The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 46

Boston Sunday Gloiii; SEPTEMBER 16, 2007 tllMIIMIIIIII1llllllltlllttllllllll1lltltlllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIII1lllilllltllllllllll What They Were Thinking Fan's lide BY STAN GROSSFELD, GLOBE STAFF NEXT GAME TONIGHT, 8:05 New York Yankees at Boston ESPN.WRKO (680) TONIGHT, 8:15 San Diego at New England Ch.7,WBCN(104.1) SATURDAY, 7:30 P.M. New England at New York Ch.38,WEEI (850) ALSO ON THE AIR C2 AUTO RACING TIME TV RADIO Formula One: Grand Prix of Belgium 7:30 a.m. Speed Nextel Cup: Sylvania 300 2 p.m. Ch.5 1510 PRO BASEBALL Atlanta at Washington 1:30 p.m. TBS Chicago Cubs at St.

Louis 2:05 p.m. WGN PRO BASKETBALL WNBA finals (Game 5): Phoenix at Detroit 5 p.m. ESPN2 PRO FOOTBALL Indianapolis at Tennessee 1p.m. Ch.4 850 Green Bay at New York Giants 1 p.m. Ch.

25 Kansas City at Chicago 4 p.m. 890 New York Jets at Baltimore 4:15 p.m. Ch.4 850 GOLF PGA: The Tour Championship (final round) 11:30 a.m. TGC PGA: The Tour Championship (final round) 1:30 p.m. Ch.7 European: Mercedes-Benz Championship (tape) 1:30 p.m.

TGC Champions: Greater Hickory Classic (final, tape) 7 p.m. TGC LPGA: Solheim Cup (final round) 4 a.m. TGC SOCCER Premier: Manchester City vs. Aston Villa 11a.m. Fox Soccer United (first division quarterfinal): teams TBD 7 p.m.

Fox Soccer 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I It 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 II I II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ri 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I Sports SUNITA WILLIAMS, 41, of Needham, floating in Vineyard Sound, Sept. 12, 2007. She is the first astronaut to run the Boston Marathon in space "It was the opposite of what I was doing in space, laying down, looking out the window from the Space Station. In particular, we always looked down at New England because Cape Cod is pretty easy to pick out. I was thinking about flying over and what a beautiful view it would be down here.

Absolutely beautiful. When you look at the Earth, there really are no countries, no borders. Those land masses we think of as countries, that's just a border in your mind, and when people ask me about being a woman in a man-dominated field like helicopters or space walks those limitations are just borders in your mind that prevent you from doing things that you can do. There's a lot of parallels to floating in the water and floating in space. Takes a little while to get used to because it's a little colder than your body temperature." What They Were Thinking is a Sunday feature in which the subject of a photograph shares the story behind the picture.

econd wind lifts Revolution 1 I Smith helped the Revolution get By Frank Dell'Apa GLOBE STAFF FOXBOR-OUGH In recent seasons, the Revolution have played the MLS regular season at a long distance runner's pace, then sprinted to the finish line. And they might have taken a step toward another late rally with a 4-2 victory over FC Dallas last night. "We really thought this could be the start of an end-of-the-sea-son run," Revolution assistant coach Paul Mariner said. "We have been winning, losing, winning, losing and that's really not our style. We wanted to impose ourselves on them and emphasized getting the ball wide." Mariner replaced head coach Steve Nicol, who was suspended and will return for the Revolution's visit to New York Saturday, as the Revolution (13-6-6, 45 points) moved within a point of clinching a playoff berth and pulled within 4 points of Eastern Conference leader D.C.

United. Pat Noonan scored twice and Steve Ralston (78th minute) and Khano Smith (90th) clinched the result in a preview of the US Open Cup final. The teams will meet again Oct. 3 in Frisco, Texas, in the 93d annual Open Cup final. FC Dallas (12-9-3, 39 points), in third place in the Western Conference, stayed in contention through the goalkeeping of Dario Sala in the first half, then tied the score on Carlos Ruiz's header in the 35th minute.

But the Revolution took command at the start of the second half with a composed possession game. The strategy, combined with Smith's left-wing runs, paid off. Noonan (65 th) and Ralston gave the Revolution a 3-1 lead, Ruiz cutting the deficit (84th) before Smith's right-footer from 20 yards went past Sala. Smith's runs on the left wing knocked the Dallas defense off balance from the opening minutes, but Revolution forwards failed to anticipate his near-post crosses BASEBALL Bonds's record ball fetches $752,467 Barry Bonds's record-breaking 756th home run ball was auctioned yesterday for $752,467, well more than memorabilia experts had estimated. Matt Murphy, a 21-year-old student and construction supervisor from New York, emerged from a scuffle with the ball Aug.

7, after Bonds broke Hank Aaron's record of 755. Bonds shattered the record with a shot into the right-center-field seats off Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik in San Francisco. "I had hoped to keep the ball, but when I determined that was not the best strategy at this stage of my life, this definitely was the right decision," Murphy said in a statement released after the sale. Home run No. 755, the ball that tied the record, went for $186,750, according to Sotheby'sSCP Auctions.

Neither buyer wanted to be identified. Orioles' Baez has partial tear in elbow Baltimore Orioles closer Danys Baez has a partial tear in his right elbow and likely will miss the rest of the season. Orioles manager Dave Trembley said Baez will seek a second opinion after an MRI Friday revealed the partial tear. Trembley said Baez will decide between surgery or rehabbing after seeking more medical advice. The 30-year-old Baez missed almost a month earlier this season with a strained right forearm.

He's allowed runs in 1 1 of 22 appearances since rejoining the Orioles July 12. The righthander is 0-6 with three saves and a 6.44 ERA in 53 games. BASKETBALL Spain tops Greece, heads into final Pail Gasol scored 23 points, Jose Calderon scored 18 points and made some big plays down the stretch, and Spain beat defending champion Greece, 82-77, in Madrid to reach the final of the European Championships. Vassilis Spanoulis, who recently was released from the Spurs, led Greece with 24 points and five assists. Spain will meet Russia, which defeated Lithuania.

Andrei Kirilenko had 29 points and three blocks, and Russia withstood 30 points from Ramunas Sis-kauskas for an 86-74 victory that put the Russians in their record 19th final Restricted free agent guard Charlie Bell said he does not want to return to the Milwaukee Bucks this season. "They told me they were going to take care of Mo Williams and that they would take care of me, but they haven't," Bell said. "I don't want to go back to Milwaukee. I'm really disappointed in how this has turned out, but I don't see any way I could play for the Bucks again because my heart just won't be in it." He played in all 82 regular-season games for the Bucks in 2006-07, averaging 13.5 points and 35 minutes Former University of Connecticut basketball player Robert Dulin (1979-81) was sentenced to 18 months in prison as part of a plea deal in a sexual assault case. TENNIS Russians close in on Fed Cup title Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Mara Santangelo of Italy, 6-1, 6-2, in Moscow, putting Russia within one victory of its third Fed Cup title.

Russia's Anna Chakvetadze struggled past Francesca Schiavone, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the opening match of the tournament's final. Reverse singles and doubles in the best-of-five format are today. Italy defeated Belgium to win its first Fed Cup title last season. Russia is unbeaten in three matches against Italy, and won the Fed Cup title in 2004 and '05 Lindsay Davenport advanced to the final of the Bali Open in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, in her first singles tournament since having a baby in June. Davenport cruised past Sara Erranl, 6-1, 6-3.

She will face second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, who defeated qualifier Sorana Cir-stea, 7-5, 6-1, in today's final Fernando Gonzalez defeated Ivan Ljubicic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the final of the China Open in Beijing. In today's final, Gonzalez will play third-seeded Tommy Robredo, who edged Nicolas Kiefer, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 Gilles Simon of France and Victor Hancescu of Romania will play for the BCR Open Romania title today in Bucharest. The sixth-seeded Simon rallied past Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3. Hancescu defeated Gael Monfils of France, 6-2, 6-3. FOOTBALL Unscheduled landing for Dallas charter The Dallas Cowboys' charter flight to Miami for a game vs.

the Dolphins made an unscheduled stop for repairs in New Orleans. "We had a hydraulic problem on our plane. We got it fixed team spokesman Rich Dalrymple said. The Boeing 757 landed shortly before 3 p.m. and left about 5:45 p.m., airport spokeswoman Michelle Duf-fourc said.

Another plane was sent from Dallas-Fort Worth to New Orleans to pick up the team, but was not needed. MISCELLANY McCartney takes Spanish Vuelta stage American cyclist Jason McCartney won the long 14th stage of the Spanish Vuelta and Denis Menchov kept the overall lead for the fifth straight leg. McCartney, who rides for the Discovery Channel, finished the 128.6-mile course to Villacarrillo, Spain, in 5 hours 21 minutes 21 seconds. Swedish rider Thomas Lovkist of Francaise des Jeux was second, 28 seconds back. Rabobank's Menchov crossed the finish 10:05 back with most of the pack.

The 2005 winner has an overall time of 57:45:47, leading fellow Russian Vladimir Efimkin of Caisse dTpargne by 2:01 McLaren chief Ron Dennis wants to accept the record $100 million fine and suspension from the team championships if it means ending the Formula One spy scandal. Dennis also said he won't take action against team driver Fernando Alonso. I ROBERT E. KLEINFOR THE GLOBE headed in the right direction. setting up a Taylor Twellman shot that was slapped away by an advancing Sala in the 67th minute.

Another Smith cross was stopped by Sala, who threw the ball out of bounds to receive treatment. Sala then dove to stop a Dorman cross from the left, dropping the ball for Twellman to touch on to Ralston, who finished after his initial shot was blocked by Aaron Pitchkolan in the 78th minute. "It's all about possession," Mariner said. "We thought we could take it to them a little more than we had in the first half and put their back four and midfield on the back foot. There was a lot of hard work and hard running, particularly by our midfielders." Ruiz cut the deficit, heading a cross from substitute Dominic Oduro in the 84th minute.

But Smith's right-footer from 20 yards clinched the result in the 90th. The Revolution increased their home unbeaten streak to nine games (5-0-4) since a 4-3 loss to Kansas City May 26. Sinclair has scored five goals in World Cups, passing the previous mark of Charmaine Hooper. Australia 1, Norway 1 Also at Hangzhou, Australia substitute Lisa De Vanna scored in the 83d minute to secure a draw with Norway in Group boosting Australia's chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals. Denmark 2, New Zealand 0 Katrine Pedersen and Cathrine Paaske Sorensen scored off set plays to lead Denmark at Wuhan, China, in a match between teams in the bottom half of Group D.

Strong left-wing runs by Khano iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimi Revolution 4, FC Dallas 2 it Gillette Stadium FC Dallas. 1 1 2 4 NEW ENGLAND. 3 Scoring: New England. Noonan 6 (Smith, Ralston) 29th minute; FC Dallas. Ruiz 5 (Mccarty) 35th; New England.

Noonan 7 (Ralston, Laren-towicz) 65th; New England, Ralston 3 (unassisted) 78th; FC Dallas, Ruiz 6 (Oduro) 84th; New England, Smith 1 (unassisted) 90th. Goalies: FC Dallas, Sala: New England. Reis. Vellow cards; Dallas. Carlos Ruiz, delaying a restart, 57th minute; New England, Adam Crist-man, reckless foul, 83d; New England, Shalrie Joseph, reckless foul, 86th; New England, Matt Reis, reckless foul, 88th.

Uneups NEW ENGLAND: Matt Reis; James Riley, Michael Parkhurst. Avery John; Steve Ralston. La-rentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Andy Dorman, Khano Smith; Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan (Adam Cristman 80th). FC DALLAS: Dario Sala: Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Aaron Pitchkolan, David Wagenfuhr (Dominic Oduro 84th): Dax Mccarty, Pablo Ric-chetti, Denilson, Anthony Wallace (Arturo Alvarez 69th); Abe Thompson, Carlos Ruiz. Referee: Kevin Stott.

Attendance: 15.289 until Noonan provided the first goal. Ralston set up the sequence, running across the field and finding Smith on the left wing. Noonan read Smith's near-post cross, one-timing with the outside of his right foot in the 29th minute. "Khano had crossed to the near post a couple times before that," 1-0, Blanco tied the game in the 53d minute when he scored on a penalty kick. He had sent the ball into the box before Chris Leitch took down Chad Barrett to set up the kick.

Wizards 3, Crew 2 Scott Sealy scored two goals, including the winner in stoppage time, to help host Kansas City beat Columbus. Toronto FC 0, Real Salt Lake Toronto FC's record scoring slump extended past 13 hours as it was held to a scoreless draw with visiting Real Salt Lake. The goalless run for the expansion team is at Noonan said. "I just got to a good spot and got a toe on it." But Dallas retaliated, Ruiz tying the score off Dax McCarty's free kick. Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis lost sight of the ball in the lights and failed to punch the kick, Ruiz looping a header into an open net in the 35th minute.

Reis then saved (36th) on Abe Thompson after a McCarty cross, and on Denilson on the resulting corner, Andy Dorman heading the rebound off the line. After that, the Revolution regained command. The Revolution's ability to move the ball quickly disrupted Dallas's defense. Ralston twice advanced to the end line, the second time setting up Noonan for the go-ahead goal. Noonan and Ralston were involved in the buildup, Jeff Larentowicz touching on for Ralston to cross and Noonan finishing with a 15-yard drive for a 2-1 lead in the 65 th minute.

Smith continued to threaten on the wing, running 50 yards and 822 minutes. Women's World Cup Brazil 4, China Malta, the FIFA Player of the Year, shimmied a loose ball past a diving goalkeeper and whipped another shot behind two defenders to lead Brazil over China at Wuhan, China. Canada 4, Ghana Canada improved its chances for a quarterfinal berth by eliminating Ghana, as captain Christine Sinclair scored two goals, breaking her nation's World Cup scoring record in the win at Hangzhou, China. Blanco's play carries Fire to tie with Red Bulls ASSOCIATED PRESS Cuauhtemoc Blanco had a goal and an assist to help the Chicago Fire tie the New York Red Bulls, Soccer l'2: last "ight in Bridgeview, 111. roundup Trailing, 2-1, Blan- co forwarded a perfect pass to Gonzalo Segares, who headed the ball past goalie Ronald Waterreus.

The Red Bulls (11-10-4) took a 2-1 lead when Juan Pablo Angel converted a penalty shot in the 69th minute. With Chicago (8-10-6) down, i.