The Boston Globe - 02.08.2019

Sports

THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019 | BOSTONGLOBE.COM/SPORTS

C

TVHIGHLIGHTS

LPGA:Women’sBritishOpen,6a.m.,Golf
Baseball:RedSox-Yankees,7p.m.,NESN
Baseball:Angels-Indians,7p.m.,MLB
Listings,C8

Fight aftermath
MLB suspends eight over
wild Reds-Pirates brawl.C3

Tatum excited
Celtics forward confident
Walker will be great fit.C7

NESN down, too
Red Sox’ struggles showing
in network’s ratings.C8

INSIDE

By Nora Princiotti

GLOBE STAFF

FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots offense

and defense are in different places right

now. That much is clear thus far through

training camp.

The defense is balling. Nine of last year’s

starters from the Super Bowl are back, and

the two departures (Trey Flowers and Mal-

com Brown) have good, veteran replace-

ments. They’re deep at linebacker, have an

embarrassment of riches in the secondary,

and, most important, know how to play to-

gether.

The offense is in flux and is struggling.

With Isaiah Wynn still being held out of

competitive drills, the Patriots are patch-

working the left side of their offensive line.

Of the wide receivers currently practicing,

only Phillip Dorsett has caught an in-game

pass from Tom Brady. Of the tight ends, on-

ly Ben Watson has any history with the Pa-

triots, the most recent coming in 2010.

They’re missing a few key players, they

don’t know each other well yet, and it

shows.

PATRIOTS,PageC6

Forget “Sweet
Caroline” or
“Dirty Water,”
the musical
accompani-
ment at Fen-
way Park for
the Red Sox
following the
team sitting on its hands at
Wednesday’s trade deadline
should be “Que Sera, Sera.”
What will be, will be. That’s
the attitude that the Sox and
president of baseball opera-
tions Dave Dombrowski took
in electing to let this team find
its own way back to the post-
season.
The Que Sera, Sera Sox are
content to play out the season
playing reliever Russian rou-
lette while spit-shining their

2018 World Series Trophy.

They’ll see if that beeping

sound you hear in the distance

is them backing into the play-

offs via the second wild card or

backing out of the postseason

for the first time since 2015.

Content is the perfect de-

scription for this edition of the

Sox. They’ve been contented

with their franchise-record

108 regular-season wins and

World Series title from the

time they showed up for

spring training in Fort Myers,

Fla.Nothingtoseeandnoth-

ing to prove here. All season

long they’ve clinked together

empty champagne glasses, liv-

ing off last year’s accomplish-

ments. They took it easy in the

spring, told us there was no

GASPER,PageC2

Patriots defense way ahead of offense

STEVEN SENNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cornerback Stephon Gil-

more has been dominant.

ILLUSTRATION BY TOMMY PIATCHEK/GLOBE STAFF; PHOTOS BY GLOBE STAFF, GETTY IMAGES

Ano-doubt

HallofFamer

Ty Law was fueled by people underestimating him

TY LAW \ ALIQUIPPA, PA.\ FEB. 10, 1974

COLLEGE:MICHIGAN \ 1993-94

24

GAMES

8

INTS

0

TDS

17.2

INT RETURN YARDS

828

INT RETURN YARDS

19

TACKLES FOR LOSS

PATRIOTS

1995-2004

JETS

2005/2008

CHIEFS

2006-07

BRONCOS

2009

203

GAMES

838

TACKLES

7

TDS

53

INTS

\ 1993 - 94

0

RDS TDS

EFS

6 - 07

BRONCOS

2009

FILE/GETTY IMAGES

By Christopher L. Gasper

GLOBE STAFF

For NFL cornerbacks, the ability to forget is a

survival skill. More than any position, corner-

backs require selective amnesia to shrug off un-

successful plays and confidently own the next

one. Ty Law displayed a short memory on the

field, but it’s the long memory he possessed off it

that paved his path to the Pro Football Hall of

Fame.

The cocksure Patriots corner who excelled at

draping himself over opposing receivers will be

draped in a gold jacket in Canton, Ohio, Satur-

day, when he’s knighted with football immortali-

ty along with seven others. He arrives there

thanks to total confidence and total recall. Law

never forgot a doubter, a diss, or a slight, dating

back to his days growing up on Wykes Street in

Aliquippa, Pa. He was motivated and molded by

them all.

Law remembers people saying he was good

after leading Aliquippa High to a state title in

1991, but not good enough to play at the Univer-

sity of Michigan. (He started as a true freshman.)

He remembers writing to the NFL Draft advi-

sory board before he left Michigan in 1995 and

getting a letter back that said he would be picked

LAW,PageC4

Christopher L. Gasper

Complacency

afamiliartune

By Matt Porter

GLOBE STAFF

Rays 9

RedSox4

The Red Sox

needed a stopper,

after showers of

bad pitching washed away all

the fun from last week’s pound-

ing of the Yankees.

Andrew Cashner wasn’t that

stopper. Those behind him

were less qualified. And after

this weekend’s series in New

York, this season could be cir-

clingthedrain.

The Red Sox got 17 outs and

110 pitches from their recently

acquired righthander, Cashner,

but it wasn’t nearly enough in a

9-4 loss to the Rays.

“It is concerning,” manager

Alex Cora said. “We’ve been try-

ing to get better. It sounds like

I’ve been saying the same thing

for more than 100 days: We

trust this group, we trust the

guys, but we have to execute.”

“It was a rough one. Started

like a great homestand, and it

didn’t finish that way.”

Boston has lost four in a row

and is 3½ games behind Tampa

for the second wild card. If they

don’t correct course in the

Bronx — a four-game set begins

Friday — the Sox’ playoff hopes

could be critically wounded.

“If we’re going to be involved

in whatever talk for the play-

offs,” Cora said, “it better start

tomorrow.”

Xander Bogaerts (4 for 4, 3

RBIs) crushed a pair of homers

on Thursday, Mookie Betts hit

REDSOX,PageC2

UnarmedSox

sweptathome

Tampa caps 8-1

season at Fenway

BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Andrew Cashner gathers himself after a rough second

inning. He squandered a 2-1 lead by giving up three runs.