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ByJohnHickey BayAreaNewsGroup ANAHEIM Afterseeinginfielder Ryon Healy struggle through the first dozen games of the sea- son, A's manager Bob Melvin morphed into Dr. Melvin. His prescription: A couple of days off. The manager told his player and the media he was just giv- ing Healy a chance to step back, take a couple of deep breaths and get his game together. As prescribed by Melvin, Healy took a seat on the bench last Monday and Tuesday with the Texas Rangers in town. He had been hearing all kinds of conflicting information, but he was able to dismiss most of it and just take his two-days-off medicine. "I got advice from every sin- gle person in this clubhouse and every single person outside this clubhouse," Healy said with a shake of his head. "It got to the point where I stopped searching for answers outside of my own being. I really had to get on my own side and start pulling on the same side of the rope." It turned out his manager was pulling on that side, too. "The game was going too fast for me for a few weeks there," Healy said in analysis. "I think it happens to everybody through- out the course of the season. Un- fortunately for me, this was how I started the season. So having those two days to reevaluate and slow things back down I think it's helped me be more success- ful now." How successful? He dou- bled as a pinch-hitter Monday, then singled and drove in a run pinch-hitting Tuesday. He was back in the lineup Wednesday and continues to crush the ball. He hit a two-run tiebreaking homer in the first in- ning Saturday to get the A's off to their fifth consecutive win. On Sunday, when none of the A's bats showed life, Healy sin- A'S HEALY TAKES HIS MEDICINE Short break allows infielder to find his game again JASONO.WATSON—GETTYIMAGES Ryon Healy of the Oakland A's is congratulated by third base coach Chip Hale a er hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim during the first inning in Oakland. Healy took a couple of days off, and suddenly his offense is once again a major piece of the A's attack. By Curtis Pashelka and Paul Gackle Bay Area News Group SAN JOSE Joe Thornton had surgery Monday to repair torn ACL and MCL ligaments in his left knee as an uncertain and potentially tumultuous offsea- son began for the Sharks and one of their most recognizable players. Thornton, 37, was injured April 2 in a game against Van- couver and somehow returned to play exactly two weeks later in Game 3 of the Sharks' open- ing round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers. Thornton, who, like Patrick Marleau, is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, played the final four games of the series with the injury and finished with two assists before the Sharks were eliminated on Saturday with a 3-1 loss to the Oilers in Game 6. "I've been in this business a long time," Sharks general man- ager Doug Wilson said. "You see a player play with that type of injury tells you all you need to know about him." The potential time to re- habilitate after surgery to re- pair a torn ACL alone is up to six months, meaning Thornton would not be able to play again until around the start of the 2017-18 regular season. Thornton told reporters Mon- day — before DeBoer and Wil- son spoke — that the injury was "just the normal stuff that hockey players deal with. "It was just unfortunate, the time of the year," Thornton said. "That it happened three games before the end of the season and the playoffs, you got to deal with something like that. "Hockey players are a differ- ent breed. There's probably five or six guys that had to deal with different stuff. But it is what it is. I'll go get it checked out to- day and go from there." Marleau, 37, said he played the series with a broken thumb and DeBoer said Tomas Hertl played with a broken foot, an in- jury also suffered April 2 against Vancouver. Joonas Donskoi suf- fered separated shoulders on two occasions this season, De- Boer said. Marleau said he will not need surgery. "It's one of those things where time will help it and get better," NHL PLAYOFFS Sharks' Thornton played with a torn ACL, MCL By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group Inside the John McVay Draft Room upstairs at the 49ers head- quarters, flat-screen televisions and projector screens adorn the four, window-less walls. Grades of some 200 draft prospects are hid- den behind a screen. This is where the 49ers future will be decided via this week's draft. New general manager John Lynch invited the media into that previously off-limits bunker Mon- day to brief them on, well, not the 49ers' top-secret plans but more so their general philosophies. "If you just be transparent, that's sometimes the best poker you can play," Lynch said. "That's what I'll try to do. I'll always keep the best interest of the team. "There's not going to be a whole lot of shenanigans coming from us. That's how we've operated the first couple months and how we plan to operate moving forward." Lynch did not divulge what the 49ers will do with the No. 2 over- all draft pick, nor does he know for sure. The 49ers continue to field calls from prospective trade partners. No deal is imminent. "We're going to listen right up 'till draft day," Lynch said. "Other- wise we are going to take a player at (No.) 2 that we feel is a corner- stone for this franchise for years to come and we'll be very passion- ate about that pick and player." A NFL Media report earlier Monday indicated the 49ers were "seriously considering" a quarter- back at No. 2, most likely North Carolina's Mitchell Trubisky. Yes, that is a possibility, Lynch said without truly confirming that or any other pre-draft report. "There are a lot of assumptions being made, and I feel real con- fident those are exactly that — assumptions — because nothing has left this building," Lynch re- sponded to that report. "It's that time of year, so there are going to be a lot more until it's go time on Thursday." Lynch, however, noted that he and his personnel staff will spend the next day sifting through me- dia members' mock drafts, ac- knowledging that not only do reporters get their information from NFL staff but also vice versa. Lynch especially praised NFL Network draft analysis Mike Mayock. Three months into the job and his first foray into NFL person- nel, Lynch looks and feels like he's caught up, with mere days to spare before his first draft. Said Lynch: "Just last night, I finally got to the point … I always knew as a player like, 'OK, I'm ready.' That moment was yesterday for me. I'm ready to go on this thing, and that's a good feeling." 49ERS Lynch seeks 'cornerstone' or trade at No. 2 pick Staff report REDBLUFF Afterbeingshut out at home Friday night by the Pleasant Valley Vikings, the Red Bluff High School baseball team will return to action Tuesday with a dou- ble header against Enter- prise in Redding. The Spartans fell 9-0 Fri- day night at home to the Vi- kings, dropping to 14-7 over- all and 7-3 in league play. They will visit the Hornets (17-7-1 overall, 3-5 league) for a twin bill starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The Spartans are sched- uled to host the Hornets at 6 p.m. Friday. The Lady Spartans (15-9 overall, 1-2 league) will host the Pleasant Valley Vikings (12-10-1 overall, 3-1 league) at 4 p.m. Red Bluff beat the Vikings 12-4 on March 31 during the Chico Panther Challenge tournament. The Lady Spartans are scheduled to travel to Red- ding Friday for a 6 p.m. game against the Shasta Wolves (11-12 overall, 1-3 league). The Spartans track and field team will host the Pleasant Valley Vikings at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and travel to the Lions Invite in Yreka Friday and Grants Pass Invite Saturday. The Spartans golf team will travel to Chico Thurs- day for a 1 p.m. tournament at Butte Creek. The Spartans tennis team will open the playoffs against the Shasta Wolves at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Red- ding. Corning The Corning Cardinals (5-7-1 overall, 2-3 league) will host the Las Plumas Thunderbirds (13-10 over- all, 3-1 league) at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The Lady Cardinals (5-7 overall, 0-4 league) will host the Ovoville Tigers (5- 12-1 overall, 2-3 league) at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Both Cardinals teams are scheduled to travel to Oro- ville Friday for 4 p.m. games against the Thunderbirds. The Cardinals track and field team will compete at Butte College at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and in Oroville Friday at the Norm McK- enzie Classic at Harrison Stadium, with field events starting tat 10 a.m. and track events at noon. The Cardinals golf team will host a tournament at noon Wednesday at the Links at Rolling Hills. Los Molinos and Mercy The Los Molinos Bulldogs (6-1 overall, 2-0 league) will host the Mercy Warriors (2- 8-1 overall, 0-2 league) in a cross-county rivalry at 4 p.m Tuesday. The Lady Bulldogs (3-5 overall, 1-2 league) will host the Mercy Lady Warriors (1-3 overall, 1-0 league) at 4 p.m Tuesday. Both Warriors teams will travel to Burney for 3:30 p.m. games Thursday. Both Bulldogs teams are scheduled to travel to Chester for 4 p.m. games Friday. PREP BEAT THIS WEEK LadySpartanstohostPleasantValley A'S PAGE 2 CAM INMAN — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP General manager John Lynch welcomed the media into the 49ers' John McVay Dra Room on Monday for a press conference. 49ERS PAGE 2 SHARKS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, April 25, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1