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ByDanielBrown BayAreaNewsGroup CINCINNATI See if this conjures an image: A former gridiron star switches to baseball, gets frus- trated after striking out and breaks a bat over his knee. Sure, Bo Jackson did it once. Jeff Samardzija did it Tuesday night. And no, pitchers usu- ally don't get so worked up over striking out — especially when they are poised to set a personal benchmark. Samardzija dominated the Reds for eight innings to win a third consecutive start for the first time in his career. An infield squibber from Kelby Tomlinson snapped a tie in the eighth, Sa- mardzija snapped something else, and the Giants took a 3-1 victory at Great American Ball Park. Samardzija (4-1) struck out nine while yielding only a home run to former Giant Adam Du- vall, and left just three outs for his bullpen, which Santiago Casilla nailed down for his sixth save. The Reds close their eyes at night and dream of having some- one like Samardzija in their rota- tion. The sooner the bullpen gate opens for them, the worse it gets. Although the Giants went ahead on a pillow-soft hit, Tom- linson's snort against Caleb Co- tham marked the 21st consecutive game in which the Reds bullpen was scored upon — setting a mod- ern major league record their re- lievers had shared with the 2013 Rockies. The Giants had to cram for an unfamiliar starting pitcher, as the Reds activated left-hander John Lamb and started him in BASEBALL Samardzija dom in at es to win 3rd start in row Pitches eight innings as Giants defeat Reds 3-1 GARYLANDERS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija throws against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday in Cincinnati. Staff Report COLUSA The Sacramento Valley League individual singles and doubles finals were held on Mon- day at Colusa High School and Mercy High School junior Connor Rooney defeated Victor Jauregui of Willows 6-1, 6-0 in the cham- pionship singles match. Rooney had won the title as a freshman in 2014. In his sopho- more year, he became ill days be- fore the finals and was not able to compete. The road to victory this year included a very tough semifinal match win over Colusa's No. 1, Will Kalisuch, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1. The other singles semifinal match had Jauregui defeating top seed Jacob Olson of Univer- sity Prep by a score of 6-1, 6-3. In doubles semifinal action, Jauregui and Edgar Ruiz of Wil- lows beat Martin Franco and John Danley, also of Willows, by a score of 6-1, 6-3. The other dou- bles semifinal was Kalisuch and Teddy Villancourt of Colusa de- feating Hector Ramirez and Julio Palacios of Willows 7-5, 4-6, 7-5. In an extremely close doubles championship match, it was Ka- lisuch and Villancourt defeating Jauregui and Ruiz by a score of 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5). The NSCIF finals will start at 9 a.m. Saturday on the Foothill High School courts in Palo Cedro. TENNIS Mercy High's Rooney earns singles crown at SVL finals WARRIORSLEAD1-0 Up next: Game 2Tuesday night; Game 3, Warriors at Portland, 5:30p.m. Satur- day, TV on ABC. TUNEIN By Rob Harris The Associated Press LEICESTER,ENGLAND There are certain pitfalls to being a club's first title-winning side. Leicester City's once-unheralded players discovered Tuesday that going for a pizza is no longer so easy once you're a Premier League champion. Once word spread the squad was celebrating at an Italian restaurant, hundreds of fans crowded into the central shop- ping district to provide a hero's welcome for English soccer's most improbable champions. Leaving the San Carlo restau- rant was even harder as the en- trance was besieged by support- ers desperate to catch a glimpse of the team that defied soccer logic by accomplishing one of the greatest turnarounds in sports history. The Foxes had just survived the serious threat of relegation last year when they were made 5,000-1 outsiders for the title in August. Nine months later, British bookmakers are making multi-million pound payouts to those Leicester fans who bet on their team out of loyalty rather than expectation of glory. "It is safe to say I never thought I would be in this posi- tion now," captain Wes Morgan said. "The journey we've been on is fantastic. It's an achieve- ment that might not be achieved again." No wonder the 32-year-old Morgan and his teammates are savoring every minute of it. Few players would be happy trudg- PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER Partying, training and more for Leicester Leicester City clinches EPL championship at 5,000-1 odds for first title in 132-year history JONATHAN BRADY — PA Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, right, arrives at San Carlo Pizzeria for a celebratory lunch in Leicester, England, on Tuesday. Leicester clinched the most improbable title of the Premier League era when second-place Tottenham was held to a 2-2draw at Chelsea on Monday night. By Janie McCauley The Associated Press OAKLAND Golden State backup big man Anderson Varejao insists he didn't deliberately trip Trail Blazers guard Gerald Henderson in Game 1 of their Western Con- ference semifinal playoff series. Yet after watching the replay, he understands it sure looked like he did it on purpose — which is what Henderson thought. Varejao said it looked worse than it was. "When I looked at the play, I was like, 'Oh, it looked like I was trying to do that,'" he said. "How can I try to do something like that? I'm going down and my foot got stuck. That's all." Portland coach Terry Stotts on Monday called it a "dirty play." Then Tuesday, the NBA ruled it a Flagrant 1 foul on Varejao. Game 2 of the best-of-seven se- ries was set for Tuesday night at Oracle Arena, and both players involved seemed to be ready to move forward. The 33-year-old Varejao, a 12th- year NBA veteran from Brazil, said in response to Stotts that he isn't a dirty player. "It's a playoff game, we all know it's going to be like that. I don't know exactly what he's talk- ing about. I just thought it was a physical play," Varejao said after the morning shootaround. "Got hit in my back, I was going down, my feet got stuck somewhere and all of a sudden, someone else fell. I'm sorry that that happened. Do you think I'm looking for guys to take them out? No. I know how it is to be hurt. I've been hurt enough. "I would never try to hurt any- body, I would never do that." He and Henderson were ejected late in the third quarter of Sun- day's game after receiving their second technical fouls. Both were hit with a technical at the 3:29 mark of the third when Varejao tripped Henderson after they collided. Henderson jumped up, pointing a finger at his opponent's face. They kept jawing a few min- utes later and were tossed with 15.1 seconds left in the period. Stotts was still steamed about it a day later. "Varejao made a dirty play. It was a leg-whip and I thought it was a dangerous play," he said. "I thought Gerald's reaction to be- ing tripped like that was appro- priate. Otherwise, no one would have seen it. It was unfortunate that he got tossed on the second, but you have to defend yourself — especially when somebody makes a dirty play." Henderson said after the game that he believed Varejao thought the Blazers guard ran into him on purpose. "I hit him. I bumped him good. But I didn't, I wasn't trying to hit him," Henderson said, calling it "a little excessive" to have Vare- jao go at his legs. NBA PLAYOFFS Warriors'Varejaosays tripwasunintentional Golden State big man got foot stuck in play with Trail Blazers' Henderson JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Referee John Goble (30) separates Portland Trail Blazers guard Gerald Henderson, le , and Golden State Warriors forward Anderson Varejao during the second half in Game 1of a second-round playoff series in Oakland on Sunday. The Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard, bottom le , drives to the basket as the Golden State Warriors' Anderson Varejao (18) defends during Game 1of a second-round playoff series Sunday in Oakland. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SOCCER PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, May 4, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1