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CHRISPEDOTA—NORTHJERSEY.COM Jordan Spieth lines up a putt during the first round of The Barclays on Thursday in Edison, N.J. ByDougFerguson TheAssociatedPress EDISON, N.J. ThestartoftheFe- dEx Cup playoffs brought out the worst score from Jordan Spieth in three months. In his first tournament as No. 1 in the world, Spieth had a pair of three-putt bogeys, hit a tee shot in the water, shot 40 on his back nine and wound up with a 4-over 74 in the opening round of The Barclays. It was his highest score since a 75 in The Players Cham- pionship, the last time he missed a cut. "Just lost a little bit of focus," Spieth said. "All in all, I'm just go- ing to take today as a fluke round. I still believe I'm playing well. It just happened to be an off day on a day where it counted." Bubba Watson and Tony Finau powered their way around Plain- field Country Club and each had a 5-under 65. They were in a four- way tie for the lead that included Spencer Levin and Camilo Ville- gas, players who are in dire need of a good week. Villegas only got into the top 125 to qualify for the playoffs THE BARCLAYS Spiethstumblesoutthegate Watson,Finau,LevinandVillegasallshoot 5-under 65s to share a four-way tie for lead "Last week was an important week. It hasn't been the best of years, and just to be able to sneak in here and give myself a chance ... I get off to a good start, and three more rounds to go and keep it going." – Camilo Villegas, ranked No. 123 By Carl Steward Bay Area News Group SAN FRANCISCO Madison Bumgarner allowed just two hits over six innings and struck out 12 while Marlon Byrd slammed a three-run fourth-inning home run as the Giants beat the Chi- cago Cubs 9-1 Thursday at AT&T Park. Bumgarner (16-6) won his fifth straight start and completed Au- gust 5-0 with a 1.43 ERA, allow- ing just six earned runs includ- ing just four walks and 53 strike- outs. His 16th win tied Cubs' right-hander Jake Arrieta for the major-league lead in victories. Bumgarner struck out the side in the first inning to start his day, but did give up the first run of the game in the second inning when the Cubs' Anthony Rizzo opened with a single and scored on Starlin Castro's double down the left field line. But Bumgarner did not allow a hit after that, and reached double-figure strikeouts for the sixth time this season. He walked two and retired 13 of the last 14 men he faced. The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the second with a two-out rally when Kelby Tom- linson singled and Juan Perez doubled to deep center. They then added four more against Chicago starter Dan Haren (8-9) in the third. Nori Aoki opened the big in- ning with a walk. He stole sec- ond, advanced to third on catch- er's Kyle Schwarber's throwing error and scored on Matt Duffy's single up the middle against a drawn-in infield. Brandon Belt walked, and after a Buster Posey flyout, Byrd launched his 21st homer — and second with the Gi- ants — over the center field fence on a 2-0 pitch. Rookie Kelby Tomlinson pad- ded the scoring with his first ma- jor-league home run in the eighth inning, and it was a big one — a grand slam to left field against Cubs left-hander James Russell. Bumgarner, Byrd lead SF to win SF wins behind HRs and stellar pitching from ace The Los Molinos Bulldogs football team will open its season at 7p.m. tonight at Big Valley in Bieber. The home opener is set for Sept. 11against Redding Christian. FOOTBALL LosMolinosBulldogs set to open on the road The Mercy High School Warriors football team will open its season Saturday night in Palo Cedro against Redding Christian. The home opener is set for 1p.m. Sept. 12against Hayfork. FOOTBALL Mercy High Warriors to open season Saturday By Heather Hoelscher hhoelscher@redbluffdailynews.com DN_Heather on Twitter RED BLUFF The West Valley High School varsity volleyball team, the Eagles, took the win Wednesday against the Red Bluff High School Spartans in the first match of the regular season with each set scoring at 26-24, 25-14 and 25-22, with an overall score of 3-0, at Red Bluff High School. Kennedy Somavia and Lo- gan Wheeler were among the top scorers and assist makers for the Spartans, with a com- bined 30 assists. "This is a very talented group, both the offense and de- fense," Head Coach Kelli Mus- taine said. "They are a great group of girls." Mustaine said the game went well despite the loss and she will be working with the girls in the two weeks lead- ing up to the next game to im- prove their defensive plays. The team hustled for each play and worked hard to keep the scores tight. In the first set of the match theSpartanskeptthescoreclose andscoredthefirstpointbutthe set went to the Eagles. The sec- ond set did not stay close. The Spartans kept their spirits up and fought to keep the match goingbywinningthelastsetbut fell short by 3 points. "We were neck and neck for two of the three matches, the turning point was our defense not being in the right spots," Mustaine said. "We have a few things to work on, block de- fense and back row defense will be the focus of practice this next couple weeks." The next game is against An- derson High School and will be held at Red Bluff High School at 7 p.m. Sept. 9. "In practice we need the time to get together a couple times a day to get in gear for the sea- son," Mustaine said. HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL Spartanvolleyball falls3-0toEagles HEATHER HOELSCHER - DAILY NEWS Christina Zumalt, middle blocker, spikes the ball Wednesday in the first Red Bluff Spartans varsity volleyball match of the season. Red Bluff High School Spartans come up short in season opener GIANTS JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco Giants' Nori Aoki, le , is tagged by Chicago Cubs catcher Kyle Schwarber on Thursday in San Francisco. The 49ers haven't lost Ahmad Brooks, at least not yet. But one day a er the linebacker was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery, his teammates sounded as though they've moved on. 49ERS As Brooks awaits fate, other players move on FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 Mixed opinions have followed Oakland Raiders' second- round pick Mario Edwards Jr. around. He atop-rated recruit in the country out of high school, a five-star prospect from Texas with offers galore. RAIDERS Edwards Jr. making progress on defense FULL STORY ON PAGE B2 GOLF PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, August 28, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1