Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/9568
Weekend MLB — Cardinals at Giants, Sat, 6 p.m., Sun, 1 p.m., CSNBA Sat — NBAPlayoffs — 11 a.m., TNT, 4 p.m., ESPN Sat — NHLPlayoffs — Sharks at Avalanche, 7 p.m., CSNCA Sun — NBAPlayoffs — 10 a.m., ABC, 4 p.m., TNT Sun — MLB— Indians at Athletics, 1 p.m., CSNCA Sun — NASCARAaron’s 499, 9 a.m., FOX-30 Sports 1B Weekend April 24-25, 2010 Strong D leads Spartans Tehama Tracker By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor Timely plays on defense helped lead the Spartans past Foothill 4-2, Fri- day, and further clouded the race atop the Eastern Athletic League standings. Not only did the win avenge Red Bluff’s loss at Foothill on March 23, but now the Spartans are the only EAL team with victories over both the Cougars and Pleasant Valley. “No one has established themselves yet,” coach Joe Gallaty said of the highly competitive EAL. “It’s a great environment, you gotta' bring it everyday. It’s a grind.” The Spartans knew they had to bring something special on Friday, with Foothill’s ace Andrew Millner on the mound. However it was Millner’s pitching counterpart, Red Bluff’s Scott Avery, that shined — and he did so not just with his arm, but his bat and legs. Avery led off the bottom of the sec- ond with a single to right field. Then stole second base. A batter later, Avery took off to swipe third base as well and the throw from the Foothill catcher got past third baseman Cody Ellenwood into left field. Avery trotted home to put himself and the Spartans up 1-0. On the mound Avery was solid, but got by with some help from his friends, including two big throws from Trevor Gipson, starting his first game of the season in left field. Foothill ran themselves into a dou- ble play in the second inning on a hit and run play where the ball was lined straight to Gipson in left field and he gunned it back to first base. Then in the third inning, Foothill’s aggressive base running cost them again when Dillon Provence tried to go first to third on a single in to left field. Gipson rifled in a rocket to relay man EJ Stanton, who gunned out Provence at third base. Red Bluff tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the third. Derek Jones opened the inning by doubling over the center fielder’s head. Stanton then singled and Cody Gappa drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. It appeared as if Millner was going to work his way out of the jam as he threw six straight strikes to set down the next two Spartan batters. But with Avery at the plate, Millner got behind in the count 3-0 and two pitches later the Red Bluff pitcher again gave himself some run support with an RBI single. Millner threw a wild pitch during error. Spartans softball Haley Harris and Emily McEnaney provided the offen- sive firepower and Megan McColpin kept the Foothill Lady Cougars in check, Friday, as Red Bluff won 5-3 to improve to 6-0 in the Eastern Athletic League. Harris went 4-for-4 with a double, scored twice and drove in Emily McEnaney for the other three runs. McEnaney had a 2-for-3 day at the plate and drew a walk. Bryce Etzler also had a RBI. Red Bluff jumped on the scoreboard early when McE- naney doubled to open the game. Later in the first inning, Harris drove her in, to start what would became a routine for the game. In the third inning, McEnaney walked. She was sacrificed over to second by McColpin and then again Harris drove her in, this time with a double. Harris also scored in the inning off of a Foothill infield In the fourth inning, McEnaney singled and this time with two-outs, Harris again delivered an RBI hit. Harris scored in the seventh inning after reaching on her fourth hit of the game. She took second base on a sacrifice and scored on an Etzler push bunt that was played with min- imal effort from the Foothill infield. Meanwhile McColpin went the distance on the mound, striking out four Foothill batters. “Megan threw a great game. She kept them off balance,” coach J Howell said. Red Bluff is 20-6 on the season, but are a perfect 6-0 as they near the midway point of the EAL season. “I like where we’re at, but I think we’re going to get bet- ter,” Howell said. “We’re not beating ourselves. If a team’s going to beat us, they’re going to have to do it themselves.” Cardinals baseball Corning held on for a 9-8 win over West Valley, Thurs- day. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Zane Medeiros closes the Spartans 4-2 win over Foothill. the next at-bat and Stanton scored to put Red Bluff up 3-0. Millner singled himself to open up Foothill’s fourth inning. Ellenwood then doubled to give the Cougars run- ners on second and third with no outs. Avery retired the next three batters, although he did throw one wild pitch, which scored Foothill’s first run of the game. The Spartans got an insurance run in the fifth inning when slugger Cody Gappa beat out a slow roller to third base. Gappa took second when a pickoff attempt went astray. Then took third on a wild pitch and scored on yet another wild pitch. Trailing 4-1 in the sixth inning, the Cougars loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batsman. Gallaty brought in Zane Medeiros from the bullpen with one out and the bases loaded. Foothill’s next hitter Brandon Erickson took a Medeiros pitch to deep center field that was misplayed, but with the Cougar runners holding on the fly ball only one run scored. Medeiros then induced a a 4-6-3 double play on a pinch-hitting Kevin Garges to get the Spartans out of trou- ble and still leading by two runs. Foothill brought up the top of their order in the seventh inning, but Medeiros made quick work of them to retire them in order to earn the save. “I like closing,” Medeiros said after- ward. “Everyone’s looking up to me to save their win.” Although he didn’t throw a com- plete game, it was another bulldog effort from Avery, who has seemed to save his best performances for the toughest competition. “He’s a competitor,” Gallaty said of Avery. “When he wants it, he’s really tough to beat.” So have been the Spartans this sea- son, especially at home, where they improved to 8-0 on the season. More importantly they kept pace in the battle for the Northern Section’s No. 1 seed and the prize that comes with that honor — home playoff games. Up next, Tuesday at Pleasnat Valley, with first place on the line. As usual, Lincecum rights the ship SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tim Lincecum struck out eight to win his initial four starts for the first time in his career, San Francisco scored runs on a pair of errors and a wild pitch, and the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Friday night to end a four-game losing streak. Lincecum (4-0) — the two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner — has established himself as San Francisco’s stopper, going 27-12 in 59 outings following Giants losses, including 3-0 this year. The Giants debuted their new orange jerseys for what’s become a tradition known as ‘‘Orange Friday.’’ Yadier Molina singled in St. Louis’ run in the sixth, but the Cardinals could do little else against Lincecum. In 2008, the hard-throwing righty start- ed 4-0 in his first five starts. With Lincecum on the mound and the bright new look, San Francisco got back on track to kick off a nine-game homestand on the heels of a disappointing 1-5 road trip. Nate Schier- holtz singled in a run for the Giants. The Cardinals (10-6) were off to an NL-best start, but now must win the next two games here to avoid dropping their first series of the season after capturing their initial five. Lincecum, now with a 1.00 ERA, was done once reaching 120 pitches in seven innings. He allowed Garcia (1-1) didn’t get much help from his sloppy defense — or the offense — in his first career appearance against the Giants. The lefty held the New York Mets hitless for five innings last Saturday and scoreless for seven, but the Cardinals lost 2-1 in 20 innings. This time, Garcia allowed four runs — two earned — on seven hits in six innings, struck out two and walked three. He also reached on an infield single in the fifth for his first major league hit. That had to put a smile on the face of first-year hit- ting coach Mark McGwire, who was thrilled to be back in the Bay Area where his career began. The slugger played 11 seasons for the Oakland Athletics, winning a World Series in 1989. McGwire signed auto- graphs in the dugout before the game. MNG photo Tim Lincecum walks back to the mound after issuing a walk, Friday night. six hits and walked three. Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless eighth and Brian Wilson finished for his third save in as many chances, striking out the side. Andres Torres led off with a double in the bottom of the first for San Francis- co, coming around to score when shortstop Brendan Ryan’s wild throw bounced into the stands. Mark DeRosa scored in the third on a fielding error by sec- ond baseman Skip Schu- maker, then Aubrey Huff came home on a wild pitch by Jaime Garcia in the fifth. San Francisco snapped a three-game skid against left-handed starters. NOTES: Giants SS Edgar Renteria was scratched after his trouble- some left shoulder began bothering him again. Juan Uribe moved to SS to replace him and Matt Downs was inserted to play 2B. ... Wilson has held opposing hitters to just two hits in 21 at-bats over his first six outings. ... The Giants drew 42,860 for their fourth sellout of the year. Daniel Mahutga homered and had a double. Marc Mason and Austin Grootveld each drove in two runs. Cody Fox and Caleb Johnson picked up RBIs and Tyler Price and Casey Cleland had doubles. Warriors baseball The Farmer brothers, Scott and Pat, each drove in three runs and Mercy opened up Tri-Cities League play with a 12- 4 victory over Liberty Christian, Thursday. Scott went 3-for-5 with a double and Pat was 3-for4 with a double. Cameron Vietti, Mitchell Lopez and Michael Uhalde each had three hits. Bulldogs baseball and softball The Los Molinos baseball team pounded Esparto 21-7 to improve to 6-6 on the season and 2-2 in the Mid-Valley League. Meanwhile the Lady Bulldogs softball team lost a wild 17-16 game to Esparto. Spartans soccer Red Bluff dropped a pair of games this week, a 1-0 loss at Foothill on Thursday and a 2-0 loss at University Prep on Tuesday. A’s pound Indians 10-0 OAKLAND (AP) — Kurt Suzuki homered for the second consecutive day and three Oak- land pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout as the Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 10-0 on Friday night. Justin Duchscherer pitched six scoreless innings to win for the second time in three starts and Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in two runs to snap out of a long batting slump with runners in scoring position to help Oakland win its second straight after a season-high three-game losing streak. At 11-7, the A’s have their best record after 18 games since going 12-6 in 1992. Oakland turned five double plays, one shy of the fran- chise record. Suzuki, whose three-run home run off Yankees ace CC Sabathia keyed Oakland’s 4-2 win over New York on Thurs- day, hit a two-run shot off Cleveland’s Jake Westbrook in the sixth inning. Suzuki also had two singles. Duchscherer (2-0) battled command problems most of the night and walked a season-high five batters but earned his second win in his last three starts thanks to Oakland’s defense which repeatedly bailed him out. Duchscherer walked at least one batter in each of the first four innings but the A’s turned four double plays behind the right-hander to shut down each threat. Duchscherer helped himself, too, when he picked off Shin-Soo Choo at first base in the sixth. Tyson Ross pitched two hitless innings and Brad Kilby worked the ninth to complete the five-hitter for Oakland and kept the Indians from breaking out of their early-season scoring slump. Cleveland, which went into the game having scored the second-fewest runs in the AL, stranded four runners against Oakland and was shutout for the second time in three games. Westbrook (0-2) pitched well early and was backed by a pair of double plays from Cleveland’s defense but took the loss after running into trouble in the sixth. The right-hander, who was limited to three minor league starts last season after undergoing reconstructive right elbow surgery in June 2008, gave up eight hits and four runs. Cleveland also committed three errors after having only seven in its first 15 games. The A’s scored their first run off Westbrook in the fourth. Daric Barton walked leading off and took third on Suzuki’s hit-and-run single, then Kouzmanoff followed with a two- out, RBI-single to center. The hit snapped the veteran third baseman out of a 1-for-17 slump with runners in scoring position. Barton doubled and scored again in the sixth on Ryan Sweeney’s single, then Suzuki followed with his second home run in as many games, a two-run blast to left-center that made it 4-0. Oakland batted around and scored six runs off Cleveland reliever Jamey Wright in the eighth. Rajai Davis delivered the biggest blow with a two-out, bases-loaded double that drove in three runs.