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DAVIDTULIS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sergio Romo delivers to the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning Friday in Atlanta. ByGeorgeHenry TheAssociatedPress ATLANTA Michael Morse and An- gel Pagan homered, Tim Lincecum allowed one run over six innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the At- lanta Braves 2-1 on Friday night. San Francisco spoiled the sea- son debut of Braves starter Mike Mi- nor with its seventh victory in eight games. Atlanta has a season-high four- game losing streak. After missing the first month of the season with left shoulder tendi- nitis, Minor (0-1) allowed seven hits, two runs, no walks and struck out four. He trailed 1-0 when Pagan led off the game with his third homer and was down 2-1 in the sixth after Morse added his seventh homer. Lincecum (2-1) gave up six hits and three walks with four strikeouts and kept Braves hitters off balance by keeping his pitches low in the strike zone and added a sharp curveball and slider. Though Lincecum's ERA still stands at 5.12 this season, San Fran- cisco has won his past four starts, and the right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.91 ERA over that span. Lincecum had problems in the fifth by walking leadoff hitter Gerald Laird, who advanced on Jason Hey- ward's single and scored from second on Freddie Freeman's RBI single. But that was all the damage Atlan- ta's offense could muster. San Francisco's bullpen, which leads the majors with a 1.98 ERA, con- tinued its stingy work. Santiago Casilla, the third Giants pitcher, struck out Chris Johnson with runners on first and second to end the seventh. He faced the minimum in the eighth, lowering his opponents' bat- ting average against right-handers to .162 in 37 at-bats. Closer Sergio Romo earned his BASEBALL Morse,PaganbackLincecum Giants beat Braves 2-1 with two home runs to remain on hot streak REDSOX7,ATHLETICS1 Up next: Today, A's at Boston Red Sox, 10:35a.m., TV on CSN. THESCORE GIANTS 2, BRAVES 1 Up next: Today, Giants at Atlanta Braves, 4:10p.m., TV on CSNBA. THESCORE The Associated Press BOSTON Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam for his 100th career home run and Clay Buchholz picked up his first win at home as the Boston Red Sox beat the Oak- land Athletics 7-1 on Friday night. Pedroia had yet to homer this season before driving an 0-2 pitch out to left field in the sixth inning to put Boston up 6-1. The cushion was plenty for Buchholz (2-2), who shut down the team with the top record in the American League. Buchholz pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out five. He walked three and got himself out of several jams as the A's left five on base and were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring po- sition against Buchholz. John Jaso scored Oakland's only run, coming in on a wild pitch after leading off the third with a triple. BASEBALL Pedroia's slam helps Red Sox thump A's Staff Reports REDBLUFF A strong performance from the bottom of the the ladder helped the Red Bluff High tennis team beat visiting Foothill 5-4 Thursday. The Spartans won the Nos. 3-6 singles matches. Cory Twitchell beat Logan Mc- Clain 6-2, 6-1. Jay Boone beat Tris- ten Callahan 6-0, 6-3. Will Yates beat Wesley Rogers 6-3, 6-4 and Nathan Frits beat Ryan Morris 6-3, 6-1. It was the No. 2 doubles team that got the decisive win as Twitch- ell and Boone beat McClain and Callahan 10-5. WILLOWS 8, MERCY 1 Connor Rooney stayed unbeaten in league play, but that was the only high- light Thursday for Mercy as Wil- lows trumped the Warriors. Rooney defeated Tou Xiong 6-1, 6-3 in their No. 1 singles match. Mercy hosts Live Oak on Tues- day before heading back to Willows May 8-9 for league finals. Rooney is expected to be seeded PREP ROUNDUP Red Bluff High tennis team beats Foothill Ukraine launched an offensive against pro-Russian forces for control of a besieged eastern city Friday, while clashes be- tween pro- and anti-govern- ment activists in Odessa led to a fire that killed 31people. EUROPE Ukraineunrestspreads; 31 le dead in Odessa FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 The Red Bluff Spartans are at the Challenge of Champions in Sacramento. Corning and Los Molinos are scheduled to be in Oroville for the annual Norm MacKenzie Track and Field Classic. TRACK & FIELD Local athletes head to large meets Saturday Red Bluff and Corning will compete on the second day of the Lassen so ball tourna- ment in Susanville. Corning tennis is at the Northern Ath- letic League Championships in Yreka. TODAY'S PREP SCHEDULE RB, Corning at Lassen so ball tournament By Beth Harris The Associated Press LOUISVILLE, KY. The owners of California Chrome are putting all their hopes into the chestnut colt to win the Kentucky Derby. After all, he's the only horse they own. California Chrome, based at lesser-known Los Alamitos race- track in suburban Los Angeles, is the early 5-2 favorite for today's 140th Derby with good reason. He has won four straight races by a combined 24 lengths under Vic- tor Espinoza, who won the Derby in 2002 with War Emblem. "He's so light on his feet," Es- pinoza said. "He just does things so easy and makes my job easy." California Chrome's owners, Steve Coburn and Perry Mar- tin, are no Kentucky blue bloods. They're a couple of working stiffs who live near Reno, Nevada. A trainer called them "dumb asses" for getting into the racing game, inspiring the duo to put the letters DAP on their silks, which stands for Dumb Ass Partners. "We're going to go down in his- tory," Coburn predicted. California Chrome is the prod- uct of an $8,000 mare and a $2,500 stallion. He's earned more than $1 million already, making it somewhat easier for Coburn and Martin to turn down a pre-Derby offer of $6 million for a 51-percent stake in the horse. "We've been blessed with this colt," Coburn said. "The first time we saw him, we knew it was going to be something special." If their tale seems improba- ble, well, it's happened before at Churchill Downs. Mine That Bird, a 50-1 shot owned and trained by two guys from New Mexico mocked as cowboys, pulled off the stunning upset in the 2009 Derby. At 77, Art Sherman, who over- sees California Chrome, would be the oldest trainer to win. His colt would be the first California-bred to wear the garland of red roses in 52 years. "He's feeling good and he's do- ing good," Sherman said. "He's coming up to this race right." Rosie Napravnik wants to grab history, too. No female jockey has won the Derby, although she came closest — fifth last year. Napravnik will ride 20-1 shot Vicar's In Trouble. Her husband, Joe Sharp, works closely with the Louisiana-bred colt as assistant to trainer Mike Maker. "The story would almost be too good if we won it," she said. Wicked Strong is the early 6-1 second choice. The colt is named for the victims of last year's Bos- ton Marathon bombings and is trained by Jimmy Jerkens, who has his first Derby horse. Trainer Todd Pletcher has four horses in the Derby — Danza and Intense Holiday are both 8-1 while his other two are longer shots, 30-1 Vinceremos and 50-1 We Miss Artie. Danza is named for "Taxi" actor Tony Danza, who planned to attend the Derby. Makerwillsaddlethreehorses, all long shots. Besides Vicar's In Trouble, he has 15-1 General a Rod and 50-1 Harry's Holiday. "When those gates open, any- thing can happen," Maker said. Three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert is down to 20-1 shot Chitu after being forced to scratch early second favorite Hoppertu- nity because of a minor foot prob- lem. "California Chrome has proven he's a really good horse," Baffert said, adding, "There's a lot of par- ity in this field. Everybody might have a chance." Getting the ideal trip in the 1 -mile Derby is important, es- pecially with the traffic from 19 horses making a chaotic charge into the first turn. Jockeys want to avoid anything that would pre- vent their horse from getting into rhythm, like being bumped, cut off or blocked. Sherman believes the key is the first 70 yards. "You want to get out and get yourself some position," he said. Trainer Steve Asmussen KENTUCKY DERBY CALIFORNIA HORSE SETS STANDARD California Chrome, bred in state, is early 5-2 favorite for today's race at Churchill Downs GARRY JONES — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Exercise rider William Delgado takes Kentucky Derby entrant California Chrome for a workout Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The American economy shrugged off the end of a brutal winter last month, rebounding with the biggest hiring surge in two years and suggesting that the job mar- ket's gains could endure. JOB MARKET Economy bounces back a er tough winter FULL STORY ON PAGE B3 DERBY PAGE 2 ROUNDUP PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, May 3, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1