We now return to our regularly scheduled linkage.
Francona: Lackey DL stint precautionary -- Rob Bradford, WEEI
It's either that, or an excuse. Of course, with Felix Doubront sidelined and Alfredo Aceves firmly in the bullpen, the Sox are left turning to Tim Wakefield. Not exactly the best case scenario.
Source: Lackey DL stint won't affect option -- Rob Bradford, WEEI
No surprise there. Even a few years from now I'd still accept the possibility of getting some semblance of the Lackey of old for league minimum.
Francona: Dice-K 'didn't look right' -- Danny Picard, CSNNE.com
I dunno. Seven walks, under five innings. Seems about right to me.
Albers proving to be go-to-guy in Sox’ bullpen -- Tim Britton, Providence Journal
Albers hasn't been as good as his ERA suggests. This most of you would guess. But here's the surprise: he's still been pretty great. Walks are down, strikeouts are up, and the result is a lot fewer runs on the board. Small sample size, sure. But go figure that it's the
Scutaro improved, starts baseball activities -- Rob Bradford, WEEI
Tazawa returns to mound with rehab start on Friday -- John Gray, SoxProspects.com
Sweep, sweep, sweep! -- Gary Marbry, Nuggetpalooza
Three of a kind: Red Sox rotation shows striking early returns -- Alex Speier, WEEI
Sox catchers beginning to break out? -- Kevin McNamara, Providence Journal
Temper thy expectations. While Salty's Sunday performance was enough to bring his OPS up over .600 on the month, any single homer is going to make a big splash in a small sample size. Varitek has actually looked good on the month, but that's likely to go away the second he starts to play more. Make no mistake, catching is still just as big an issue as ever forthe Sox.
State of the Sox -- Chad Finn, Boston Globe
Red Sox Journal: Roster moves? Not now, says Epstein -- Brian MacPherson, Providence Journal
I'm OK with this so long as we aren't counting catchers or pitchers.
Man charged with stealing Boston Red Sox gear from Fenway Park -- AP, ESPN Boston
Around The AL East
Rays 6, Yankees 5 -- CBJones, DRaysBay
The view from the other side -- 3460Kuri, Pinstripe Alley
"I'm over Russell Martin" -- Jscape2000, Pinstripe Alley
"We'll take him, thanks." -- Every Red Sox fan alive.
Blue Jays 4, Tigers 2 -- Tom Dakers, Bluebird Banter
Adam Lind to DL, Eric Thames Called Up -- Tom Dakers, Bluebird Banter
The Tragic Evolution Of Jose Bautista -- Jeff Sullivan, Baseball Nation
In which Jeff Sullivan points out there might be a bit too much "Jose Bautista is the best player ever" stuff.
AL East: Five storylines -- Lucas Apostoleris, The Hardball Times