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MATTMARTON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS San Francisco Giants first baseman Travis Ishikawa (45) congratulates San Francisco Giants catcher Andrew Susac a er he hit a home run in the third inning Wednesday. ByMattCarlson TheAssociatedPress CHICAGO JakePeavypitchedseven solid innings in his fifth start with San Francisco, and the Giants rolled past the Chicago Cubs 8-3 on Wednesday, hours after they won a protest regarding a rain-shortened loss from the night before. Hunter Pence and Andrew Susac homered, and Travis Ishikawa drove in three runs with pair of doubles among three hits to help the Giants strengthen their hold on an NL wild card spot. Peavy (2-3) has won two straight after losing his first three starts with San Francisco following a July 26 trade from Boston where he was 1-9. He allowed 10 hits, struck out eight and walked none. Chris Va- laika's two-run homer in the second inning accounted for the only runs against him. The Cubs' Luis Valbuena added a solo homer and a triple in going 3 for 4. Struggling starter Edwin Jackson (6-14) was hit hard in just 2 2/3 in- nings, his shortest outing of the sea- son. He allowed seven runs, eight hits and two walks. Jackson has lost seven of eight decisions. Before the game, the Giants won their protest filed with Major League Baseball over Tuesday night's rain- shortened loss that was called in the fifth inning. A problem in getting the tarp onto the field caused unplayable condi- tions, and the game was ruled a 2-0 Cubs win after a delay of over four hours. MLB ruled the tarp hadn't been properly put away after its previous use, and therefore there was a "mal- function of a mechanical field device under control of the home club." MLB said this was the first suc- BASEBALL PeavyliftsGiantsoverCubs He pitches seven solid innings for win in fi h start with San Francisco GIANTS 8, CUBS 3 Up next: Today, Giants at Chicago Cubs, 5:05p.m., TV on CSNBA. THESCORE By Tim Booth The Associated Press SEATTLE Forget about the NFC Worst. Last year proved the NFC West is the deepest division in the NFL. Whether it was San Francisco and Seattle, the league's best ri- valry, meeting in the NFC cham- pionship game, or the Seahawks posting the most lopsided Super Bowl victory in two decades by routing Denver, the profile of the NFC West is drastically different from a few years ago. NFC West depth goes beyond just the Seahawks. The four teams combined to go 42-22 a year ago, the best of any division, and could be that good again. There are concerns for each team entering 2014. St. Louis must discover if Sam Bradford can stay healthy. Arizona must re- place linebackers Daryl Washing- ton and Karlos Dansby, and de- fensive tackle Darnell Dockett. San Francisco will play at least half the season without All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman. NFC WEST PREVIEW Seattle looks to continue West reign By Arnie Stapleton AP Pro Football Writer As good as any division a year ago, the AFC West is about to get tested. Bigtime. The AFC West sported three playoff teams last season, with late-charging San Diego and re- surgent Kansas City joining Super Bowl-bound Denver in the post- season. The path to the playoffs in 2014 has a few more potholes: The AFC West has to play the NFC West, where the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, Cardinals, Rams and 49ers boast some of the nastiest defenses the NFL has to offer. Denver is trying to become the first team in four decades to win a Super Bowl the year after los- ing it, and GM John Elway sug- gested that facing this fearsome foursome will benefit the Broncos. "You've got to be able to play physical with physical teams," El- way said. "And that's always a goal is to be able to have a team that AFC WEST PREVIEW Broncos again class of West's playoff teams Hamas' military chief escaped an apparent Israeli assassina- tion attempt that killed his wife and infant son, the mili- tant group said Wednesday as Israel's prime minister warned that the bombing will go on. MIDEAST CONFLICT Airstrikekillswife, child of Hamas figure FULL STORY ON PAGE B3 The annual Corning Fun Run at the Olive Festival is scheduled to begin at 9a.m. at Woodson City Park. The park will continue to have activities throughout the day following the run. OLIVE FESTIVAL Corning Fun Run set for Saturday The Corning Lady Cardinals and Red Bluff Lady Spar- tans head to Pleasant Valley High School for a multi-team scrimmage scheduled be- tween 5-8p.m. today. VOLLEYBALL High schools head to multi-team scrimmage By John Hickey Bay Area News Group OAKLAND The Oakland Athlet- ics' season starts Friday. The first 126 games were mere prelude, winding up with a less- than-inspiring 8-5 loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday. From this point on the A's have 38 games left, 10 of them with Friday's opponent, the An- gels. Since the Angels and A's have the two best records in baseball, it's no great stretch to see that what is to come is of much more import than what has transpired. "Games like this are an op- portunity where you can im- pact where you stand and your position," outfielder Brandon Moss said, looking at the week- end. "You can't depend on other teams to take care of things for you. You have to take care of your own things. Hopefully we come out here and do that." The thing is, the A's have not been very good taking care of things themselves lately. They started the year 57-33, includ- ing going 6-3 against the An- gels. Oakland is 17-19 since then. Wednesday saw starter Jeff Samardzija give up seven two- out hits. They accounted for all but one of the seven runs he al- lowed. "I think in this slump we haven't been hitting on all cyl- inders," Samardzija said. "We've had good pitching, good hit- ting and good defense. We just haven't had all three facets clicking at the same time. "I've got to bear down and get an out there. I gave up a couple of hits (in the third inning), and then the home run, which was the dagger." There have been entirely too many daggers of late for the A's, particularly in August where the A's are 8-11. In the last 10 days alone, they've gone from having a four-game lead in the Amer- ican League West to being in- crementally behind the Angels. That makes this weekend huge in a way that none of the previous 126 games were. "It'll always be different when you are playing in your division against teams that are close to you in the standings," Moss said. "Just like with the Rang- ers two years ago. Just like with the Rangers last year. There is day-to-day." As for the big picture, the A's skid started about a week after Samardzija and Jason Hammel came to the A's in a trade that sent promising minor league shortstop Addison Russell to the Chicago Cubs. "There's been a big change in this team, obviously," Samardzija said. "We're kind of getting used to that. But I love the way these guys fight every day. So I'm not expecting anything but success from this team. "It's pretty obvious the situ- ation the two teams are in. We have a handful of games with them in the future. It's safe to say the division will be deter- mined by those 10 games. We've got an off-day to take advantage of that, then will come back and get ready." It's easy to focus on the seven runs Samardzija gave up in 3 2/3 innings and the 5.54 ERA the starters have in the last nine games (2-7), but it's the Oakland offense that should be the prime concern heading into the week- end. Oakland is the only team in baseball to have scored 600-plus runs so far this season, but the A's are in a prolonged drought. While they're averaging 4.84 runs per game for the season, in an 8-11 August the average is down a full run per game to 3.84. "Clubhouse morale has not been affected," said catcher John Jaso, who had one of the A's three RBIs Wednesday. "So everything's good there." BASEBALL SAMARDZIJA LIT UP, A'S LOSE TO METS Oakland's weekend series with division rival Angels looms large as A's struggle in August ERIC RISBERG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oakland A's starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (right) walks back to the mound a er giving up a three-run homer to the New York Mets' Lucas Duda (le ) during the third inning Wednesday in Oakland. METS 8, ATHLETICS 5 Up next: Friday, Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, 7:05p.m., TV on CSNCA. THESCORE Three years of drought have Californians debating an end to the state's status as one of the last in the West with a pump-as-you-please policy for the vital underground sources that provide water. FEELING THE BITE Drought has state debating pumping issue FULL STORY ON PAGE B6 49ERS PAGE 2 RAIDERS PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, August 21, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1