Portland Sea Dogs relief pitcher Juan Perez will be one of the players showcased Sunday at the All-Star Futures Game in Houston. The game, which pits the a team of U.S.-born players against another made up of players from all over the world, will be televised live by ESPN2 at 3 p.m.

Perez, a 23-year-old native of Villa Rivas in the Dominican Republic, will play on the world team.

Perez had 18 saves last season, best in the Boston Red Sox minor league organization and had a 4-0 record with three saves and a 2.84 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings through Sunday. He was signed by Boston as an undrafted free agent in 1998.

Perez, the lone representative from the Boston Red Sox organization, is the fifth Sea Dog player to ever play in the game, which is part of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities. Last year, current Boston third baseman Kevin Youkilis and Milwaukee prospect Jorge de la Rosa represented Portland along with manager Ron Johnson. The only other Portland invitees were Pablo Ozuna and current Florida Marlins standout pitcher A.J. Burnett back in 1999.

Records were made to be broken

No sooner had New England Sports Network set a ratings record for last week’s broadcast of the second game of the three-game Red Sox-Yankees series in New York, it set a new one.

Just 24 hours later, NESN’s broadcast of the third game drew a 14.6 rating, eclipsing game two’s 13.8 rating. The 14.6 number roughly translates into 350,000 households, according to a NESN press release. NESN’s live Thursday coverage peaked during the 10:15 p.m. quarter-hour period in which the rating grew to 19.9. When the 13-inning game ended at 11:30 p.m., the rating remained strong at 17.1.

The rating is the percentage of TV households in an area tuned to a certain telecast compared to the total number of households with TVs, whether they’re on or off. A single ratings point represents the 1 percent watching a particular program at a particular time.

Of the top five rated programs in NESN’s 20-year history, all five are Red Sox-Yankees telecasts and three of those five were from last week’s series.

Sportsplus plus…

New England Sports Network’s Boston Globe: Sports-plus show is moving from the sports bar to the set.

As part of a “re-launch” of the regional TV network’s weekly half-hour show, the set is moving to the studios at Boston TV station WLVI (Warner Brothers channel 56). It also promises more in-studio guests and new segments, including a debate between Globe writers and two prominent athletes.

The show airs live every Wednesday at 11 p.m. (later if Boston Red Sox telecasts are running late) and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 5:30 or 11 p.m. (again, depending on Red Sox telecast times).

Riveting roundball

The WNBA is calling it a “Can’t Miss” TV weekend as five WNBA games will air on three networks over three days.

The games, which will air on ABC, ESPN2 and NBA-TV, will involve 30 WNBA all-stars; 15 of the top 30 scorers in league history; 11 WNBA players who will represent the United States, Australia and Russia in the Summer Olympics in Athens; and all seven past WNBA championship teams. Coverage will start Friday with an 8 p.m. game between Phoenix and Minnesota on NBA-TV, a premium network available on satellite TV and many digital cable systems.

ABC, which airs locally in Bangor on WVII-TV (Ch. 7), will air Seattle at Detroit at 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by Washington at Charlotte at 6 p.m. on NBA-TV, and Los Angeles at Houston at 9 p.m. on ESPN2. Sunday’s game, Phoenix at New York, airs on ESPN2 at 2 p.m.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net