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Wednesday Softball — Red Bluff at Pleasant Valley, 3 p.m. Track — Chico, Foothill at Red Bluff, 3 p.m. Track — Corning, Lassen at Yreka, 3:30 p.m. Track — Mid-Valley League at Biggs, 3:30 p.m. Golf — Los Molinos at Wilcox Sports 1B By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor It was a wind that gave every player the ability to bend it like Beckham — unless you were headed the other direction. Pleasant Valley made the most of their wind-aided 40-minute half Tues- day and breezed by the Lady Spartans 3-1. With the wind at their backs in the first half the Lady Vikings dominated play in the first 40 minutes and picked up two goals. The first was an odd deflection in the 15th minute, that even on a calm day would have spelled trouble for any goalkeeper. The second was a beautiful bent ball in from 40 yards out in the 25th minute. Red Bluff was barely able to get the ball past midfield in the first half, with the wind wrecking havoc on their clearance attempts. Before the Lady Spartans could take advantage of their half with the wind, the Vikings added a third goal at the start of the second. Red Bluff fared better during the final 40 minutes and scored their third goal of the season from a free kick won 25 yards out of net. Jessica Rabalais sent the free kick up and down, just over the outstretched fingertips of the Pleasant Valley keeper. Red Bluff goalie Jaklyn Wheeler made several nice saves throughout the game to keep Pleasant Valley to just three goals. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Pat Burrell and Reid Brignac homered Tuesday night, helping the Tampa Bay Rays match a club record for wins in April with an 8-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics. The AL East leaders improved baseball’s best record to 15-5. The vic- tory total equals the number they had in the opening month two years ago, when they made a surprising run to the World Series. ALAMEDA (AP) — As JaMarcus Russell struggled through the worst statistical season for an NFL quarter- back in more than a decade, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis preached patience. It appears that even Davis may have finally given up on his young quarterback. With last weekend’s trade for Jason Campbell, the Raiders seem ready to close the door on the exorbitantly expen- sive and unproductive Rus- sell era in Oakland. The only remaining ques- tion looks to be if they cut ties with the former No. 1 overall pick before this weekend’s mandatory mini- camp begins, wait until train- ing camp, drag it out until final roster cuts or even keep Russell on the roster for another season as a backup. But his days as a starter are likely over. After acquiring Campbell over the weekend from Washington for a 2012 fourth-round draft pick, coach Tom Cable didn’t want to get into what the future held for Russell. Cable said he expected Rus- sell to be at minicamp Fri- day. ‘‘There will be some decisions to be made here in the next month or so, what- ever that is,’’ Cable said. ‘‘We’ll just leave it at that until we get through some of those decisions. Right now we felt like adding Jason to this football team was very important.’’ The Raiders showed their confidence in Campbell by extending his contract through 2011, giving him a $4.5 million deal that season on top of the $3.14 million he is owed this season. If the Raiders do cut ties with Russell as expected, it will be an especially difficult decision for Davis. Davis believed Russell was the big- armed franchise quarterback Daily News photo by Rich Greene Rachel Ward goes up to win a 50-50 ball for Red Bluff. A’s run into red-hot Devil Rays, lose 8-6 Burrell’s three-run homer off Ben Sheets (1-2) snapped a 4-4 tie in the third inning. Brignac’s solo shot leading off the bottom of the fourth gave right-hander Wade Davis (2-1) an 8-4 lead. The Rays have won 12 of 14 and are off to the best start in the team’s 13-season history. Nevertheless, atten- dance for the opener of a two-game series against another first-place team drew an announced crowd of 10,825 to Tropicana Field. Davis weathered a shaky five innings to win his second straight deci- he had been seeking to lead his team back to the Super Bowl when he took him first overall in 2007. Davis made it clear when he fired Lane Kiffin in 2008 that drafting Russell was his idea, despite Kiffin’s protests. ‘‘He is a great player. Get over it and coach this team on the field,’’ Davis read from a letter he sent Kiffin before the firing. ‘‘That is what you were hired to do. We can win with this team.’’ But the Raiders were unable to win with Russell at the helm and Davis allowed Cable to bench Russell mid- way through last season. The move was popular in the locker room and gave the team a spark on the field as Bruce Gradkowski led comeback wins over Cincin- nati and Pittsburgh. Davis was not satisfied with Grad- kowski as his standard bear- er and the Raiders were linked to possible offseason deals for Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger. While the Raiders down- played how serious those talks ever got, they did make the move for another quar- terback when they acquired Campbell from Washington. A former first-round pick in 2005, Campbell was unwanted in Washington after new coach Mike Shanahan acquired McN- abb. Campbell started 52 games for Washington since being drafted. He has thrown for 55 touchdowns, 38 inter- ceptions and has a passer rat- ing of 82.3 in his career despite playing in three dif- ferent offenses in five sea- sons. ‘‘He’s a guy in need of a fresh start himself,’’ Cable said. ‘‘He’s proven that he can do some things and have some success in the NFL. We’re all familiar enough with Jason to know that sion. He gave up a three-run homer to Cliff Pennington, who had four hits and four RBI’s — both career highs — for the A’s. Pennington’s RBI double off Lance Cormier trimmed Oakland’s deficit to 8-5 in the sixth. Adam Rosales drove in a run with his career-best fourth hit — making it 8-6 in the eighth — however the A’s stranded the potential tying runs in scoring position when Daric Barton struck out. Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth for Tampa Bay, earning his fifth save in five opportunities. Raiders finally lose patience with Russell Wednesday April 28, 2010 Vikings, wind too much Fall soccer sign-ups May 8 With a desire to let every child have the opportunity to play soccer, the Red Bluff Youth Soccer League are offering lower soccer fees for the fall season. Parents can save $5 if they take advantage of a May 8 sign-up being held at Round Table Pizza from 1 to 5 p.m. The discount will be for the May 8 sign-up only. Mail-in registrations will also be accepted from May 1 to June 30. After June 30 registrations will incur a $10 late fee. For more information, fees and a mail-in registration form visit www.rbysl.org or call 529-BALL. Tehama Tracker Warriors baseball Mercy is off to a 3-0 start in the Tri-Cities League fol- lowing a 7-2 win over University Prep on Monday and a 15- 3 mercy-rule win over Redding Christian, Tuesday. In Tuesday’s game, Dylan Thomas, Scott Farmer and Pat Farmer each drove in three runs and Michael Uhalde, Sam Kellar and Cameron Vietti also had RBIs. Pat Farmer allowed just two hits in five innings. Against University Prep, Pat Farmer drove in five runs and homered. On the mound, Vietti struck out 14 batters in five innings. Warriors softball Mercy stayed unbeaten in league play with a 6-4 win over Redding Christia, Tuesday. Natasha Czajka pitched out of some jams and struck out 15 batters. Mercy trailed 2-0 after two innings, but the Lady War- riors got one run back in the third inning when Benicia Grace hit an RBI fielder’s choice to drive in Diana Van Ert. Mercy then followed that inning up with four runs in the fourth from singles by Gaby Reynoza, Maggie Keller, Cza- jka and Van Ert, who finished the day 3-for-4. Grace drove in three runs and Keller a pair. Spartans golf Red Bluff still leads the Eastern Athletic League boys golf standings after pulling together a tremendous Back 9, Monday in Palo Cedro. Red Bluff shot a 195 on the final nine holes to earn seven league points after finishing fourth on the Front 9. Pleasant Valley took the Front 9 and tied with Chico for second on the back. Red Bluff leads the Vikings 36-32.5 in the season points race with two matches remaining. Daniel Frantz shot a 75 for Red Bluff and Bryan Benton and Drew Wagner were close behind with 78s each. Peter Mitzel shot an 86. Wagner leads the EAL individual race after three league meets. Wagner is in seventh place. A’s struggle with attendance ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Oakland Athlet- ics’ quick start has not translated into big crowds. ‘‘Just from a players’ perspective, it’s tough to play in front of an empty stadium,’’ Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler said before the Athletics played at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. ‘‘We’re starting the game and there’s maybe four, five thousand people in the stands. It’s frustrating.’’ The AL West-leading A’s have an announced average attendance of 17,641 through 14 home games this season. The economy, last season’s record of 75-87 and fan unhappiness about the potential relocation of the franchise from Oakland all could be factors. ‘‘I’ve heard about some of our fans boycotting our games because of the team threatening to move to another city,’’ Ziegler said. ‘‘I know there’s online websites, boycott the move. We can’t sell out opening day. It makes you wonder if there’s something to that. I understand their frustration, especially the die-hard fans. They don’t want the team to move. I totally get the fans’ side of it.’’ Ziegler is hopeful the team’s strong start eventually impacts attendance. MCT file photo JaMarcus Russell chats with Jason Campbell following a game. we’re getting a guy who has proven he can play in the NFL.’’ All Russell has proven in his three seasons is that he will supplant Ryan Leaf as the NFL’s biggest draft bust in history. If the Raiders cut Russell before the start of the season, he will have been paid $39.45 million in three seasons. Russell won only seven of his 25 starts as the Raiders extended an NFL- worst streak to seven straight seasons with at least 11 loss- es. He has completed just 52.1 percent of his passes in his career with 18 touch- downs, 23 interceptions, 15 lost fumbles and a passer rat- ing of 65.2. That means Russell has been paid more than $5 mil- lion per win, more than $2 million per touchdown pass and more than $100,000 per completion. While Russell’s numbers are superior to Leaf’s, he was paid consid- erably more money to do it and was picked first instead of second. Leaf’s rookie contract guaranteed him only $11.25 million. Russell’s tenure in Oak- land got off to a rough start and never got much better. He held out his first season, not signing a contract until after the first game of the regular season. That made his rookie season almost a complete loss, as he started only one game. He showed some signs of progress in his second season, especially in winning the final two games of the year against Houston and Tampa Bay. But the problems of work ethic and his weight never disappeared and his third season was an utter disaster. He was fined for being overweight when he showed up at training camp. He then put together one of the worst seasons in recent memory for an NFL quarterback. He completed 48.8 percent of his passes, with three touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 50.0 passer rating that was the lowest since Leaf, Bobby Hoying and Craig Whelihan all finished below 50 in 1998. Scoreboard MLB American League Tuesday’s results Tampa Bay 8, Oakland 6 Baltimore 5, New York 4 Boston 2, Toronto 1 Minnesota 2, Detroit 0 Seattle 3, Kansas City 2 Texas 4, Chicago 2 Cleveland at Los Angeles, late Today’s games Oakland (Braden 3-0) at T.B. (J.Shields 2-0), 4:10 p.m.,CSNCA Seattle (Rowland-Smith 0-1) at Kansas City (Meche 0-2), 11:10 a.m. Cleveland (Westbrook 0-2) at Los Angeles (E.Santana 1-2), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (S.Baker 2-2) at Detroit (Scherzer 1-1), 4:05 p.m., ESPN New York (Sabathia 2-1) at Baltimore (Guthrie 0-2), 4:05 p.m. Boston (Lester 0-2) at Toronto (Cecil 1-0), 4:07 p.m. Chicago (Peavy 0-1) at Texas (Harden 0-1), 5:05 p.m. Monday’s late result L.A. Angels 5, Cleveland 2 National League Tuesday’s results Philadelphia at San Francisco, late Cincinnati 6, Houston 2 Colorado 12, Arizona 1 New York 4, Los Angeles 0, 1st game New York 10, Los Angeles 5, 2nd game Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 3 San Diego 4, Florida 1 St. Louis 5, Atlanta 4 Washington 3, Chicago 1 Today’s games Philadelphia (Hamels 2-2) at Giants (Lincecum 4-0),12:45 p.m.,CSNBA San Diego (Correia 3-1) at Florida (N.Robertson 2-1), 9:10 a.m. Los Angeles (Towers 0-0) at New York (Maine 0-1), 10:10 a.m. Pittsburgh (Maholm 1-2) at Milwaukee (Narveson 1-0), 10:10 a.m. Washington (Atilano 1-0) at Chicago (Dempster 2-0), 11:20 a.m. Arizona (Benson 1-1) at NBA First Round Best-of-7 Monday’s late result Phoenix 107, Portland 88 Phoenix leads series 3-2 Tuesday’s results Boston 96, Miami 86 Boston wins series 4-1 Cleveland 96, Chicago 94 Cleveland wins series 4-1 Dallas 103, San Antonio 81 San Antonio leads series 3-2 Oklahoma City at L.A. Lakers, late Series tied 2-2 Today’s games Milwaukee at Atlanta, 5 p.m., TNT Series tied 2-2 Utah at Denver, 7:30 p.m., TNT Utah leads series 3-1 Other series Orlando won series 4-0 over Charlotte NHL First Round Best-of-7 Tuesday’s result Detroit 6, Phoenix 1 Detroit wins series 4-3 Today’s game Montreal at Washington, 4 p.m., VERSUS Series tied 3-3 Other series San Jose won series 4-2 over Colorado Boston won series 4-2 over Buffalo Chicago won series 4-2 over Nashville Philadelphia won series 4-1 over New Jersey Pittsburgh won series 4-2 over Ottawa Vancouver won series 4-2 over Los Angeles Colorado (G.Smith 1-2), 12:10 p.m. Cincinnati (Leake 1-0) at Houston (F.Paulino 0-2), 5:05 p.m. Atlanta (Kawakami 0-3) at St. Louis (J.Garcia 1-1), 5:15 p.m. Monday’s late result San Francisco 5, Philadelphia 1