Back on April 20th, Darnell McDonald became the latest folk hero for the Boston Red Sox when he hit a 2-run homer and then had the walk-off single to help them to a 7-6 come-from-behind win over the Texas Rangers. The team had been struggling then and anything they could get from McDonald was gravy at that point.

But with Jacoby Ellsbury back and now Mike Cameron being activated from the disabled list on Tuesday, there was just no spot on the Red Sox roster for McDonald as he was designated for assignment after Monday's win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Here's what Red Sox skipper Terry Francona said about the move after the game to NESN's Heidi Watney:

We're obviously very excited to activate Cam but we had to designate Darnell for assignment which we didn't want to do. And we told him flat out that it wasn't anything he did. He played...did a lot for us. For his sake we hope I gets claimed, for our sake I hope he doesn't. We love having him here but he deserves to be in the big leagues.

In 31 games, McDonald hit .263 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and two stolen bases. He had an OBP of .320 and SLG% of .400.

And to reminisce, let's take a look at both videos from a night McDonald will never forgot.

Walkoff single:

Two-run homer:

Boston Red Sox @ Philadelphia Phillies 7:10 p.m Tropicana Field SP: Clay Buchholz vs Wade Davis TV: NESN, ESPN2, ESPN3.com, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight - 5/24 [SOX & Dawgs]

After taking two of three from the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Red Sox head south to take on their AL East-leading rivals the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game set 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. And if you don't live in either market and want to watch the game, you can catch the game on ESPN2 or ESPN3.com where available.  If you can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Clay Buchholz will look for a repeat performance in his last start out. In eight starts this season, Buchholz is 5-3 with a 3.26 ERA. He's made one start against the Rays this season and took the loss after allowing four unearned runs in five innings on April 17th. He's made five career starts against the Rays and is 2-2 with a 2.01 ERA. Buchholz has made two starts at Tropicana Field and is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA.

Wade Davis looks to keep the Rays rolling in his ninth start of the 2010 season. In his previous eight starts, he is 4-3 with a 3.35 ERA. Davis took a no decision against the Red Sox back on April 16th after allowing one run in five innings. He's made two career starts against the Red Sox, both of them coming at the Fens, and is 0-1 with a 10.57 ERA.

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

Sure there are about five weeks left in the 2010 MLB All-Star Game voting but right now if Red Sox Nation wants to see any of it's players in the starting lineup, we're going to have get voting.

With the first ballot totals released on Monday afternoon, the only Boston Red Sox player that is even close to the top of the voting is second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who trails Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano by about a 112,000 votes. Heck if it wasn't for Evan Longoria of the Rays, the entire Yankees infield would the starters as of right now.

Right now, Kevin Youkilis is 5th in the voting at first base, Adrian Beltre is 4th in voting at third base, Victor Martinez is 3rd in the voting at catcher and David Ortiz is 5th in the voting at the DH spot. None of the Red Sox three outfielders on the ballot are in the top 15.

So fans of Red Sox Nation, it's time to vote Red Sox across the 2010 MLB All-Star Game Ballot.

A full look at the voting totals after the jump.

Tim Wakefield entered the 2010 season just 17 wins behind Roger Clemens and Cy Young (192) for most wins in a Boston Red Sox uniform. He also hadn't won a game since July 8th of last year. And on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, he would be squaring off with Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay, who has been dominating the National League.

But with a knuckleball that was fluttering all over the strike zone, good defense behind him and Kevin Youkilis at the plate, Wakefield was finally able to pick up his first win of the 2010 campaign. It hasn't been easy for him this year as he started out the season in the rotation only to be bumped to the bullpen when Daisuke Matsuzaka was activated from the DL.

He had made four appearances out of the bullpen with mixed results but he's now filled in twice for an injured Josh Beckett and thrown the ball well. Yesterday, he had the good knuckleball going as he was able to throw 68 of his 102 pitches for strikes. He retired all eight leadoff hitters he faced threw 18 first pitch strikes to the 31 batters he faced. When you can do this, good things are going to happen.

Besides his one strikeout, he got 17 fly ball outs letting his defense do their jobs as well as getting six ground ball outs.

Throughout all of this, Wake has been a model teammate, not throwing Terry Francona or anyone else under the bus. He just goes out and takes care of his business when he's called upon. But if he continues to pitch like this, he's definitely going to make Francona's decision-making on the starting rotation a little harder.

The Red Sox have now gotten four great starts in their last five with John Lackey being the lone exception. And with the Yankees losing five of their last six and the Red Sox winning five of their last six, the gap between the two teams is now just 2½ games. Of course their opponent for the next three games, the Tampa Bay Rays, are showing no signs of letting up as they lead the Red Sox by 8½ games, the Toronto Blue Jays by seven games and the Yankees by six games.

While a sweep of the Rays would go a long way, taking two of three from the Rays would be just as nice. And with Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester on the mound the first two nights, this could happen. But the Red Sox will definitely be out for a little revenge as the Rays swept four games from the local nine back in mid-April.

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

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

UConn Women's Basketball links

UConn Men's Basketball links

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.

Monday, May 24^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Clay Buchholz, RHP (5-3, 3.26) vs Wade Davis, RHP (4-3, 3.35)

TV: NESN, ESPN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Tuesday, May 25^th @ 7:10 p.m.

Jon Lester, LHP (4-2, 3.47) vs James Shields, RHP (5-1, 3.08)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Wednesday, May 26^th @ 7:10 p.m.

John Lackey, RHP (4-3, 5.07) vs Matt Garza, RHP (5-2, 2.37)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Boston Red Sox @ Philadelphia Phillies 1:35 p.m Citizens Bank Park SP: Tim Wakefield vs Roy Halladay TV: NESN, TBS, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Late Morning Red Sox Delight - 5/23 [SOX & Dawgs]

After a masterpiece from Daisuke Matsuzaka on Saturday night, the Boston Red Sox will look to take the rubber game against the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

This afternoon's game will start at 1:35 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. You can catch the game in the Philadelphia area on Myphl17. And if you don't live in either market, you are in luck as the game will be shown nationally with the exception of those two markets on  TBS. If you can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

Tim Wakefield will fill in for the injured Josh Beckett this afternoon. Wake has appeared in nine games this season with five starts and is 0-2 with a 5.31 ERA. He didn't face the Phillies in 2009 and his last appearance against them came in June of 2006. He's appeared in nine games (seven starts) against the Phillies and is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA. In three road starts against the Phillies, Wake is 1-1 with a 3.20 ERA.

Charlie Manuel will call on his doctor today as Roy Halladay will go against his former AL East rivals. In nine starts for the Phillies this season, Halladay is 6-2 with a 1.64 ERA. He made four starts in 2009 against the Red Sox as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and was 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA and two complete games. Overall in his career, he's made 41 appearances (38 starts) and is 14-14 with a 4.28 ERA.

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