a total of 3.6 million people, which is still a record even though the games have expanded. From a United States perspective, it was the highest attended single sporting event in U.S. history. The United States Bid Committee, which is in charge of bringing the games back, understands the significance of hosting such an event and has pulled out all the stops to bring the games to America over other locations like England, Australia, and Japan.

The U.S. Committee's board of directors is made up of important figures like U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati, Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Counselor to former President Clinton, Doug Band. The addition of Doug Band to the U.S. Committee is a smart move on behalf of the committee because Band, an avid fan of the game, is co-creator of the Clinton Global Initiative, and has worked tirelessly to help millions across the globe, adding an internationally recognized face on America’s bid. Band's commitment and global understanding is exactly what the Committee needs to make the games and culture of the 2018/2022 World Cup an American reality.

With the world watching, the 2010 World Cup will be on the forefront of sports viewing technology with some of the games even being broadcasted in 3-D for the first time ever. Team USA drew a favorable bracket and will open the games against England which has many in the country ready to rename this soccer battle the Revolutionary War Part II. Team USA is posed to begin their quest for their first ever World Cup, and America is ready to root them on showing that 2018/2022 is the time to bring the cultural relevance of the world's most popular sport back to America.

The United States wants to bring the world’s attention to America by hosting the World Cup and demonstrating their embrace for the international game of soccer. Billions of people come together under the banner of soccer and root for their country's team in hopes of holding the cup. Winning the World Cup bid will hopefully bring the games to our shores but will also convey the message that America welcomes diversity and respects worldwide culture.

Following up on what Clay Buchholz did on Monday night for the Boston Red Sox, Jon Lester continued the string of quality starts by allowing just one hit and no runs over six innings in the second straight win over the first place Tampa Bay Rays.

After a slow start to 2010, the Red Sox still trail the Rays by 6½ games in the AL East but now find themselves just a ½ game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for third place and 1½ games behind the New York Yankees for second place.

The Red Sox have won seven of their last eight games and over the course of the last seven games, they have gotten quality starts in six of them. The only starter over that stretch without one is tonight's starter John Lackey.

Just like Buchholz did on Monday night, Lester started slowly out of the gate. He issued two first inning walks and worked himself out of a jam. He ended up issuing a season-high five walks but was able to work himself out of those jams as well. His cutter was pretty nasty as he even used it on lefties which helped him to nine strikeouts on the evening.

What the starters have done over the course of the last seven games with the exception of Lackey is what was expected them to start the season. Sure the slow start derailed them just a little bit but they have turned things around. They've also gotten some great defense behind them as well.

The biggest beneficiary to the great starting pitching has been the rest the bullpen has gotten. When the starters weren't going deep early in the season, the bullpen got a lot of work. Even though Lester only was able to give them six innings last night, Manny Delcarmen, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon each worked an inning of hitless baseball with the only blemish a walk by Papelbon in the 9th. When the Red Sox bullpen is well rested like it is now, they seem to pitch better as should be the case.

There's one thing we can't ignore that has also played a part in the resurgence of the Red Sox in the month of may. And that is the bat of one David Ortiz. Much of the media, some of the bloggers (myself included), were writing Big Papi off. But Terry Francona stuck with him and now they are enjoying the riches of the reward. Big Papi came through with the big hit last night as his two-run double was all the Red Sox needed.

Just take a look at his splits for the two months of the season.

-	G	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
April	16	8	5	1	4	7	21	.143	.238	.286	.524
May	17	22	2	8	19	5	19	.361	.403	.787	1.190
Totals	33	30	7	9	23	12	40	.256	.323	.547	.870

Ortiz is in a contract year so he'll need to continue this pace which I fully think he will. One thing I think that will go up over the course of the season going forward is his walk total as well. As he continues to hit, teams will not pitch to him like before. Although with both Victor Martinez and Kevin Youkilis having hot bats in front of him, teams may not have the choice of whether to pitch to him or not.

Also there is one other thing of note. With Jacoby Ellsbury experiencing soreness in his left side, the Red Sox didn't designate Darnell McDonald for assignment as Francona had announced after the game on Monday night. Instead they designated Scott Atchison in what turns out to be a paper work move.

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

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

UConn Football links

New Football Coach At Southington High Is...D.J. Hernandez [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]

Three from Big East on Rimington list [ESPN.com - Big East Blog]

Post-spring position rankings: O-line [ESPN.com - Big East Blog]

Make-or-break stretches in the Big East [ESPN.com - Big East Blog]

Post-spring position rankings: D-line [ESPN.com - Big East Blog]

Orlovsky looks sharp early for Texans [CT Post]

UConn Women's Basketball links

Time for an update [Jim Fuller - New Haven Register]

Dolson, Hartley, Walker get USA invites [Jim Fuller - New Haven Register]

The Sun's Asjha Jones Set For WNBA Chat Thursday [John Altavilla - Hartford Courant]

Three Incoming Huskies Accept Invitations To U-18 Tryouts [John Altavilla - Hartford Courant]

Dolson, Hartley, Walker To Compete At U-18 Trials [Rich Elliott - CT Post]

Not Much Time To Spare For Elite Of Women's Basketball [Hartford Courant]

UConn Men's Basketball links

Jim Calhoun Highest Paid State Employee In 2009, Followed By Geno Auriemma, Randy Edsall [Mike Anthony - Hartford Courant]

From Calhoun To Pitino: A Look Inside Big-Time College Coaches' Contracts [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Baseball: Penders & Eight Huskies Earn 2010 BIG EAST Honors [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn opens up Big East play; NCAA coming up [The Republican-American]

Cats meet UConn in Round One [The News Record]

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.

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