Clay Buchholz came off the DL yesterday, but was rusty in his first start back in the rotation, as the A’s beat the Red Sox again, 6-4 out in Oakland. Adrian Beltre hit another home run and drove in three of the four Red Sox runs, but it wasn’t enough.

Now the Red Sox head to Seattle, where Michael Silverman says that Safeco Field could really shut down their offense.

The Red Sox have the pieces, but not the time - Rob Bradford says that it has to frustrating to Theo Epstein that his plan was on its way to working before all the injuries decimated the team.

Red Sox need deadline spark - Joe McDonald says that Epstein needs to make a move.

Sox are officially in free fall - Sean McAdam says that thing aren’t looking good right now.

Losses mount, but Sox confident they’ll turn it around - Daniel Barbarisi has the Sox feeling like they can still put it together, but will it be too late?

Not an All-Star performance - Amalie Benjaman’s notebook looks at Buchholz’s struggles, and the return of Jed Lowrie.

Remy agrees to contract extension with NESN - Chad Finn has more on Remy’s new deal with NESN.

WEEI on top in radio ratings - Jessica Heslam looks at WEEI again coming out on top in the sports radio wars, but I think the real story is that WBZ-FM didn’t exist a year ago, and now they aren’t too far behind in the ratings. The numbers can also be spun whichever way a particular station wishes. WEEI can claim they’re tops in a certain demo, while WBZ-FM in another.

Positional Previews – Defensive Line - Patriots Daily with a detailed look at the D-Line.

Hold the line, Vince - Tom E Curran does the same.

Brandon Meriweather Must Improve Tackling to Become Star Safety for Patriots - Jeff Howe looks at the fourth year safety, who went to his first  Pro Bowl last season.

…and the not so good…

Friendly match not good fit for Fenway - Ron Borges says that that lack of soccer pink hats led to empty seats last night. Frank Dell’Apa (a pretty good piece) remembers a 1968 match held at Fenway.

Houk, 90, had a major impact - Nick Cafardo remembers the former Red Sox manager. Couple of pretty glaring factual errors, however.

Houk won two World Series and three pennants in two stints with the Yankees. His first run ended after the ’63 season when he became the club’s general manager and was succeeded as manager by Yogi Berra. He eventually fired Berra and Berra’s successor,Bill Virdon, and named himself manager in 1966.

It was Johnny Keane, not Virdon that Houk fired and replaced in 1966. Its actually a pretty famous sequence because Berra went 99-63 in 1964, losing the World Series in 7 games to the Cardinals. Houk then fired him anyway, and replaced him with Keane, who went 77-85 in 1965 and then started 4-16 in 1966 before Houk fired him and made himself the manager.

Virdon was manager in 1974, and to start 1975. He went 53-51 that year before he was fired and replaced with Billy Martin.

The very next sentence reads:

He led the Tigers and lost 102 games in 1975, and managed the Red Sox from 1981-85.

Houk only managed the Red Sox until 1984 before he was replaced by John McNamara.

Little things yes, but important nonetheless. (Thanks, Steve.)

With the Yankees and Rays having already lost, the Red Sox had a great opportunity to make up a game in the AL East standings. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Tim Wakefield gave it right back, surrendering four runs of his own in the third inning. The scored remained tied until the 10th inning, when with two out, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit an RBI single off Michael Bowden to send the Red Sox to a 5-4 loss.

Get the complete coverage over at RedSoxLinks.com.

Red Sox on wrong end of close calls in the 10th - Dabiel Barbarisi notes that a questionable balk call in the 10th inning help set up the winning run for the A’s.

Jonathan Papelbon still winning the game of results - The perception might be that the Red Sox closer isn’t as dominant as he once was, but Jon Couture observes that he results show otherwise.

Sox left with a sinking feeling - Alex Speier has a few noteworthy developments from last night.

Bowden has one get away - Joe McDonald has Michael Bowden talking about a bad pitch that ended the game.

Westmoreland fighting to get back to the field  - James Bessette of Southern Rhode Island Newspapers caught up with Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland at a Legion game, and talked to him about his recovery.

Lowrie might get activated - Amalie Benjamin’s notebook looks at the Red Sox infielder arriving in Oakland, possibly to be activated today.

The need for (trading) ‘Sheed - A. Sherrod Blakely tries to figure out the best fit for a Celtics trade of Rasheed Wallace’s contract.

Linebackers must carry Pats forward - Tom E Curran checks out the Patriots linebackers.

Positional Previews – Outside Linebackers - Patriots Daily examines the outside linebackers, a group that doesn’t appear all that impressive. When Tully Banta-Cain is the top guy on your depth chart, something’s missing.

Leadership an issue after Patriots’ way went wayward - Glen Farley has the Patriots looking for some guys to step up in the locker room.

Fade now is part of Woods’s game - Bob Ryan says that Tiger Woods is just an average golfer these days.

The ‘Decision’ dilemma - ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer finally weighs in on the LeBron James show and says that ESPN damaged its credibility and raised ethical issues by getting involved in the program. Nearly 5000 words in this one, as Ohlmeyer pounds the network for it’s involvement. He cites internal conflicts at ESPN between the business and studio production side and the newsgathering side over whether the network should get involved with the program.

No matter how convoluted the intellectual gymnastics, ESPN “paid” for exclusive access to a news story.

As to transparency, ESPN failed miserably where it mattered most. Although there was no attempt to hide the Gray involvement or the inventory arrangement leading up to the broadcast, the viewers were not explicitly told at the most appropriate moments that conflicts existed. Before turning from the Bristol set to Gray, ESPN should have advised viewers that Gray had been selected by James’ team to do the interview

When trust is questioned, missteps are magnified. The previous day, on a conference call with media critics, ESPN said that the announcement would not be arbitrarily delayed to magnify suspense or fill out the hour — and that it would take place in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the program. But when the throw from the Bristol set — totally in ESPN’s control — didn’t happen until 9:22 p.m. and the announcement wasn’t made until 9:28 p.m., the network lost the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t interpreted as a minor mistake or misstatement. It was perceived to be intentional, and the network’s candor and credibility were called into question by the mailbag and the media.

Pretty good stuff, and appropriate criticism of the situation, coming from the Ombudsman.

Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up just one run in 6 2/3 inning, and Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon closed things out for him as the Red Sox edged the Oakland A’s 2-1 out in Northern California last night.Adrian Beltre homered for the Red Sox in the win.

With the Red Sox out West, it’s once again a slim batch of material to work from today:

Daisuke Matsuzaka unpredictably masterful – Michael Silverman says that you probably didn’t see this one coming.

With Dice, Sox rotation is suddenly loaded – Alex Speier has Dice-K he is capable of being as good as just about any starter on the Red Sox in stretches.

Pedroia feels at home again – Joe McDonald has the Red Sox second baseman happy that he’s not getting death threats this year in Oakland.

Trade prospects a sore subject – Steve Buckley thinks that Del Harris, while coaching the 1982-83 Houston Rockets captured the essence of this Red Sox team.

Value of Cash has its limits - Amalie Benjamin’s notebook has Kevin Cash getting the job done behind the plate but not at it.

Living in a dream world? – Got an extra $5.4 million sitting around? You can buy the cornfield-turned-ballfield used in the movie Field of Dreams.

Danny Ainge can only wait – Mark Murphy says that the Celtics can only sit and wait right now as they try to fill out their roster.

Maybe Shaq makes sense after all – Chris Forsberg set out to write a column against a possible signing of Shaquille O’Neal, but actually ending up doing the opposite.

Luke Harangody Soars in Summer League, Will Be Solid Addition to Celtics Bench – Evans Clinchy has a look at the Celtics second round pick.

Patriots are completely uncoordinated – Glen Farley looks at the Patriots coaching staff.

Also worth noting is Tom E. Curran shooting down John Clayton’s persistent rumors that Tom Brady might not show up for camp.

Postional Previews – Inside Linebackers – Patriots Daily with a look at the group headed up by Jerod Mayo.

Bruins, Savard may not part after all – James Murphy says that the Bruins center might end up staying here.

The Red Sox dropped three of four at Fenway Park this weekend to the Texas Rangers, including yesterday’s 4-2 loss in which Jon Lester went eight innings, giving up three runs, but the offense couldn’t help him out, managing just five hits on the afternoon. 

 The Red Sox are in Oakland tonight, where they will kick off a 10 games in 10 nights West coast road trip in Oakland, Seattle and Anaheim.

It’s a pretty sparse morning for sports stories, so I’ll get you the best I can find this morning:

Red Sox face tough road ahead - Gordon Edes gives us 10 things to look for on this 10 day, 10 game West coast trip.

Why these are the Red Sox’ 10 most important games of the season - Rob Bradford examines why this is make-or-break time for the Red Sox.

Injuries catching up with Red Sox offense - Brian MacPherson looks at the the toll injuries to Pedroia, Martinez and Ellsbury are taking on the Red Sox.

As the Red Sox approach the trade deadline, more spending will be no luxury - Ron Chimelis says that money will not be a factor in whether the Red Sox make a big move this month or not.

Cape League memories - Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard remembers playing in the Cape League, and weighs in on the trade deadline.

Bowden likes move to pen so far - The ProJo Red Sox Journal ties up a number of open subjects.

New England may no longer be standing pat in the AFC East - Glen Farley opens his Patriots preview series with a peek at the competition in the division.

Patriots Will Have to Improve 1-6 Road Mark To Survive Tough AFC - Jeff Howe says that mark isn’t going to cut it this season.

Celtics Rookie Avery Bradley Primed to Lock Down Important Bench Role Immediately - Evans Clinchy says that the Celtics top pick can make a difference right away.

‘Oos’ and aahs deserved - George Kimball in the Herald looks at the dominant performance by South African Louis Oosthuizen in The Open Championship.