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ROSSD.FRANKLIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Texas Rangers' Jurickson Profar, right, dives safely back into first base as he beats the tag by San Francisco Giants' Kyle Blanks, le . ByAndrewBaggarly BayAreaNewsGroup SURPRISE, ARIZ. Kyle Blanks is 6-foot-6 when he slouches. His arms are long, tattooed and chis- eled, perhaps from climbing up beanstalks. He casts an intimidat- ing shadow when he walks off the bus or looms in the dugout. Yet Blanks isn't here to be a be- hemoth. He's here to be a baseball player. With the Giants, and with long overdue blessings of better health, he might get that chance. The bus and the dugout are well and good, but Blanks wants to be on the field and stay there. "My main focus is health," said Blanks, a 29-year-old nonroster in- vitee who tagged his second home run of the spring in Monday's ex- hibition loss to the Texas Rangers. "I'm confident that if I'm out there, I'll be able to contribute. ... My past medical history is like a book. So I literally try to feel as good as I can every day and put my best foot for- ward." That's a problem when both of your feet throb with each step. The foot problems last season wrecked a promising year in which Blanks clicked with the Texas Rangers' Triple-A hitting coach, Justin Mashore (brother of former A's player Damon Mashore), then hit three home runs in his first six games after the Rangers called him up April 29. Blanks ended up having two surgeries to shave down his heel bones and remove inflamed bursa sacs behind each of his Achilles tendons. So far this spring, he is feeling OK. "I have quite a regimen every day to get to that point and stay at that point," Blanks said. "I won't say I feel perfect every day. But I've got- ten to the point where I definitely feel good enough to go out there and put forward what I would call my best effort. "Then if you have to go home and put your feet in a bucket of ice, so be it." His whole body has been encased in ice at one time or another since Blanks debuted in 2009 with the San Diego Padres. A torn labrum GIANTS SF l ik es K yl e Bl an ks ' po we r By Arnie Stapleton The Associated Press ENGLEWOOD, COLO. Peyton Man- ning got through the weekend thanks to hundreds of texts and calls from men he played against or alongside over his unparalleled 18-year NFL career. He had to crack a few jokes to help fight back the tears at his re- tirementnewsconferenceMonday, whenthewordsdidn'talwayscome as easy as the emotions. His voice cracking, especially when he mentioned his hero, JohnnyUnitas,Manningsaidgood- bye to the game he loved in an au- ditoriumpackedwithfriends,fam- ily and laughter. Manning, who turns 40 this month, said the timing was simply right to call one last audible one month after winning his second Super Bowl trophy. "I thought about it a lot, prayed about it a lot ... it was just the right time,"Manningsaid."Idon'tthrow as good as I used to, don't run as good as I used to, but I have always had good timing." Manning came to Denver on March 20, 2012, for the chance to win another title in the twilight of his career. General manager John Elway had the blueprints. Fouryearslater,hehobblesaway a champion, just like his boss did 17 years ago. Manning is going golfing later thisweekwithbrothersCooperand Eli—whosetriptoDenverMonday morning was scuttled by a stom- ach bug. Manning plans to travel to In- dianapolis later this month for a lower-key goodbye, nothing like this one, and said he'll still partici- pate in his family's annual passing NFL Peyton Manning jokes, chokes up during retirement remarks Manning, who has been in the NFL for the past 18years, is retiring a er winning five MVP trophies and two Super Bowl championships, the most recent last month against the Carolina Panthers. PHOTOS BY DAVID ZALUBOWSKI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, center, joins head coach Gary Kubak, le , and team general manager John Elway for a photo a er Manning's retirement announcement at team headquarters Monday in Englewood, Colo. By John Hickey Bay Area News Group MESA,ARIZ. Ithadn'tbeenyears since Jesse Hahn last started a game. Just seemed like it. The A's had Hahn start Mon- day's 6-4 win over Kansas City, giving him two innings in which he walked one and gave up a two-run homer but was other- wise able to pitch the way he wanted — his arm free and lose, no pain in his elbow or fore- arm and the ball moving well through the strike zone. "It seemed like it was two or three years ago, although it was only nine months," Hahn said of his start. He was able to reach his stan- dard 95-mph with his fastball. The Mike Moustakas homer that cost him two runs came on a changeup that, "I shouldn't throw to him," Hahn said. Stephen Vogt caught Hahn as much as anybody last sea- son, but Monday he was the DH and could only watch as Josh Phegley did the catching. Even so, Vogt, who drove in four of Oakland's six runs with a pair of homers, took plenty of satis- faction from seeing what Hahn, whose last big league start was July 1, 2015, was able to do. "It was real good to see Jesse go out and be able to do that," Vogt said. "I'd faced him the other day in a simulated game, and it hadn't helped my confi- dence level any. He threw some changeups and when he has that and his big curve it will make him that much better." In an ideal world, the A's would have Hahn begin the sea- son as their No. 3 starter behind Sonny Gray and Rich Hill. Hahn was 6-6 with a 3.35 ERA in 2015, A'S Hahn lights up radar gun in first spring start By Brett Martel The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS Anthony Davis had 31 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans came back from a 17-point, sec- ond-half deficit to beat the Sac- ramento Kings 115-112 on Mon- day night. Norris Cole scored 23 and Jrue Holiday 20 for New Orleans, which snapped a four-game los- ing streak. Dante Cunningham added a clutch 3-pointer — just his 40th of the season — to give the Pelicans their first lead of the second half at 111-110 with 36 sec- onds left. DeMarcus Cousins had 40 points, 16 rebounds and four steals for the Kings, but also com- mitted five turnovers and missed the only two shots he attempted — both layups — in the final two minutes. Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo each scored 18 but Sacramento, which led by 10 with about 6 min- utes left but hurt itself with seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. Ryan Anderson scored 19 for New Orleans, which shot 50 per- cent (13 of 26) in the fourth quar- ter. Sacramento led 69-52 on Ben McLemore's free throws early in the third quarter, but Davis found his shooting rhythm, hitting 6 of 8 shots, including a 3, as part of a 17-point outburst in the period. His free throws cut the Kings' lead to 89-83 heading into the fourth quarter, and the Pelicans tied the game at 89 on Holiday's driving layup. Kings coach George Karl then called timeout and his team re- sponded, scoring the next eight points on Rondo's driving floater off the glass and two 3s by Marco Belinelli, who finished with 12 points. Rondo's 3 shortly after that pushed the Kings' lead back to 10 with 6:07 left, but the Peli- cans refused to fold. Davis' dunk of Holiday's missed layup pulled New Orleans to 110- 108, and the Pelicans had two chances to tie or lead, both times opting for 3-point shots from the corner by Cunningham, who scored just seven points all game to go with four steals and a spec- tacularblockonMcLemore'sdunk attempt. Cunningham missed the first, but made the second. Then Holiday hit a jumper from the top of the key to make it 113-110 with 12.8 seconds left. NBA Pe li can s use big ra ll y to beat Kings A'S PAGE 2 PEYTON PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 GERALD HERBERT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) slam dunks in the second half. SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, March 8, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1