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ERICRISBERG—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE San Francisco Giants pitcher Mark Melancon, le , with his agent, Mark Pieper, right, a er he was introduced Dec. 9at AT&T Park in San Francisco. ByJanieMcCauley TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO TheSanFrancisco Giants' even-year demise came down to a shaky bullpen that had been oh so reliable in the club's World Series championships of 2010, '12 and '14. So while last offseason was spent spending big to boost the rotation with front-line starters Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to join Madison Bumgarner and Co., general manager Bobby Evans went to work this off- season on finding the right person to pitch the ninth inning. Closer Mark Melancon landed a $62 million, four- year contract in December. "It was the total package, in my opinion," he said. That's exactly how the Giants felt. "This was our No. 1 need," man- ager Bruce Bochy said. Melancon has saved at least 30 games in each of the past three sea- sons, recording a majors-best 51 in 2015. He went 47 for 51 in save op- portunities in 75 relief appearances last season with Pittsburgh and Washington, tied for second-most saves with Baltimore's Zach Britton and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Ken- ley Jansen. He got some important positive feedback about the Giants from Pitts- burgh teammate Ryan Vogelsong, who pitched for San Francisco. "I would have to say Ryan was very open on how much he liked the Gi- ants' organization," Melancon said. "He never had a bad thing to say. That was without me prying him be- cause I had no idea this would come up. It speaks volumes and initiated my excitement once I found out they were in the picture and they were ex- cited about me." NEW LOOK The Giants have some familiar faces who have earned the chance to fight for roster spots out of spring training — former outfielder Michael Morse and popular local product Jimmy Rollins. Both play- ers received minor league contracts this winter. ROOKIES TO WATCH South Korean BASEBALL GiantslooktocloserMelancon Newstopperatback end should help steady bullpen for 2017 season By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter RED BLUFF The Red Bluff Spar- tans boys and girls soccer teams took wins over Foothill on Wednesday and the Corning Car- dinals boys and girls beat Oroville on Tuesday. The Lady Spartans battled the wind in the first half against the Foothill Cougars on Wednesday night at home, finishing the half in a scoreless tie. When the teams switched di- rections for the second half it didn't take long for the tide of the game to change. The Spartans scored three times in the opening minutes of the second half and cruised to the shutout win, 3-0. The Spartans' first goal came off a corner kick when Karissa Mena caught the cross and put it into the net. The next score came off the foot of Grace Davidson, who snuck it just under the crossbar on an un- believable free kick from near midfield. The third score was a header in front of the goal from freshman Noel Adams. Marlee Meadows, Rosy Alfaro and Madison Poore each earned an assist on the night. Goalkeeper Grace Thornton had four saves for the shutout win. The Lady Spartans (8-8-4 over- SOCCER ALL COUNTY TEAMS GARNER VICTORIES Red Bluff boys beat Foothill 6-2, Lady Spartans win 3-0; Corning girls, boys both top Oroville Red Bluff's Grace Thornton blocks a shot on goal Wednesday night against Foothill. PHOTOS BY CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS Red Bluff's Haley Scott dribbles the ball past a Foothill defender Wednesday night. Online: Get updates on all of the Tehama County teams at REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/SPORTS. By Carl Steward Bay Area News Group PEBBLE BEACH Jason Day, the world's No. 1-ranked golfer, has gotten used to special privileges as a result of his standing, but it was more blind luck that he was among the first players to get out of the gate the AT&T Peb- ble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday. Teeing off in the second group at 7:11 a.m. at Monterey Penin- sula Country Club, Day not only was able to finish his round be- fore nasty weather suspended play just after 1:30 p.m., he was able to shoot a 2-under par 68 under far calmer conditions than those who teed off later had to face. Day was one of the first of 73 players in the 156-player field who managed to finish the first round and put himself on the in- complete leader board, tied for eighth, with a steady perfor- mance that included four bird- ies and just two bogeys. He was two shots behind three players who shot 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill — Americans Rick Lamb and Joel Dahmen and South Ko- rean Seung-Yul Noh. For those who started even 30-45 minutes after Day, it got quite a bit more wild and gnarly due to the increasingly inclement conditions — wind at first followed by the first rains around 11:30 a.m. Phil Mickel- son was perhaps the most con- spicuous victim on that count with a rollercoaster survival ride around MPCC. Mickelson had seven birdies, including four in a row at one point on the front nine, but also logged an early bogey and then double bogeys at the 9th and 13th holes. He was still stuck on the 18th PGA TOUR World No. 1 Day beats weather to the punch By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group SANTA CLARA Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, the San Fran- cisco 49ers' new power couple, happily sat side by side at Thurs- day's introductory press confer- ence, with a 49ers helmet in front of them as a customary prop and CEO Jed York flanking them as their optimistic boss. This was the first visual of a coach-and-general manager union the reeling 49ers have made into a long-term invest- ment, as each newcomer embarks on a six-year contract. "It's rare to get two guys to come in together with the same deal. That makes me comfort- able," Shanahan said. "… You know you're going to win together and you're going to lose together." This was unlike recent new- coach coronations, and the 49ers have way too many to compare it to now that Shanahan is their fourth coach in four years. Instead of that new coach having to conform with an en- trenched general manager — like recent tries under Trent Baalke, whose unions ultimately failed with Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly — the 49ers are taking a new, double-whammy approach with two novices. "We aren't where we want to be. We're a two-win team right now," York said, referring to last season's 2-14 record. "We need to make sure we give these guys ev- erything they can to get this thing up and running. I believe in these guys and think they'll be around a lot longer than (six years)." They've divvied up the person- nel powers in a way both see fit: Shanahan controls the in-sea- son, 53-man roster while Lynch oversees the offseason's 90-man unit as well as free agency and the draft, in which the 49ers hold the No. 2 overall pick April 27. "It's also written: 'subject to ap- proval of the other guy,' " Lynch said of their contracts' power share. ". … We've both seen places where it works. And we've seen places that it doesn't work and you've got friction and that's not what we were all about." Lynch is a first-time general manager, and although he exudes confidence from his past life as a star safety and Fox Sports broad- caster, he is openly humbled by his lack of front-office experience. Shanahan is a first-time head coach, and although his confi- dence stems from nine years as of- fensive coordinator and as the de- scendant of long-time NFL coach Mike Shanahan, he is greatly humbled by Sunday's Super Bowl defeat as the Falcons' play-caller. In the wake of watching a 28-3 lead turn into a 34-28 overtime loss to the New England Patri- ots, Shanahan got hired by the 49ers on Monday to close a long- expected deal, and he then took a couple days to get "some closure" on his Falcons tenure. "I was definitely grieving it and I probably will for a while," Sha- nahan said. "… I remember ev- NFL 49 er s ge t new vibe by hiring Shanahan SOCCER PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 GOLF PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, February 10, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1