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StaffReport CHICO The Red Bluff Bulls un- der-17 team finished in third place at the Chico American Legion Me- morial Tournament. The Red Bluff American Legion is fielding under-17 and under-15 teams this season. The under-17 team has their home opener Sunday when they host a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. against the Chico Suns Red. They'll be back home Tuesday for a nine-inning game at 5:30 p.m. against the Chico Suns Blue. The under-17 team is being coached by David Gamboa, Ry- land Sanders, Chris Sinclair and Rob Macdonald. The under-15 Bulls, being coached by J.B. Stacy, are on the road to open their season until June 18. The Bulls went 4-1 over the five games in Chico to open their 2014 season. Red Bluff dropped its opener, but came back to win its final four. SOUTH COUNTY BLUE 6, RED BLUFF 4 KolbyButton pitchedfive strong innings, but it was not enough to hold off South County Blue in the Bulls' tournament opener. Button struck out six and al- lowed two earned runs. Eric Schreter and Walker Dodero each went 2 for 4. Richie Borges had a triple in the game, while Sam Hendricks drove in two runs. RED BLUFF 9, CHICO SUNS RED 4 Red Bluff bounced back behind a nine-strikeout performance from Schreter. Ryan Gamboa singled, doubled and drove in three runs. Jack Murphy had two singles and drove in a run. Button had two RBIs. Dodero had a double. RED BLUFF 8, OROVILLE 0 Bryce Sinclair threw a three-hit, five-in- ning shutout. Owen Swarthout and Will Mac- donald each had two hits. Swarthout drove in two runs, while Macdonald had one RBI. RED BLUFF 2, REDDING TIGERS 1 This one was a thriller. Dodero allowed two hits through six-plus innings, striking out 10 in the process. Macdonald came on in relief to get the final two outs. The game was scoreless in the fifth inning when Button led off with a single. Macdonald moved him over with a sacrifice and then Button scored on a wild pitch. Button would score on a Red- ding error on a ball put into play by Murphy. Deonte Antolin drew a walk to put two runners on. Both runners moved up a base on a balk before Hendricks sin- gled home Murphy for what would prove to be the game winner. REDBLUFF12,SOUTHCOUNTYRED7 The Bulls got four-plus innings of strong relief work from Swarthout to earn a win during their final game of the tournament. Schreter provided the high- light with a second-inning grand slam. Dodero, Button and Borges each notched two hits. Gamboa and Sinclair had dou- bles. Button drove in three runs and Sinclair two. Dodero and Borges each had a double. AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL Bullsfinishthirdattourney RedBluffunder-17teamgoes4-1atMemorial Day tourney in Chico a er dropping opener By Antonio Gonzalez The Associated Press agonzalezAP on Twitter OAKLAND Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry re- ceived the NBA's yearlong commu- nity assist award, spoke passion- ately about his charitable works, then dished out another assist to his former coach. In his first extended public com- ments since Mark Jackson was fired, Curry said Thursday that he voiced his support for the coach but the team "made a decision other- wise." He also said the "semi-quick hire" of Steve Kerr was "kind of a shock" to most of his teammates. "There's no sugarcoating it — it was a weird, expedited situation that we didn't see coming," Curry said. "And guys are human. You have to be able to adjust to it and have some time to respond. That's kind of what happened. I think we'll be fine once we have a clear picture of what's going on next year." Curry had been the strongest supporter of Jackson before the NBA Curry talks on Warriors' coach change InanotherblowtoUkraine's armed forces, rebels shot down a troop helicopter, killing at least 12soldiers, including a general who had served in the Soviet army and was in charge of combat training. UKRAINE Rebelsdowncopter; another loss for Kiev FULLSTORYONPAGEB8 The Corning Jr. Rodeo first performance will be held at 7 p.m. today at the Clark Park Rodeo Grounds. Tickets are $5for adults and $3for chil- dren age 12and younger. CORNING JR. RODEO First performance set for tonight The final local prep sporting event of the high school year starts at 4p.m. today as West Valley hosts the Northern Section Track and Field cham- pionships. Red Bluff and Corn- ing athletes will compete. TRACK & FIELD Northern Section championships today By Janie McCauley The Associated Press OAKLAND Jim Johnson is per- plexed by his struggles when he believes he is throwing good pitches. Yes, the 2013 AL saves leader hears the boos in his home ball- park — and there were more during the Oakland Athletics' 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. "What am I supposed to do?" Johnson said of the crowd treat- ment. "I don't know what to tell you. Balls are finding holes. I'm throwing pretty good pitches, I just feel like I'm in a little bit of bad luck. I don't think it's as bad as it really seems. I think every- body else thinks that way." Two of the American League's top teams have struggling clos- ers who are accustomed to being among the best in baseball. Joe Nathan held on through another rocky ninth inning for his 13th save a day after blowing one in a May matchup of division leaders. "If Joe's on you're going to have quick outs. He's been one of the best closers, he had an unbeliev- able year last year," Tigers man- ager Brad Ausmus said. "If he's on, he'll get quick outs. It just wasn't today." Miguel Cabrera hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth to back Rick Porcello's eighth victory. Porcello (8-2) overcame a ca- reer-high six walks, three shy of his season total coming into Thursday's start. Nathan allowed Josh Donaldson's leadoff double, an RBI infield single by Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick's run-scoring double before pinch- hitter Jed Lowrie grounded out to end the game. It was Nathan's first outing since he surrendered Donald- son's game-ending three-run homer in Wednesday's 3-1 loss for his fourth blown save oppor- tunity. "You guys can get the guys that did their part. You can write whatever you want," Nathan said. Victor Martinez doubled home two runs in the seventh and Ca- brera also had an RBI groundout for the Tigers, who head to Seat- tle for the weekend before return- ing home. Nick Punto hit a two-run homer in the fourth for Oakland, which wasted chances all game to lose for only the seventh time in 20 games. "We had plenty of opportuni- ties," manager Bob Melvin said. "We had some situational at-bats where we didn't come through." Porcello moved into second place in the AL for wins behind Toronto's Mark Buehrle. He did just enough this time, coming off just his second loss of the year Saturday against Texas in which he was tagged for eight runs and 12 hits in 5 1-3 innings. "It's no secret I was all over the place," Porcello said. "I was for- tunate to get out of some of the innings." Porcello improved to 5-1 on the road. He allowed five hits and two runs with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Oakland starter Jesse Chavez (4-3) lost consecutive starts for the first time this season follow- ing a two-game winning streak. His pitch count went up in a hurry. The right-hander walked two of his first three batters but escaped a rough first inning un- scathed. After Ian Kinsler lined out to start the game, Chavez walked the next two and received a mound visit from pitching coach Curt Young after going to 2-0 on cleanup hitter Victor Martinez. Martinez then singled and J.D. Martinez grounded into an in- ning-ending double play. The A's left the bases loaded in the second and sixth innings, and also squandered scoring chances in the first, fifth and seventh. BASEBALL STRUGGLES MOUNT FOR A'S JOHNSON Former AL saves leader says he's throwing good pitches, just not getting good results MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesse Chavez throws to the Detroit Tigers during the first inning Thursday in Oakland. TIGERS 5, ATHLETICS 4 Up next: Today, A's vs. Los Angeles Angels, 7:05p.m., TV on CSN. THESCORE Support for embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki eroded quickly Thursday, especially among congressional Democrats facing re-election campaigns, even as Shinseki fights for job. VETERANS AFFAIRS Support falters as Shinseki fights for job FULL STORY ON PAGE B3 St aff R ep or t LAKE ALMANOR The Red Bluff Bass Anglers held their annual tournament and campout at Lake Almanor over the Memorial Day weekend. The ladies fished Saturday for the two largest fish. Kit Reynolds took first place with 5.52 pounds. T i n a E b er t was second with 5.06 pounds and Tammy Villarreal took third with 4.36 pounds. Mike Bisnett won the club tour- nament Sunday with an impres- sive weight of 15.91 pounds. Kevin McLach- lan was the run- ner-up with 14.39 pounds and Frank Johnson was third with 12.86 pounds. Saturday night featured a pot- RB BASS ANGLERS Bisnett, Reynolds win titles at Almanor Bisnett Reynolds FISHING PAGE 2 CURRY PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 30, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1