After the three-day layoff, which may see just two of the Red Sox' six All-Stars get any action out in Anaheim, the club gets back at it Thursday at Fenway Park.
We will be following all the action that night for you when Tim Wakefield opposes Tommy Hunter in a 7:10 game.
Final, Red Sox 3-2: We get a bit of a mixed bag in the last game before the All-Star break. While the Sox get a big win behind a nice outing by Daisuke Matsuzaka, they will have to determine the extent of Adrian Beltre's left hamstring injury.
We will try to get you more on that in a moment.
Daisuke Matsuzaka gives up two runs in six-plus innings. Darnell McDonald hits a two-run homer and David Ortiz slugs a solo shot that proves to be the game-winner.
Boston enters the break 51-37 and hoping that several key players emerge from the DL beginning later in the week. Back in a bit to sum it all up.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 3-2: We will see if the Red Sox leaving runners at second and third in the top of the ninth comes back to hurt them. Jonathan Papelbon is on to try to send the club into the All-Star break on a good note.
End 8th, Red Sox 3-2: No knock on Jonathan Papelbon but you would be tempted to leave Daniel Bard in for a third inning of work in the ninth. He has retired six free-swinging Jays on only 16 pitches.
The official word on Adrian Beltre is a left hamstring strain. No word on what that means for his All-Star status. I'm sure many of you would rather he stay home and get treatment.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 3-2: Darnell McDonald hits into a double play that ends the top of the eighth. This is a big two innings for the Sox' bullpen as it tries to nail down a much-needed victory.
End 7th, Red Sox 3-2: Daniel Bard gets through the seventh on nine pitches. He and Jonathan Papelbon will have to get the last six outs. Both are pretty well rested.
The line on Josh Beckett in Pawtucket: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. He threw 42-of-68 pitches for strikes.
2:56 p.m.: After Adam Lind singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh and John Farrell went out to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka, they began to play Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" on the loud speaker at the Rogers Centre. That is Daniel Bard's entrance music at Fenway Park. Perhaps they were sending a message that Terry Francona should've made a move? He did, but maybe a batter too late as Aaron Hill followed with a two-run homer.
Bard is on with no outs in the seventh.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 3-0: Jesse Litsch may look back on this one and be able to target a series of about 10 pitches in the sixth when he lost it. Aside from that little three-run outbrust, he has been great. Litsch works around a two-out single in the seventh.
End 6th, Red Sox 3-0: Nothing better than breaking through with the bats and then getting a scoreless inning from your starter. Daisuke Matsuzaka has thrown 86 pitches through six scoreless.
We will obviously get you the update on Adrian Beltre is we hear anything. It will probably be something that will emerge Monday when he gets checked out at home.
2:39 p.m.: Adrian Beltre has been removed with the hamstring injury. Eric Patterson enters at second base and Bill Hall moves to third. The Sox may now have four injured All-Stars.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 3-0: Amid a dominating effort and with three straight strikeouts in his pocket, Jesse Litsch uncorked one of the ugliest pitches you will ever see, a changeup that bounced about 10 feet in front of the plate and several feet outside. It was a sign of things to come as Litsch would lose his no-hit bid, his shutout and nearly wouldn't survive the sixth.
Marco Scutaro ripped a double to center for Boston's first hit and then Darnell McDonald crushed a two-run shot to start the scoring. Not to be outdone, David Ortiz smacked a solo shot to right.
Now, can Daisuke hold down the Jays?
End 5th, 0-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka has five strikeouts after picking up two more in the fifth. Quite a duel we have unfolding between two unlikely candidates, the enigmatic Matsuzaka and Jesse Litsch, who entered 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA.
Mid 5th, 0-0: Jesse Litsch continues to dominate. A beautiful changeup on the outside corner gets Bill Hall swinging to end another 1-2-3 inning. Boston remains without a hit, and we now hold our breath in hopes that Adrian Beltre is OK.
Beltre grounded out to start the inning and was seen grabbing his hamstring after he crossed first base. Beltre has had a few moments during his recent slump where he was limping, just subtly. I saw it once in Tampa Bay and the other night in Toronto, nothing to cause much of a concern but enough to be noticed.
Hopefully it is something a few days of rest can help, provided he doesn't do anything too crazy out in Anaheim during the All-Star game.
Beltre is out at third base in the bottom of the fifth so presumably he is OK to go on.
End 4th, 0-0: A nice running catch by Darnell McDonald ends a perfect fourth for Daisuke Matsuzaka. He has retired six straight and has thrown 39-of-57 pitches for strikes.
Just a reminder, you can follow our live blog of Josh Beckett's outing in Pawtucket, which may be just as important as the game in Toronto.
Mid 4th, 0-0: The Sox get their first man on when David Ortiz walks with two outs, but they remain without a hit off Jesse Litsch and are scoreless over their last 10 innings overall. All this after they scored 19 times in the first 12 innings of the series. Feast or famine against these Blue Jays pitchers.
The sun is just brutal out there with the roof stuck in a half-open position, creating some tough shadows. This could play a factor if and when we see more baserunners as you can see someone losing one at a bad time.
I was hoping we would see Jon Lester against Cliff Lee next weekend when the Texas Rangers come to Fenway, but it appears as if they will be pitching on different nights.
According to reports, the Rangers will have Lee pitch Saturday. Lester is slated to pitch Sunday, so long as Clay Buchholz is good to go after the break.
End 3rd, 0-0: Back-to-back singles to start the third put Daisuke Matsuzaka in a bind, especially with the top of the Toronto lineup due up. He fans Fred Lewis, gets Alex Gonzalez on a fly to right and then strikes out Jose Bautista after planting Bautista on his backside with a changeup near the head. Good job of wiggling out of trouble there.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: Nine up, nine down so far for Jesse Litsch, who got some help from shortstop Alex Gonzalez in the third. Gonzalez made two sparkling defensive plays.
Gonzalez also doubled in the first. Seems a shame that he didn't make the All-Star team. He obviously has the glove, one of the best in the game, and leads all major league shortstops in homers and doubles.
Elvis Andrus of Texas is a nice player, but my choice to back up Derek Jeter would've been Gonzalez.
End 2nd, 0-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka was aggressive with a bunch of fastballs in the first inning. In the second he mixed it up, with some good results.
In striking out Adam Lind to start off the inning, Matsuzaka's pitch sequence went like this: slider, fastball, cutter, changeup, fastball.
Lind is now 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts against Matsuzaka.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: The Sox are gone in just seven pitches in the second inning. Pretty good beginning for both starters.
End 1st, 0-0: For just the sixth time in 12 starts Daisuke Matsuzaka is able to get through the first inning without being score upon. He did give up a one-out double to Alex Gonzalez. Fourteen of Matsuzaka's 15 pitches were either fastballs or cut fastballs, so he is attacking early.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Jesse Litsch is not a household name, but he was a 13-game winner at the age of 23 two years ago and remains someone the Jays are high on. Tommy John surgery derailed his 2009 season and delayed his debut this year until June.
Litsch has good stuff, however, and is 4-1 with a 3.82 ERA in six career starts against the Sox. He works a 1-2-3 first, fanning Marco Scutaro to start it off.
1:02 p.m.: A player on both Boston and Toronto has an All-Star beef as they enter the last game before the big break.
Kevin Youkilis was shunned not once, but twice, for a worthy All-Star bid, the second coming Saturday when Paul Konerko was chosen over him to replace injured first baseman Justin Morneau.
On the other side, the major's leading home run hitter, Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista, was not given an invite to the Home Run Derby, despite getting a spot on the AL roster.
In a cruel twist, Nick Swisher, who beat out Youkilis for the fan vote and the last spot on the roster, was chosen as the fourth AL participant in the derby.
12:40 p.m.: Many of you probably dislike everything related to the Yankees, but it was impossible not to enjoy and appreciate Bob Sheppard, their longtime PA announcer who passed away Sunday morning. One of the greats of the game and a voice that will be missed as we progress through this era of walk-up music and over-the-top scoreboards filled with loud games between innings.
12:23 p.m.: We have a few pregame updates to offer, as well as a reminder of how and when to follow Josh Beckett's rehab start at Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday.
Mike Cameron was originally planning on playing in this one but will be held out due to a sore right wrist suffered when he was hit by a pitch Saturday.
The fact that Cameron was going to play is a great sign considering it would've been the first time he had started four straight games since the first four games of the season. He has needed at least one day off just about every series for some time now as he wrestles with abdominal issues.
So on a day he is out with a bum wrist we get some really positive news for Cameron.
Terry Francona told reporters that Cameron is fine, but just a bit sore.
Beckett will be throwing 55 to 60 pitches for the PawSox on Sunday afternoon. Follow Zach Wielgus' live blog for all the updates on Becketts big step forward.
12:05 p.m.: The trepidation with which we approach Daisuke Matsuzaka starts is understandable. If only he could maintain the aggressive attack we have seen from him from time to time, such as when he dominated the Blue Jays at Fenway Park back in May.
Terry Francona said of the start: "He was aggressive and confident in his fastball and it showed."
It showed, particularly, in a stellar stat line that had Matsuzaka allow only three hits and strike out nine in seven innings of one-run ball. Most importantly, he did not walk a batter for the first time in nearly a year.
Matsuzaka has walked 12 men in 16 innings over his last three starts. It starts and ends with his fastball command, and how often he is willing to challenge hitters and trust his defense.
Interestingly enough, Dice-K has actually gone to the fastball more this year, using it 57.1 percent of the time, compared to 53.8 percent last year, according to Fangraphs.com.
The flip side of this is how he approaches the free-swinging Jays. They are a team that might bite on stuff out of the zone and he was able to get them on some off-speed stuff the last time out. They don't take walks and often just wait for the mistake, so living on the perimeters of the strike zone is sometimes a good idea.
We will see how Dice-K approaches the situation. He could use a confidence-builder before the break.
10:34 a.m.: We are a few hours from the first pitch at Rogers Centre and a pretty important game for the Red Sox as they look to enter the All-Star break on a good note. Here are your lineups for the 1:07 p.m. affair:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro, SS
Darnell McDonald, CF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Adrian Beltre, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Bill Hall, 2B
Daniel Nava, LF
Kevin Cash, C
Blue Jays
Fred Lewis, LF
Alex Gonzalez, SS
Jose Bautista, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Adam Lind, DH
Aaron Hill, 2B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
John Buck, C
Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
9 a.m.: An unpredictable yet entertaining first half of the season for the Red Sox comes to an end Sunday when they take on Toronto in the rubber game of a three-game set.
Boston has dropped five of six after Saturday's 9-5 setback in the Rogers Centre. John Lackey gave up seven runs and walked a season-high six in just 4 2/3 innings.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, who himself has failed to pitch beyond the fifth inning five times in 11 starts this year, goes for the Sox. He has walked four in each of his last three outings.
The Blue Jays snapped a seven-game home losing streak to Boston on Saturday. They send 0-3 Jesse Litsch to the mound.
First pitch is 1:07 p.m.
