Daily Red Sox Links: Felix Doubront; Scott Atchison, Will Middlebrooks

The big story in last night's game was the missed strike three call to Mike Aviles. With two outs, Ryan Sweeney on second, and two strikes, Aviles swung and missed. He may or may not have foul tipped it but it shouldn't have mattered because Tigers catcher, Gerald Laird, caught the ball cleanly just above the dirt. Except the umpires ruled he didn't catch it and it was a foul tip. The result was Aviles got another pitch and made the best of it, singling in Sweeney. The Sox tacked on two more before Doug Fister got out of it and the Tigers never really threatened after that. If the umpires could have looked at a replay (or a replay umpire could have looked at the stupid TV feed) the problem would have been solved immediately. Instead, the Tigers (rightfully) argued about it and we all had to sit around waiting for them to get tired. It's nice when the Sox catch a break from time to time, and this way is certainly preferable to things going the opposite way, but I think ultimately it would be best for the Red Sox as one of baseball's better teams, if the calls were correct. That's a novel thought, I know.

More on the above from Matthew Pouliot at Hardball Talk. As you'd expect, Jim Leyland was super pissed and first base umpire Tim Welke admitted he'd made the wrong call. (Gordon Edes; ESPN Boston)

One of the stand-out individual match-ups from last night's game was when Felix Doubront faced (and dominated) Miguel Cabrera. (Alex Speier; WEEI.com)

One of the true surprises this season has been the effectiveness of Scott Atchison. (Brian MacPherson; The Providence Journal)

Jose Iglesias is actually starting to hit a bit. (Matt Huegel; Sox Prospects via ESPN Boston)

Yesterday was Trot Nixon Day at Fenway Park. If you missed the festivities you can catch video of it here. (NESN)

The lowdown on a Red Sox prospect you've probably never heard of (he's the fifth one mentioned). (Nathaniel Stoltz; Beyond the Boxscore)

The Red Sox will have a big decision to make regarding Will Middlebrooks and Kevin Youkilis sometime soon. (Scott Spratt; The Hardball Times)

What do the different teams in the American League East have to do going forward to make the playoffs. (Dustin Parkes; The Score)

Manny may be back in the majors this week. Or, you know, not. (C. Trent Rosecrans; CBS Eye on Baseball)

The Yankees haven't had it easy so far in 2012 either. Steven Goldman wonders if their problems are fixable. (Steven Goldman; Pinstriped Bible)