Sports

THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 | BOSTONGLOBE.COM/SPORTS

C

TV HIGHLIGHTS

Tennis: US Open, noon, ESPN; 6 p.m., ESPN2
College football: UMass-Rutgers, 7:15 p.m., Big Ten
Baseball: Red Sox-Angels, 10:07 p.m., NESN
Listings,C9

Upset special
American qualifier Townsend, ranked 116th,
stuns fourth-seeded Halep at the US Open.C2

Boston flavor
Walker leads Celtics’ contingent (Brown, Tatum,
Smart) for US team at the World Cup.C2

INSIDE

Bruce Arena stalks the pe-
rimeter of the Revolution
training field, often
checking the timer in his
left hand and the watch
on his left wrist, making
sure this practice moves
with purpose and pace.
His shouted instructions
punch their way into the late-summer sun-
shine, staccato bursts whose pugilistic edge
seems even heavier thanks to the New York
tinge that decades of a peripatetic coaching life
cannot rob from his voice.
With a reminder that the team will be off the
following day, the coach asks for two more min-
utes of this current, and final, drill.
The players happily comply.
Why wouldn’t they?
This is Bruce Arena, the most decorated
coach in American soccer history, the man with
a trail of championships on his résumé and a
world of experience in his head. Two more min-
utes? The majority of these players remain on
the field for voluntary extra work too, providing
small yet compelling evidence as to how much
they have bought into Arena’s New England
soccer renaissance.
Hired in May by team president Brian Bilello
with the backing of owners Robert Kraft and
family, Arena set out to fix years of dysfunction
that had made the Revolution one of the lon-
gest-struggling franchises in the 24-year history
of Major League Soccer.
Within weeks, he has taken a cellar-dwell-
ing, aimless team and put it on the brink of the
playoffs, a 7-1-4 record on his watch that makes
the 2-8-2 mark through May 8 feel like a distant
memory. With an impact both immediate and
SULLIVAN, Page C2

By Alex Speier

GLOBE STAFF

With 28 games remaining, it remains to be

seen whether the Red Sox can play at a level that

would give them realistic hopes of contending.

For all the evident talent on the roster, particular-

ly in the lineup, it would require a remarkable

confluence of events to give the team a shot at the

postseason.

Even so, baseball seasons can be memorable

on a number of levels, and not all of them have to

do with the question of whether a team reaches

the postseason. On an individual and team level,

there are several milestones — some awe-inspir-

ing, others dismal — that are within reach of

members of the team. Among them:

Will Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts

make extra-ordinary history?

What the 22-year-old third baseman is doing

is little short of astonishing. Through 134 games,

he has 80 extra-base hits — 28 homers, 48 dou-

bles, and 4 triples. He’s on pace to collect a mind-

blowing 97 extra-base hits. That would surpass

RED SOX, Page C5

By Alex Speier
GLOBE STAFF
It’s a long shot, but it’s enough to keep the
Red Sox from raising a white flag at this point.
Those around the club recognize the reality
of their circumstance. Even with a 9-3 stretch
that helped offset the brutal eight-game losing
streak that bookended the trade deadline, the
Red Sox still face a steep uphill slog in their
pursuit of a wild-card berth. It is no small feat
to make up a handful of games in the standings
over a month.
Is it realistic to think that the Red Sox might
have a chance?
THE ODDS
The Red Sox are one of four teams jockeying
for the final two American League wild-card
spots. Through Thursday, Cleveland had fallen
back to the pack a bit, but still sat in the top
wild-card spot with a seven-game edge over the
Sox and 2½ on the Rays (while holding a
1½-game advantage over the A’s for the right to
host the wild-card game). The A’s were 5½
ODDS, Page C5

Tara Sullivan

Boston’s

success

drewArena

STEVEN SENNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A big selling

point for

Bruce Arena

when offered

the Revo-

lution job?

“They’re

winners,” he

said of Bos-

ton’s teams.

ODDS&END?

JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF

Josh Gordon started the game for the Patriots and played into the second quarter, catching two balls for 30 yards on six targets.

By Nora Princiotti

GLOBE STAFF

Giants 31

Patriots 29

FOXBOROUGH — Nor-

mally, Julian Edelman,

Josh Gordon, and De-

maryius Thomas would be nothing but

expensive cheerleaders during the

fourth preseason game.

But on Thursday night at Gillette

Stadium, when Jarrett Stidham took

the first snap of the game, he had Edel-

man and Gordon on the field starting

with him. On the very next snap, Thom-

as came in for a three-receiver set.

“It was really good, obviously

[Thomas] is a phenomenal player who

has been around for a really long time.

It was good to get some throws into him

and to Josh [Gordon], guys who have

been in the league a long time. They’re

great players for a reason,” Stidham

said after the Patriots lost to the Giants,

31-29, on the last play of the game.

The three veteran receivers were out

there — Edelman for less than a series,

Gordon and Thomas for several — be-

cause they hadn’t played in a preseason

game. All three joined the Patriots’ ac-

tive roster last week.

Edelman had been sidelined with a

broken thumb for most of training

camp and preseason, and came off the

non-football injury list. Thomas was on

PATRIOTS, Page C3

RED SOX 7.6%

RedSoxdon’thave

historyontheirside

Milestonesareout

there,goodandbad

INDIANS 85%

ATHLETICS 58.6%

RAYS 49.2%

According to fan-

graphs.com, the Red

Sox have just a 7.6

percent chance of

making the postseason

in 2019. A look at the

odds for the four AL

wild-card contenders.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI PHOTOS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rafael Devers (left) and Xander Bogaerts have been extraordinary for the Red Sox.

Patriots’receiversgetcall

Edelman, Thomas,

Gordon play in finale

JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF

Demaryius Thomas has a big first half Thursday,

catching seven passes for 87 yards and two TDs.