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ByAlexPavlovic BayAreaNewsGroup ST. LOUIS You walk the club- house with the same question in mind, and often you get the same answer. Tell us about the fire that burns inside Madison Bumgarner. "You've seen the YouTube video, right? " his teammates respond. We have, and four years and two rings later, it's still instruc- tive. Bumgarner, the then-20- year-old ready to take on the world — and soon the World Se- ries — was ejected from a Triple- A game in June of 2010 after a se- ries of questionable calls. He was restrained by teammates and pulled off the field, exchanging words with Sacramento River Cats instructor Rickey Hender- son on his way to the dugout, according to eyewitnesses. One former Fresno Grizzlies staffer swears there was a frantic search for Bumgarner's truck keys out of fear he was going to drive onto the field. The outburst led to a three- game suspension and fine from the Pacific Coast League, and the Giants tacked on a fine, as well. But they weren't exactly upset with their prospect. The video made the rounds, with most fo- cusing on Bumgarner — on his way off the field — angrily throw- ing the baseball deep into the outfield. NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Giants'Bumgarner: fieryandcompetitive San Francisco's star le -handed starter, sometimes over the top, gets ball in Game 1 ANDYHOLZMAN—LOSANGELESDAILYNEWSFILE San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is all smiles a er hitting a two-run home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 23. CHARLIE NEIBERGALL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner speaks to the media Friday in St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals and the Giants are scheduled to start the NL Championship Series today. By Jenna Fryer The Associated Press CONCORD, N.C. One bad race knocked three of NASCAR's big- gest names to the bottom of the championship standings, and a repeat tonight at Charlotte Mo- tor Speedway will put the trio on the verge of elimination. That's the harsh reality for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Kesel- owski and six-time and defend- ing NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. They combined to win more than a third of the races this season, and their title hopes could end before the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. NASCAR eliminates four driv- ersfromtheChasefieldafterevery third race, and Keselowski, Earn- hardt and Johnson are ranked 10th through 12th in the field. A win automatically advances a driver into the third round; any- thing else forces the drivers to de- pend on next week's elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway to stay in title contention. It's a mathematical longshot to think that Keselowski, win- ner of five races this season, and Earnhardt and Johnson, who have three wins apiece, can all recover enough to move into the third round. None is con- cerned about anything but to- night's race. NASCAR SPRINT CUP Earnhardt believes he'll win Charlotte One bad race can eliminate big names out of Chase for championship, focus on tonight CHRIS KEANE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Brad Keselowski talks to a crew member during practice Friday for today's NASCAR Sprint Cup series Bank of America race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Today: San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals, 5:07p.m., TV on FOX. Staff Reports RED BLUFF Despite not winning on their home course Wednesday the Red Bluff Lady Spartans still managed to expand their lead in the season-long standings. Foothill shot 269 to win Day 3 of the Eastern Athletic League season held at Wilcox Oaks Golf Club. Red Bluff came in second with a 276 followed by Chico with a 290. Red Bluff has 16.5 points on the season, two ahead of Chico. Foot- hill is third with 13 points. Summer Frantz and Sofia Frantz shot the low rounds of the day and are now tied for the indi- vidual EAL league. Summer shot a 43 and Sofia shot 44. Emilie Louisell shot 52. Yazmin Villalobos shot 65, fol- lowed by Molly Shea with a 72 and Abbie Fambrough shot 78. Volleyball MERCY 3, REDDING CHRISTIAN 0 The Lady Warriors swept visit- ing Redding Christian 25-13, 25- 18, 28-26 Thursday. C.J. Johnson led Mercy with 15 digs, seven kills and six aces. Marissa Starman had five kills and 12 digs. Madeline Flynn blocked three shots. Tasha Pimentel provided 17 as- sists. Mercy (15-10, 1-1) hosts Chester on Tuesday. LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 3, LOS MOLI- NOS 2 The Lady Bulldogs took the first two games, but visiting Liberty Christian stormed back to win the match 22-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-6 Thursday. Rachel Rogers had 10 kills for Los Molinos. Dani Garman had four aces. Vanessa Cota had three aces PREP ROUNDUP Frantz duo keeps RB golfers on top in EAL Mercy sweeps Redding Christian in volleyball By Jerry McDonald Bay Area News Group ALAMEDA A consolation prize in March, Donald Penn has become the anchor of the Oakland Raid- ers' offensive line in October. Penn is as frustrated as any- one by an 0-4 start, so he's not particularly comfortable talking about how well he is playing at left tackle. "I haven't done anything yet, man," Penn said. "It's only four games. Got a long way to go. I've got to find a way to do something better to help us start winning. Get a win — that's my objective right now." As the blind-side protector for quarterback Derek Carr, Penn gets the opponent's toughest pass rusher each week. When the Raid- ers face the San Diego Chargers Sunday at O.co Coliseum, he'll get a heavy dose of right outside line- backer Dwight Freeney. Through four games, the web- site Profootballfocus.com gives Penn the highest grade on the Raiders' line for both pass block- ing and run blocking, responsible for giving up one of the unit's four sacks allowed. Penn arrived on March 19 as something of an afterthought, NFL Raiders tackle Penn delivers bounce-back season so far Landon Donovan ran onto a backheel pass from Jozy Alti- dore, looked at the goal from 12yards and drove in a right- footed shot in like he had so many times before. Storybook ending? Not this time. U.S. SOCCER Donovan hits post in finale, tie with Ecuador FULL STORY ON PAGE B2 A spring camp for players in grades 1-12will be held Jan. 18through Feb. 22in Redding. For more information visit usbaseballacademy.com. Last year's camps sold out, regis- tration is recommended. YOUTH BASEBALL US Baseball Academy Spring Training 2015 Due to our print deadline coverage of local Week 6prep football games can be found on our website redbluffdailynews.com. WEEK 6 FOOTBALL Check out our website for prep football results Gay rights groups are cheer- ing a shi in tone from the Catholic Church toward homo- sexuals, encouraged that Pope Francis' position has filtered down to bishops debating family issues at a meeting. VATICAN CITY Gay rights groups hail new Catholic tone FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 ROUNDUP PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 RAIDERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, October 11, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1