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ByPeterOrsi TheAssociatedPress HAVANA In a landmark game attended by presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cuban national team 4-1 Tuesday in the first visit by a major league team to the communist island since 1999. James Loney homered and drove in three runs, and Matt Moore and the Tampa Bay pitch- ers shut out the Cubans un- til Rudy Reyes homered in the ninth inning. But the game will be remem- bered less for the final score than for the two men sitting in the front row at Estadio Latino- americano. The near-capacity crowd roared as Obama and Castro en- tered and walked toward their seats right behind home plate, waving to fans and greeting other dignitaries. Chants of "Raul! Raul!" broke out. As the two countries try to heal more than 50 years of Cold War animosity, Obama and Cas- tro sitting side-by-side was a re- markable sight. Obama wore a white shirt and sunglasses, Cas- tro more formal in a blazer. The presidents took part when the fans tried to get "the wave" going early. Obama later signaled safe when Kevin Kier- maier safely slid home for the first run, then shook hands with Castro. This was the first time since the Baltimore Orioles came 17 years ago during spring train- ing that a big league club played in Cuba. BASEBALL Rays top Cuban national team in Havana With Obama, Castro watching, Tampa Bay is first MLB team to visit Cuba since 1999 PABLOMARTINEZMONSIVAIS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS President Barack Obama talks with Cuban President Raul Castro at an exhibition baseball game Tuesday in Havana. By Janie McCauley The Associated Press OAKLAND Big man Marreese Speights is thrilled he has Steve Kerr's blessing to let it fly from long range whenever he has a good look. "It's great, especially if I'm wide open I'm going to shoot it every time I get the opportunity to," Speights said. "So it's good to have the green light from the 3-point line when you're open." Kerr trusts his role players to bring the energy when Ste- phen Curry and Co. sit down for a breather or even for good late in games with Golden State way ahead. They're a determined bunch of backups. Speights might even earn himself "Splash Cousin" status from Curry, and that's one enor- mous compliment for a 6-foot-10 center coming from the NBA's reigning MVP who could be headed for a second such honor soon. "He's auditioning for that Splash Cousin maybe," Curry said. Curry and fellow star Klay Thompson are known as the Splash Brothers for their 3-point precision. Speights and the rest of the reserves on the defending cham- pions hang with some of the top teams in the NBA, taking im- mense pressure off Curry and the starters — and that second unit will be relied upon down the stretch and in the playoffs as the Warriors (63-7) chase the Chicago Bulls' record of 72 wins and another championship. "We really take that seriously, especially if the game's going a little slow, we know we can come in and give our team a spark with the second unit," Speights said. "We make sure we come in there and we're going to give a lot of energy, play defense and make some shots." Popular forward James Mi- chael McAdoo even earned him- self the first start of his career in Monday night's 109-104 win at Minnesota. Even with Finals MVP Andre Iguodala sidelined by an ankle injury, the bench pushed for- ward and hasn't missed a beat. "You always want to have these games if you can where everybody plays, everybody scores, everybody goes home feeling good," Kerr said. "We talk about it all the time. It's re- ally the strength of our team, NBA Warriorsbackupspull weightandthensome Golden State's depth has become huge part of team's record success past 2 years PHOTOS BY JIM MONE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Golden State Warriors' James Michael McAdoo, le , causes the Minnesota Timberwolves' Ricky Rubio to lose the ball in the first quarter Monday in Minneapolis. The Golden State Warriors' Leandro Barbosa goes airborne in the second half Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis. The Warriors won 109-104. Wednesday: Los Angeles Clip- pers at Golden State Warriors, 7:30p.m., TV on ESPN, CSNBA. TUNEIN By John Hickey Bay Area News Group TEMPE, ARIZ. Stephen Vogt has been given the chance to bring his surgically repaired elbow on at its own pace. He'd just like to pick up the pace some. "My arm has me a little frus- trated," the veteran catcher said. "Everybody says its fine, but it's not where I want it to be. It's me being picky." Vogt is mostly getting behind the plate every other day, but he did have back-to-back starts last week and "my arm felt better in the second game than it has all year. Basically I think I'm real close. It could click any time." Vogt had a tie-breaking single that gave the Oakland A's a 5-4 lead in the seventh against the Angels on Tuesday, but the lead didn't last. Minor league pitchers Corey Walter and Seth Frankoff combined to walk four men in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 An- gels win. Notes • Danny Valencia is on one of those streaks hitters can't get enough of. He's homered in five of his last seven games, includ- SPRING TRAINING A's Vogt 'a little frustrated' with elbow Catcher felt better last week than he has all year JOSIE LEPE — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP FILE The Oakland Athletics' Stephen Vogt says he is close to fully returning from surgery on his throwing elbow. PATRICK TEHAN—BAY AREA NEWS GROUP FILE San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has the team's permission to pursue a trade. By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group General manager Trent Baalke officially acknowledged Tuesday that the San Francisco 49ers are allowing Colin Kaepernick to seek a trade but that no deal is immi- nent. Kaepernick, after being benched at midseason last year, requested permission through his agents last month to scour the market for possible suitors. "We're nowhere near getting anything done at this point," Baalke told Comcast SportsNet Bay Area's Matt Maiocco at the NFL owners meetings in Boca Ra- ton, Fla. Baalke confirmed that he and Kaepernick's representatives at XAM Sports have had discussions with teams. The Denver Bron- cos, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets are the three most likely trade partners, though none have expressed any urgency in trad- ing for Kaepernick, who started 47 straight games upon replac- ing Alex Smith during the 2012 season. "What we told (Kaepernick's agents) was that they were open to exploring options," Baalke NFL Kaepernick is a ll ow ed t o seek trade by 49 er s' b ra ss WARRIORS PAGE 2 CUBA PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 23, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1