Duvall delivers walk-off single in 10th as Braves overcome strong start by Skenes, beat Pirates 2-1

ATLANTA (AP) — Adam Duvall's single in the 10th inning drove in Luke Williams from second base and the Atlanta Braves overcame a strong start by Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes to beat the Pirates 2-1 on Saturday.

Duvall lined the single off Kyle Nicholas (0-2) to the wall in center field, bringing home Williams, who started the inning on second. Braves players charged out of the dugout to celebrate with Duvall, who began the day hitting only .165.

“We grind with each other,” Duvall sad. “They know it hasn't been going great for me. For them to show that kind of love for me at the end means a lot. I'm over the moon right now.”

Edward Olivares was tagged out at the plate when trying to score from third base on a wild pitch by Daysbel Hernández (2-0) in the top of the 10th. Olivares was initially ruled safe but the Braves challenged and a review showed Hernández caught the throw from Travis d’Arnaud and tagged Olivares before he reached the plate.

Skenes allowed one run on six hits in six innings and was typically dominant after giving up Jarred Kelenic's homer to open the game. Skenes struck out the side in the sixth, giving him nine for the game. He wasn't satisfied with his performance.

“Execution just wasn’t there,” Skenes said. "I had to grind through it. ... Just gotta keep battling. Gotta execute. Yeah, just execute from the first pitch.”

Braves manager Brian Snitker said Skenes and Braves left-hander Max Fried pitched through struggles.

“I’m nothing but impressed with the Skenes kid,” Snitker said. "He doesn’t look like a first-year guy to me. He’s got a lot of confidence.”

Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 25 games when he tripled off the right-field wall with two outs in the ninth. It is the longest streak in the majors this season and the Pirates' longest since Kenny Lofton's 26-game streak in 2003.

Raisel Iglesias ended the ninth on Olivares' grounder to the mound.

With two outs in the sixth and Ke'Bryan Hayes on second base following a single and stolen base, Duvall made a running catch at the wall in right field of Taylor's drive to end the inning.

The Pirates had runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth when Kelenic made a running catch of Yasmani Grandal’s drive at the wall in center field.

Fried allowed one run in six innings.

Pittsburgh's Aroldis Chapman recorded two strikeouts in the ninth to pass Billy Wagner for the most career strikeouts by a left-handed reliever. Chapman, 36, struck out d’Arnaud and pinch-hitter Sean Murphy, passing Wagner’s mark of 1,196 strikeouts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Oneil Cruz, hitting .167 for the last two weeks and .236 for the season, did not start with the left-handed Fried on the mound. Cruz has hit only .114 against left-handers. Jared Triolo made the fill-in start. Cruz struck out as a pinch hitter against right-hander Pierce Johnson in the seventh, with strike three called on a batter's infraction.

Braves: RHP Ian Anderson will start for Class-A Augusta on Sunday as he continues his comeback from Tommy John surgery. ... OF Ramón Laureano may be held out until Tuesday as he recovers from lower back soreness. He did not start for the third straight game.

UP NEXT

Braves RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (1-3, 5.40) will make his first start against Pittsburgh when the rookie faces LHP Bailey Falter (3-6, 4.00) in Sunday's game, scheduled for an unusual 11:35 a.m. first pitch for Roku TV. Falter's last win came against Atlanta on May 24.

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Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall (14) celebrates his game-winning RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall (14) celebrates his game-winning RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall (14) celebrates his game-winning RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales (39) kneels injured against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) delivers to Pittsburgh Pirates' Edward Olivares (38) in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) works from the mound against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Connor Joe (2) looks for a fould ball against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) works in the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) walks in the dugout in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves' Ozzie Albies (1) slides back to first base against Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Connor Joe (2) in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) wipes sweat in the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) walks in the dugout in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

An official checks the glove and hands of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen (22) sits in the dugout in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Yasmani Grandal (6) speaks with pitcher Paul Skenes (30) in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) deleivers against Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds (10) in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) works from the mound against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is going to pay for flights and offer other help to Panama to remove migrants under an agreement signed Monday, as the Central American country's new president has vowed to shut down the treacherous Darien Gap used by people traveling north to the United States.

The memorandum of understanding was signed during an official visit headed by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to Panama for the inauguration Monday of José Raúl Mulino, the country's new president.

The deal is “designed to jointly reduce the number of migrants being cruelly smuggled through the Darien, usually en route to the United States," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The efforts to send some migrants back to their homelands “will help deter irregular migration in the region and at our southern border, and halt the enrichment of malign smuggling networks that prey on vulnerable migrants,” she said.

“Irregular migration is a regional challenge that requires a regional response,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

Shortly after Mulino’s inauguration, the Panamanian government released a statement saying Mayorkas had signed an agreement with Panama’s Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Martínez-Acha in which the U.S. government committed to covering the cost of repatriation of migrants who enter Panama illegally through the Darien.

The agreement said the U.S. would support Panama with equipment, transportation and logistics to send migrants caught illegally entering Panama back to their countries, according to Panama.

Mulino, the country’s 65-year-old former security minister and new president, has promised to shut down migration through the jungle-clad and largely lawless border.

“I won’t allow Panama to be an open path for thousands of people who enter our country illegally, supported by an international organization related to drug trafficking and human trafficking,” Mulino said during his inauguration speech.

Under the terms of the agreement, U.S. Homeland Security teams on the ground in Panama would help the government there train personnel and build up its own expertise and ability to determine which migrants, under Panama's immigration laws, could be removed from the country, according to two senior administration officials.

They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to give details of the agreement that had not yet been made public.

For those migrants who are to be removed, the U.S. also would pay for charter flights or commercial airplane tickets for them to return to their home countries. The officials didn't specify how much money the U.S. would contribute overall to those flights or which countries the migrants would be removed to.

The officials said the U.S. would be giving assistance and expertise on how to conduct removals, including helping Panama officials screen migrants who might qualify for protections. But the U.S. is not deciding whom to deport, the officials said.

The program would be entirely under Panama's control, aligning with the country's immigration laws, and the decisions would be made by that government, the U.S. officials said. They added that Panama already has a repatriation program but that it's limited.

The agreement comes as Panama's Darien Gap has become a superhighway of sorts for migrants from across the Southern Hemisphere and beyond who are trying to make it to the United States. The Darien Gap connects Panama and Colombia to the south.

More than half a million people traversed the corridor last year and more than 190,000 people have crossed so far in 2024, with most of the migrants hailing from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and China.

The agreement comes as the Biden administration has been struggling to show voters during an election year that it has a handle on immigration and border security. Former President Donald Trump, who's made immigration a key election year issue, has starkly criticized Biden, saying he's responsible for the problems at the border.

In early June President Joe Biden announced a new measure to cut off access to asylum when the number of people arriving at the southern border reaches a certain number. Homeland Security officials have credited those restrictions with cutting the number of people encountered by Border Patrol by 40% since they were enacted.

The administration has also moved to allow certain U.S. citizens’ spouses without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country. The action by Biden, a Democrat, could affect upwards of half a million immigrants.

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Juan Zamorano in Panama City contributed to this report.

New Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino waves before giving a speech at his swearing-in ceremony at the Atlapa Convention Centre in Panama City, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)