Let's get the plug out of the way. Today's Press Herald features a story on Portland Sea Dogs first baseman and prized Red Sox prospect Lars Anderson

Anderson is a thoughtful, intriguing man. I hope you enjoy the story.

The story is incomplete, however, because I failed to mention what kind of guitar Lars bought with his signing bonus. Lars emailed the information late Tuesday night:

"I bought an all white fender stratocaster (looks like the one Hendrix played, see Woodstock videos)." Love it when a man born in 1987 refers to Woodstock.

Anderson also refers to a song called "Play Crack the Sky" by the group "Brand New." In the interest of further research, I've included a ling to the Brand New video on youtube.

And now for the news:

When Kevin Youkilis hit 6 home runs in Portland in 2003, did anyone imagine that he would have 24 homers by Aug. 19, hitting clean-up for the Red Sox?

Is Josh Beckett's tingling hand a result of sleeping on his shoulder, or something bad? We await the tests.

Clay Buchholz goes tonight. Has he turned the corner?

In Pawtucket, Charlie Zink (13-5, 2.88) marked his return to the minors with a solid outing in a loss (7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K) ... George Kottaras (.240) hit his 22nd home run ... Jeff Corsaletti (.193) went 2-for-3.

Portland lost 7-6, stopping a six-game winning streak ... Zach Daeges (.321) hit his sixth home run ... Kris Johnson (8-8, 3.58) had a tough go (5 2/3, 10 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 3 K).

In Lancaster, Kris Negron (.348) remained hot since his promotion, going 4-for-5 ... Ryan Kalish (.269) was 2-for-5 ... Cody McAlilster (3.19) got his 5th save (1 IP, 1 K).

17-year-old third baseman Michael Almanzar has scuffled since he moved up to Greenville, but went 2-for-4 on Tuesday ... Oscar Tejeda (.250) went 3-for-5.

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