(Sports Network) - The Boston Red Sox aim to stay perfect on their nine-game homestand when they resume a four-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Fenway Park. The Red Sox took the opener of this series with Thursdays 7-4 win behind a decent outing from Jon Lester. Lester improved to 8-4 and allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings, while Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara each threw a scoreless inning of relief. Uehara posted his third save. Lester altered his mechanics after his previous start and the changes helped him reach the win column. "I think that was the biggest thing for me tonight, was just how we were able to stay down in the zone throughout the entire night," Lester said. "So yeah, I was really happy with how I threw the ball tonight." A seven-run second inning also aided Lester. Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run during the big inning, while Jacoby Ellsbury, Daniel Nava, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Stephen Drew and Jose Iglesias had an RBI apiece. Boston, which has won the first three tests on this homestand and owns a 26-15 record at Fenway Park, is 3 1/2 games ahead of Baltimore for the AL East lead and 4 1/2 games in front of New York. Toronto, though, is last at 7 1/2 games off the pace. Allen Webster looks to keep the Red Sox rolling on this residency when he toes the rubber for the fourth time in his career. The young Webster is 0-2 in his first three starts to go along with an 11.25 earned run average and has allowed 13 runs in his last two appearances -- both losses. He gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings of a 10-3 loss at Detroit last Saturday. Webster, a right-hander, has never faced Toronto and is filling in while Clay Buchholz nurses a sore neck. The Blue Jays have lost three of four games since their season-high 11-game winning streak and didnt get much from starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang in Thursdays opener in Beantown. Wang was rocked in just 1 2/3 innings and allowed all seven runs in the second inning. He walked two and allowed six hits with no strikeouts. "I mean, he looked good that first inning, getting some ground balls," Jays manager John Gibbons said. "That second inning, the ball was coming up and they didnt miss them." Maicer Izturis had two hits and two RBI and Rajai Davis finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored in defeat. First-year Blue Jay Josh Johnson will be tasked with stopping the Red Sox when he takes the mound Friday. Johnson is coming off the first win of the season, a 13-5 rout of the Orioles on Sunday. Even though he was touched for four runs and seven hits in six innings, Johnson pushed his record to 1-2 in eight starts with a 4.60 ERA. Johnson is 0-2 on the road this season and 1-0 with a 3.15 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox. He did not record a decision versus Boston up north in his Toronto debut on April 5, when he gave up four runs -- three earned -- and nine hits in six innings of a 6-4 loss. Boston is 6-4 versus the Jays this season. . The 31-year-old Russian dominated the No. 3-ranked Ferrer throughout, breaking the defending champion and local favourite four times on the indoor hard court. . Wearing bib No. 1, Maze skied through the gates cleanly to defend her big first-run lead and finish 0.07 seconds ahead of Anna Fenninger of Austria. Defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third, trailing 0.
http://www.cheapbearsjerseysonline.com/ ... sey-online. Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. . PAUL, Minn. . The Raptors (15-15) posted six road victories last month and have won seven of their last nine games overall. Toronto visits the Washington Wizards on Friday night. In a prime-time showdown the rival Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will face off at Fenway Park on Sunday night. These teams have split the first two games of this three-game set. The Red Sox won Fridays bout 4-3 and had a 3-0 lead early on Saturday, but Boston starter Allen Webster could not hold the edge, walking six batters and allowing four runs over 2 2/3 innings of work.Watch the game live on TSN2 at 8pm et/5pm pt. "I felt good in the first two innings, really struggled with my release point in the third and never got it back," Webster admitted. Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI to lead the way for New York, which had lost five of its previous six games. "You arent always going to hit the ball hard, get a lot of hits or score a lot of runs," Jeter said. "When you do, hopefully it lasts for as long as possible. You can always feel like you have a hit streak coming, but you have to go out and do it." On Saturday Yoenis Cespedes made his debut with Boston after coming over in Thursdays trade with Oakland that sent Jon Lester westward. The Cuban outfielder went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Mike Napoli went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI and Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt each had two hits in the losing effort. Since winning four straight after the All-Star break, the Red Sox have dropped nine of 11. Making his 17th start of the season for the Yankees on Sunday will be David Phelps. Phelps has ben an extremely versatile pitcher for New York this season, filing in as a starter with injuries ravaging the rotation. Although originally in thee bullpen, Phelps last 16 outings have been starts.ddddddddddddAs a starter he is 5-5 with a 3.90 ERA and as a reliever he has an ERA of 3.86. In total he is 5-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 25 total appearances. Before facing Texas last Monday, Phelps had won his last four decisions. However, after allowing four runs in six innings against the Rangers the streak came to an end as the Yankees lost 4-2. Phelps has faced Boston three times already this season, although all three of those appearances came in a relief role. He has pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings this season and 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 career chances versus the Red Sox. Clay Buchholz suddenly finds himself the leader of the Red Sox staff, with Lester, John Lackey, Jake Peavy and Felix Doubront all sent away via trade in the last week. Red Sox fans cannot feel too confident in Buchholzs abilities to anchor the rotation, considering he is just 5-7 with a 5.87 ERA this season, during which he has been hampered by injuries. The hope is that he will be able to recapture the dominant form he displayed last year when he went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA in a season that was also shortened by injuries. Since throwing a shutout against the Astros on July 13, Buchholz has been trending down, allowing 13 combined earned runs in his last three starts, including a season-high of seven last Monday against Toronto. In his lone start against New York this season the right-hander allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits in six innings. He is now 5-6 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 career starts against the Yankees. New York has a 7-5 edge in the season series with Boston. ' ' '
