Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/533409
JULIEJACOBSON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Karl-Anthony Towns (right) poses with NBA commissioner Adam Silver a er being selected first by the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA dra Thursday in New York. ByBrianMahoney TheAssociatedPress NEW YORK TheMinnesotaTimber- wolves got their man in the middle. The Lakers got a playmaking part- ner for Kobe Bryant. Knicks fans just got mad — though not for long. Minnesota selected Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns with the first pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night, the first of three straight fresh- men chosen before New York chose Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, triggering loud, long boos from their fans inside Barclays Center. They were cheering later in the first round when the Knicks acquired the rights to Notre Dame guard Je- rian Grant from Atlanta for Tim Hardaway Jr. Before that, the Timberwolves went for a center in their first time owning the No. 1 pick. They can add him to a young roster featur- ing Rookie of the Year Andrew Wig- gins, who was picked first last year by Cleveland and later dealt to Min- nesota in the Kevin Love trade. Towns' selection wasn't a surprise — though he said he didn't know un- til it was announced. "When Mr. Adam Silver came out, I saw him, and he said, 'with the No. 1 pick', I was racing," said Towns, who was sitting with Kentucky coach John Calipari. "I told Coach Cal before when he first came out that I was try- ing to drink the water and I was shaking uncontrollably, and I told him, 'Coach, don't give me the ball right now for the last-second shot. I wouldn't make it.'" The Los Angeles Lakers then took guard D'Angelo Russell of Ohio State, who was wearing a red jacket, bow- tie and shoes that matched the Buck- eyes' school colors. Red was the color of choice in the green room, though Towns wore a grey jacket and Russell's table later turned gold when his supporters donned Lakers hats. He drew huge cheers when he was NBA DRAFT WolvesselectTownsatNo.1 Kentuckycenterleads pack of young stars selected in New York By Lisa Leff and Olga Rodriguez The Associated Press SANFRANCISCO Baseball history will be made on a field of wist- ful dreams in Northern Califor- nia's wine country Thursday with the appearance of the sport's first openly gay active professional. Pitcher Sean Conroy, 23, is scheduled to take the mound in his first start for the Sonoma Stompers, a 22-man team that is part of the independent Pacific Association of Baseball Clubs. The Stompers recruited the up- state New York native out of col- lege in May. General Manager Theo Fightmaster says Conroy privately shared his sexual orien- tation with teammates and man- agement before agreeing to come out publicly in time for the team's home field gay pride night. "The first conversation I had with Sean was, 'I want you to know this organization supports you, we respect who you are. We respect who you are as a pitcher and a person and to whatever de- SONOMA STOMPERS History made with 1st openly gay player ATHLETICS6,RANGERS3 Up next: Kansas City Royals at Oakland Athletics, 7:05p.m. today, TV on CSN-CA. THESCORE By Jimmy Durkin Bay Area News Group ARLINGTON,TEXAS The Oakland A's are playing good baseball right now and on Thursday completed a three-game road sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 6-3 victory. It's Oakland's season-high fifth straight win. At 14-8 with five games left in June, the A's clinched their first winning month since last July's trade of Yoenis Cespedes. With the A's (34-41) playing their best ball of the year, their hope is the focus can continue to be simply on baseball when the Kansas City Royals come to town Friday. It will be the start of a 10- game homestand for Oakland. The A's trip to Kansas City in April was marred by cleared BASEBALL A's beat Texas to complete road sweep Tom Watson has accom- plished more in golf than most players ever will. The 65-year- old nearly pulled off a feat Thursday even he had never done: shoot his age in a major championship. U.S. SENIOR OPEN Watsonshoots66to take 1st-round lead FULL STORY ON PAGE B2 By Andrew Baggarly Bay Area News Group SAN FRANCISCO When the San Francisco Giants play one of these midweek day games, traffic is of- ten a consideration. Triples Alley was a total pileup Thursday af- ternoon. Brandon Belt raced around the bases with two triples, Matt Duffy hit one and Brandon Crawford smacked one off the arcade. It was a record-tying output, and all of them were needed as the Giants withstood a huge rally to take a 13-8 victory over the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park. "It's about speed, fellas," said Belt, as reporters crowded around his locker. "Seeing the ball going in the gaps is a good feeling. You hope to spark something and keep on going." When does that extra gear kick in? Between first and second, or second and third? "I don't know, it has a mind of its own," Belt said. "When I sniff a triple, I'm going to turn it on and use those long giraffe strides." The Giants hadn't scored more than seven runs in a home game this season. They ended up set- ting a season high for runs in a game while taking two of three from the Padres to capture their first home series since May 19-21. Incongruous as it might seem given the final score, Chris Hes- ton took a shutout into the sev- enth and won for the fifth time in seven starts as the Giants led 9-2 entering the eighth. But a seven-run lead nearly wasn't enough. The Padres scored six runs in the eighth inning, as they followed Matt Kemp's two- BASEBALL GIANTS' 4 TRIPLES OUTSCORE PADRES Belt hits two into Triples Alley, Duffy, Crawford also add 3-baggers in slugfest at AT&T Park The San Francisco Giants' Gregor Blanco (le ) is congratulated by Joe Panik a er Blanco scored against the San Diego Padres in the fourth inning Thursday in San Francisco. Blanco scored on a single by the Giants' Angel Pagan. PHOTOS BY BEN MARGOT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey follows through with an RBI single off the San Diego Padres' James Shields in the fi h inning Thursday in San Francisco. GIANTS 13, PADRES 8 Up next: Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants, 7:15p.m. today, TV on CSN-BA. THESCORE Online: For more stories on the San Francisco Giants visit the website REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/GIANTS. The Red Bluff Outlaw Karts racing season will get underway Friday, Sept. 25 with the 4th annual Race of Champions during the Tehama District Fair. The first race in the series will be Oct. 24. RACING Outlaw Karts season schedule announced The Redding Colt 45s start a 3-game series against the Humboldt Crabs at 7:15 tonight. Saturday's start will be 7:15p.m. and Sunday 6:15 p.m. All games at Tiger Field, next to the Redding Library. BASEBALL Colt 45s start weekend series with Crabs The Supreme Court sent a clear message Thursday that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is here to stay, rejecting a major challenge that would have imperiled the landmark law. HEALTH CARE LAW Affordable Care Act survives second fight FULL STORY ON PAGE B8 HISTORY PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 DRAFT PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, June 26, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1