The Official Boston Sports Thread

Eric Hinske was the hero in the nightcap of yesterday's day/night doubleheader, first making a spectacular run-saving diving catch in right field, then coming out of a 3/34 drought with a 2-run homer into the Red Sox bullpen in the 7th inning off Tigers reliever Wilfredo Ledesma, which provided the margin in a 4-2 win. Brendan Donnelly got the win in relief of Curt Schilling, and Hideki Okajima pitched a perfect 9th inning for his second save.

Interleague play should start tonight when the Atlanta Braves come into town for a weekend series, but tonight's game is threatened by the weather. If it goes, Devern Hansack (0-0, 13.50 ERA), called up from Pawtucket last night as Josh Beckett went on the 15-day disabled list, will make the start against the Braves' Anthony Lerew (0-1, 6.52 ERA).

Tonight's series opener against the Atlanta Braves has been postponed due to the wet conditions and will be made up as the night game (7:35 PM first pitch) of a day/night doubleheader tomorrow. Tickets for tonight's game will be honored for tomorrow night.

After splitting the split doubleheader Saturday and getting 5+ solid innings from spot starter Kason Gabbard in a 6-3 win yesterday to wrap up the interleague series against the Braves, the Red Sox head to the Bronx for a 3-game series against the Yankees, who seem to need to sweep the series in order to have any hope of getting back in the AL East race. The probable pitchers:

Tonight: RHP Tim Wakefield (4-4, 2.41 ERA) v. RHP Chien-Ming Wang (2-3, 4.54 ERA)
Tomorrow: RHP Julian Tavarez (2-4, 5.59 ERA) v. RHP Mike Mussina (2-2, 5.64 ERA)
Wednesday: RHP Curt Schilling (4-1, 3.57 ERA) v. LHP Andy Pettitte (2-3, 2.83 ERA)

All 3 games will be televised locally (NESN in Boston, YES Network in New York), but tonight's and Wednesday's games will also be televised nationally on ESPN (ESPN will be blacked out locally on those nights).

Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, in the first of what could be many awards in his Red Sox career, was named American League Player of the Week today. Dice-K won both of his starts in the past 7 days, allowing just 4 runs in 17 combined innings, walking none while striking out 11. David Ortiz (week of Aug. 6, 2006) was the last Red Sox player to win the award.

Ouch! Just about whenever it seemed the Sox would break through with some runs last night, the rally got snuffed out, or it would've at least been closer than the 6-2 final score. Let's hope the bats wake up against Mussina tonight and Tavarez has a decent game.

The Red Sox got a first-inning 3-run homer from Manny Ramirez and a fourth-inning solo homer from Mike Lowell to build a 4-0 lead in the Bronx and hung on to win 7-3 and give Julian Tavarez the W on his 34th birthday. A bad, but worthy, thing to note was that lefty setup man Hideki Okajima gave up a run in the 8th inning, which was the first run scored on him since the first-pitch homer on Opening Day in Kansas City. Okajima had pitched 20 2/3 innings of scoreless relief until the run scored on him last night.

Unfortunately, the night wasn't so good for the Celtics, as they learned that they will not be obtaining the services of either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant after last night's NBA draft lottery. The three top picks, determined in the lottery, will belong to the Portland Trailblazers, the Seattle Supersonics, and the Atlanta Hawks, in that order. The Memphis Grizzlies, who had the worst record in the league this season, will precede the Celtics, who will pick fifth in the first round of the draft, which will take place on June 28.

By way of a Patriots update, the re-signing of LB Junior Seau was officially announced on Monday. He gets a one-year contract with a $1M base salary, no bonuses, and $100K in incentives. His cap charge for the season is $1.1M.

The Red Sox couldn't get away from the Bronx with the series win, as Curt Schilling coughed up the proverbial hairball, allowing 12 hits and 6 runs in 6 innings of work in an 8-3 loss. One of Schilling's runs was unearned, ending his streak of 69 consecutive games without allowing an unearned run.

The Sox have the day off, then start a weekend series in Texas tomorrow night against the Rangers.

In Patriots news, ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports that CB Randall Gay has signed his one-year, $1.3M restricted free agent tender. The move was expected, as the deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets from other clubs has passed.

After a sweep of the weekend series in Texas, the Red Sox now find themselves leading by 11.5 games over Baltimore in the AL East. The Yankees were swept at home by the Angels this weekend, so the Yankees are now fourth in the division, 12.5 games behind the Sox. The Sox begin a three-game series at Fenway tonight against the Cleveland Indians, contenders in the AL Central. Curt Schilling (4-2, 3.94 ERA) will get the baseball from Terry Francona, and is opposed by the Indians' Cliff Lee (2-1, 5.93 ERA). The series will also mark the return to Fenway of outfielder Trot Nixon, who signed as a free agent with Cleveland in the offseason after 10 seasons with the Sox.

The news is much sadder on the Patriots' front: backup DL Marquise Hill is believed missing in Louisiana after a jetski accident last night on Lake Pontchartrain. At press time, authorities have found the jetski and Hill's female companion (who was also on the jetski, but managed to swim to a pylon and was rescued), and are still searching for Hill. Neither Hill nor the female were wearing life vests at the time of the accident. Marquise Hill was a second-round draft pick for the Pats in 2004, but has seen limited action in his NFL career.

UPDATE: The Herald reports on its site that Hill's body has been recovered from the lake. Our condolences go out to the Patriots and Hill's family.

Lots to like about last night's 5-3 win over the Indians...the ovation for Trot Nixon's return, Dustin Pedroia continuing his solid hitting, J.D. Drew continuing to heat up from his long slump, Curt Schilling's 10 Ks, and especially Kevin Youkilis' inside-the-park homer. As for Youk, I believe the only reason he won't be voted as a starter in the All-Star Game this year is b/c "Big Papi" is already representing the Red Sox on the ballot @ 1B (due to there being no DH voting b/c the game is in a National League park). He should be named as a reserve though.

The series continues tonight with Josh Beckett (7-0, 2.66 ERA) coming off the disabled list to get the start for the Red Sox against the Tribe's Jeremy Sowers (1-4, 6.29 ERA).

Since Memorial Day is one of the traditional "benchmark" days as far as the standings go, here are the AL East standings after the games on Memorial Day:

1. Boston 35-15 .700 ---
2. Baltimore 24-27 .471 11.5
3. Toronto 23-27 .460 12
4. NY Yankees 21-28 .429 13.5
5. Tampa Bay 21-28 .429 13.5

One good thing to note here is that the Yankees will already need help from other teams, because, with 9 head-to-head games remaining with the Red Sox, they cannot fully close the gap just by winning head-to-head games.

After another tough and unfortunate loss last night the Yankees are now 14.5 games back in the AL East! I knew that the Sox were going to be this good going into the season but I have to admit that I'm very shocked at the way the Yankees are playing so far this year.

Yeah, J_O...it's gotta hurt when the losing run is almost literally stolen from you (as Aaron Hill stole home for what turned out to be the Jays' winning run against the Yanks last night).

Any questions about Josh Beckett's finger were answered last night, as he had good command of his curveball in a 3-hit, 2-run performance over 7 innings in last night's 4-2 win. Kevin Youkilis extended his hitting streak to 21 games (and his multiple-hit streak to 9 games, the most by a Red Sox player since Jim Rice in 1978), and Jason Varitek tied Carlton Fisk for most RBIs by a Red Sox catcher (568) with a lead-off 5th inning homer.

The series against the Indians concludes tonight with Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-2, 4.43 ERA) opposing the Tribe's Paul Byrd (5-1, 3.81 ERA)

Two funds have been set up for those wishing to donate in the memory of Marquise Hill and support his son, Ma'shy:

Ma'shy Hill - Health Care and Education Fund
Regions Bank
8440 Jefferson Highway
1st Floor
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
225-924-9308
attn: Maureen Dunham, Private Banking

Greater St. Stephen's Full Gospel Baptist Church
2240 Simon Blvd
New Orleans, LA 70113
504-859-6800

Dice-K got smacked around pretty good toward the end of his outing last night, and a 2-run homer by Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore knocked him out of the game w/ 2 out in the 6th. That's pretty much all you needed to know about the 8-4 loss. Kevin Youkilis extended his hitting streak to 22, but with only one hit, Youk had his multiple-hit streak ended at 9, which is a club record he now shares with Jim Rice.

The Yankees come to town tomorrow for a weekend series, and the pitching probables, start times, and networks are as follows:

Tomorrow: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (3-4, 4.13 ERA) v. RHP Tim Wakefield (5-5, 3.36 ERA) 7:05 PM NESN
Saturday: RHP Mike Mussina (2-3, 5.86 ERA) v. RHP Curt Schilling (5-2, 3.68 ERA) 3:55 PM Fox
Sunday: LHP Andy Pettitte (3-4, 2.51 ERA) v. RHP Josh Beckett (8-0, 2.65 ERA) 8:05 PM ESPN

As I'm sure you've heard, the Yankees have decided not to have Roger Clemens make his major league season debut until Monday's game against the White Sox, so he misses this series.

In Patriots news, former Pats OL Joe Andruzzi has been diagnosed with a treatable form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma similar to that which afflicted Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester. Albert Breer reports in the Herald's Patriots blog that Andruzzi will be treated here in Boston, at the world-reknowned Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

In other Patriots news, exclusive rights free agent CB Antwain Spann has been re-signed.

Well, went to the Sox/Yanks game last night and thanks to another cr*p-tacular performance by Wakefield, the Sox lost 9-3. The guy had ZERO last night. He walked FOUR batters in the second, 3 of them on 4-0 counts. Then, after the team scratching back to tie it, he immediately coughed up another 3 runs and left with the bases loaded. That one inning sealed the game for the Yankees.

I have to be honest here, I have never been a big fan of Tim Wakefield the pitcher. He's a guy who every year wins 10-12 games and loses 10-12 games. IMO, he's not a consistent enough pitcher to be a #4 starter. People talk about how when Lester is healthy, Tavarez should go back to the pen. Well my vote is for Wakefield. Send him to the pen, let him be the long reliever.

The weekend series against the Yankees got knotted at a game apiece, mostly thanks to a bottom of the 7th inning where the Yankees became completely unglued, with the Sox scoring only 2 earned runs out of 5 off Yankee reliever Scott Proctor to turn a 6-5 Yankee lead into a 10-6 Red Sox lead, after which the Sox tacked on another run in the bottom of the 8th and the bullpen protected the lead to the end. Mike Lowell was the hero of the game, going 3/4 w/ a homer, a walk, and 4 RBI. On the minus side, Kevin Youkilis had his 23-game hitting streak come to an end (but doing it unselfishly, as he drew 3 walks).

Things have been getting heated in the Sox/Yankees rivalry, and it's not limited to the real baseball teams. Peter Abraham reports in the Lower Hudson Journal's Yankees blog that tempers flared in the annual game between the Red Sox media and the Yankees media when Yankee reliever Bob Klapisch (writer for the Bergen Record and ESPN.com) accidentally beaned the Sox' Uri Berenguer (Red Sox Spanish-language radio broadcaster) and Berenguer took Kevin Youkilis-like exception to the pitch. Even Sox manager Carl Beane (Fenway Park public address announcer) had to be restrained. The Sox media defeated the Yankees media 14-7, ending a Yankee winning streak that dates back to 2002.

Not a typical (for this season) game for the Red Sox last night, as the bullpen was unable to hold a 5-4 lead, the Yankees tying the game off of Hideki Okajima in the 8th inning, then the Yankees getting the winning run in the 9th by having A-Fraud take Jonathan Papelbon deep for the 6-5 lead which Mariano Rivera would hold.

The Sox make their first trip to the west coast starting tonight with 4 in Oakland. Julian Tavarez (3-4, 5.40 ERA) gets the call for the Red Sox against the American League ERA leader, Dan Haren (6-2, 1.64 ERA) in a 10:05 PM ET start on NESN.

Just saw that Mr. David Ortiz will be at the BJ's Wholesale Club in Framingham on Monday, June 11th at 6pm signing copies of his new book.

Thought some here might want to know!

Did not know that. Thanks for the heads-up WoV.

The hot-hitting Dustin Pedroia was not only named American League Player of the Week this week, but also the league's Rookie of the Month for May. It was the second month in a row that a Red Sox player was named AL Rookie of the Month (reliever Hideki Okajima won the award for April).

More on Pedroia, courtesy of "Extra Bases": Pedroia hit .415 w/ 2 HR, 6 doubles, and 9 RBI in 21 games in May, leading all AL rookies in average, doubles, and on-base percentage. For the week, he hit .609 w/ 6 doubles and 6 RBI in 6 games against the Indians and Yankees, and is the first Red Sox rookie to win the Player of the Week honor since Brian Daubach in August of 1999.

In rehab updates, Jon Lester pitched a complete game (7 innings b/c of a rainout yesterday) of 4-hit, one-run baseball for Pawtucket in the first game (a 5-1 Pawtucket win) of a doubleheader in Norfolk, VA, and Mike Timlin started for 2 scoreless innings in the second game, allowing one hit and striking out 2. Michael Tucker and Chad Spann homered for the PawSox in the top of the 2nd in a 2-1 win, but Manny Delcarmen was the winning pitcher b/c Timlin did not go the 5 innings required of starters.

Albert Breer reports in the Herald's Patriots blog that, according to a source close to CB Asante Samuel, Samuel will be absent from the Patriots' mandatory minicamp, which starts tomorrow. Samuel is not under contract, so he is not technically required to report; however, the absence is a sign of Samuel's discontent with contract negotiations, that he has refused to sign his $7.79M franchise tender, and that he plans to sit out until Week 10 of the regular season, if necessary. A second source, agent Alonzo Shavers, confirmed his client's plan to sit out.

I don't usually stay up for late games, but I did look @ the recap this morning..."Big Papi" ended a nearly month-long homer drought with a shot off Dan Haren in the first inning, but the game went to extra innings, with Mark Ellis getting a single in the 10th for a cycle (the first by a Red Sox opponent in 29 years), and then the A's won on a walk-off homer in the 11th off Kyle Snyder by Eric Chavez for a 5-4 final.

The series continues tonight with Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-3, 4.83 ERA) opposing Lenny DiNardo (1-2, 1.80 ERA).