Fenway Needs A Flu Clinic

Guess what? It's Daisuke's turn. Daisuke Matsuzaka was scratched from his start tonight because he is the latest member of the Red Sox to battle the flu. Jon Lester will start in his place tonight. David Pauley was sent back to Pawtucket today and with Jason Varitek feeling better the Sox have called up Craig Hansen who has been great for Pawtucket thus far. Kevin Youkilis is out of the lineup tonight with a stiff back which means our prospect of the week Jed Lowrie will get another start for Boston. Josh Beckett will start Sunday in Tampa. Coco Crisp will return to the lineup Thursday, hopefully replacing JD Drew and not Jacoby Ellsbury. Tonight's lineups are 1. Ellsbury, CF 2. Pedroia, 2B 3. Ortiz, DH 4. Ramirez, LF 5. Drew, RF 6. Casey, 1B 7. Lugo, SS 8. Lowrie, 3B 9. Cash, C Angels 1. Figgins, 3B 2. Matthews, LF 3. Guerrero, RF 4. Anderson, DH 5. Hunter, CF 6. Kotchman, 1B 7. Izturis, 2B 8. Mathis, C 9. Aybar, SS Garland -- P

Patriots, Ty Law Close To Deal

The New England Patriots are reportedly close to signing former Patriot Ty Law. The 34-year-old Law was a long time player for the Patriots before leaving to play with the New York Jets, he also had a stint with the Kansas City Chiefs. Signing Law could help the Patriots after the loss of Asante Samuel this off season. Law has not missed a game the past three seasons since leaving New England. Yesterday in his weekly mailbag Mike Reiss said: The last time I spoke with Law, a few weeks ago, he was visiting with the Jets and made it sound as if his signing was imminent. That didn't turn out to be the case. He is still a free agent. What this tells me is that what teams such as the Jets and Patriots are offering is less than he is willing to play for. So he's content to wait things out, perhaps into training camp, to see if teams will sweeten their offer.

Varitek Unavailable Tonight

Catcher Jason Varitek will miss another game tonight and with both of Boston's emergency catchers on the DL (Alex Cora and Mike Lowell) if something happens to Kevin Cash tonight, Dustin Pedroia will head behind the plate. Varitek is at the park now, but will be heading home before the game.

Beckett Scratched From Start

Josh Beckett has been scratched from his start tonight with a stiff neck. David Pauley was called up to make the start with Joe Thurston being designated for assignment to make room for Pauley.

Yahoo Power Rankings

Yahoo has it's newest power rankings out and the Red Sox top the list. 1. Boston Red Sox. Hard to believe that, five years ago, Manny Ramirez was put on waivers. Now, it looks like the Red Sox will trip over themselves to pick up his $20 million option for next season. 2. Arizona Diamondbacks. The sudden thumpin’ by the offense is impressive, but how about that staff ERA? I’ll spare you from looking it up: It’s 2.98. 3. Los Angeles Angels. What’s most encouraging about Ervin Santana’s fast start is that when he has pitched on the road, he hasn’t crumbled like a bad onion ring. He’s 2-0, 3.46 ERA away from Angel Stadium. 4. New York Mets. Nice bit of news for the Mets’ near future: Moises Alou is hitting .500 (6-for-12) in his minor league rehab stint. 5. Chicago Cubs. There have been complaints about racist T-shirts celebrating Kosuke Fukudome around Wrigley Field. It is demeaning, uncalled for and pretty bad, but it’s not John-Wayne-in-The-Fighting-Seabees bad. 6. Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee can’t keep pretending that maybe this is the year Ben Sheets gives them 35 starts. He won’t. But they should be tough enough to contend without him. 7. St. Louis Cardinals. Perhaps this is payback for Tony LaRussa’s suggestion that the Cards would sign Barry Bonds: St. Loo is 3-4 vs. San Francisco, 9-3 vs. everyone else. 8. Chicago White Sox. Just about all of Bobby Jenks’ numbers check out. He’s six-for-seven on save attempts. His ERA is 2.25. But how do we explain a measly four strikeouts in 8.0 innings? 9. Oakland Athletics. Don’t get me wrong, Emil Brown has bounced back nicely over the last few years. But if he’s your No. 3 hitter, then your flirtation with first place is doomed. 10. Toronto Blue Jays. If Roy Halladay complains that the postgame meatloaf is a bit cold, are the Blue Jays going to kick his rump to the curb the way they did after Frank Thomas whined? Coming in a little bit will be the new players of the week and a recap of the Texas series.

Flu To Keep Buchholz Out Monday?

Sox & Dawgs is speculating David Pauley was kept out of his start at Pawtucket Sunday because Clay Buchholz is suffering from the flu and may not be able to pitch Monday morning. If that is the case, Boston will have to make a roster move, the move would likely be Joe Thurston.

Celtics Journey Begins

The Celtics journey for #17 begins tonight. Here's a video from ESPN with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

The Comeback Kids

Another day and another comeback win for the Boston Red Sox. Manny Ramirez followed up a double by Dustin Pedroia and a scorching single by David Ortiz with an absolute bomb of a home run. This afternoon the Sox will look to move to 3-0 in the four game series, they will face Kevin Millwood. • Dustin Pedroia gets the day off and is replaced at second base and in the two spot of the lineup by Jed Lowrie. • Ramirez will get Monday off if Coco Crisp is ready to go. • Ramirez is tied for the league lead in home runs at 6, leads in RBI with 20 and has the seventh best batting average. He really is living up to the monster season predictions.

The Offensive Red Sox

A common analysis of the Red Sox this spring before the season started was that it may have the best roster in baseball history. This of course shouldn't be confused with best lineup of all time. The analysis could be right on target. The Red Sox through the first 18 games of the season are tops in the American League in runs scored, second in all of baseball. This comes with Mike Lowell missing significant time, David Ortiz off to a slow start and Jacoby Ellsbury unable to get into a hitting groove while sharing time with Coco Crisp. Yet here we are, the top offensive team in the American League. Why? Because of that roster that was labeled the best in baseball history. There are teams in baseball that could use Sean Casey, Alex Cora and Jed Lowrie along with either Crisp or Ellsbury in their starting lineups let alone on the bench. The offense of course is only half the equation of the roster, there too is the pitching staff. The pitching has gotten mixed results so far. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima have gotten off to solid starts. Clay Buchholz has been decent, his stats don't really show that but he was solid in his debut in Toronto, great in his first start against the Yankees and then in the rematch he gave up two first inning bombs to Bobby Abreau and Alex Rodriguez but still managed to pitch effectively retiring eight straight until the fourth inning when he got unlucky with several softly hit balls that found spots to drop in. Jon Lester has had mixed reviews as well, he looks good as long as he's not walking batters. He was brilliant in his second start against Oakland. If he can learn to control his pitches, he certainly can become a 20-game winner. The Red Sox have two young arms who are poised to contribute before seasons end, perhaps as soon as mid season. Justin Masterson was again solid today striking out 10 batters in five innings for Portland. Craig Hansen has been lights out for Pawtucket.

John Marzano 1963-2008

Red Sox Nation has lost a former member. John Marzano who was a catcher for Boston from 1987 until 1992 died Saturday from an apparent heart attack. Marzano was in his first year of work with Major League Baseball's BaseballChannel.tv where he was a co-host of Leading Off with Vinny Micucci. Prior to that he had been a regular guest of Phillies Post Game Live on Comcast Sports Net, Marzano played college ball at Temple in Philadelphia. Marzano was a favorite catcher of Roger Clemens (pictured together) and a close friend of Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Marzano is survived by his wife, two daughters and two grand-daughters.