Manaea strikes out 11 in mound gem that sends Mets past Twins 2-0

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Manaea struck out a season-best 11 over seven dominant innings Tuesday night, pitching the New York Mets to a 2-0 victory against the Minnesota Twins.

Mark Vientos homered and J.D. Martinez had an RBI single to help the Mets (57-50) win for the 15th time in 21 games. They matched their season high at seven games above .500, hours after the front office concluded a busy month by acquiring pitchers Paul Blackburn, Huascar Brazobán and Tyler Zuber at the trade deadline.

“They believe in this team and I think everybody in here does, too,” Manaea said.

Twelve players on the Mets’ 26-man roster Tuesday didn’t begin the season with the club. New York was 22-33 through May 29 but has gone 35-17 since to climb into the second wild-card spot in the National League.

“We’re excited to continue to add to the team,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We feel good with what we have in that room and ready to go.”

Manaea (7-4) yielded two hits and one walk while allowing just one runner beyond first base. The 11 strikeouts were his most since fanning 12 for San Diego against Atlanta in May 2022.

“It was pretty impressive — a complete outing from him,” Mendoza said.

The left-hander has a 1.50 ERA in his last four starts at Citi Field.

“It feels great. You can feel the energy of the crowd,” Manaea said. “That’s incredible, every day playing here.”

Ryne Stanek got two outs in the eighth and Edwin Díaz struck out Byron Buxton with two runners on to end the inning. Buxton whiffed all four times up, and Royce Lewis fanned three times.

Díaz finished the two-hitter for his 13th save in a game that took only 2 hours, 12 minutes. The four-out save was his first since Oct. 4, 2022.

“They were very fast innings,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There was really not a lot going on. You really have to force the action a little bit more than that by just having good at-bats. And sometimes that’s not getting a hit. Sometimes that’s just being pesky or having a long at-bat.”

All three of New York’s shutouts this season have come in the past 16 games.

Martinez hit an RBI single against rookie starter David Festa (1-2) in the fourth, and Vientos led off the fifth with a 393-foot homer to left field.

The 24-year-old Festa, born in nearby New Jersey, allowed three hits and struck out six in five innings.

“He had a good day,” Baldelli said. “We have a chance to win a game when our pitchers go out and throw the ball like that.”

METS MOVES

The Mets made four trades before Tuesday’s deadline. New York dealt three minor leaguers in a trio of deals that brought Blackburn from Oakland, Brazobán from Miami and Zuber from Tampa Bay. The club also dealt Triple-A lefty Josh Walker, who had been designated for assignment Friday, to Pittsburgh for minor league pitcher Nicolas Carreno.

New York acquired Stanek, reliever Phil Maton and outfielder Jesse Winker earlier this month.

MINNESOTA MOVE

The Twins acquired right-handed reliever Trevor Richards from Toronto in exchange for minor league infielder Jay Harry. To make room for Richards on the 40-man roster, Minnesota designated reliever Josh Staumont for assignment.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: 3B Jose Miranda returned to the lineup and went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts after sitting out Monday, one day after he was hit in the cheek by a pitch. … OF Alex Kirilloff (back) was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room for RHP Randy Dobnak, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A St. Paul.

Mets: C Francisco Alvarez (left shoulder) sat out a second straight game. Alvarez was battling soreness before he lunged for a pitch in Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Braves.

UP NEXT

The interleague series concludes Wednesday afternoon, when Twins RHP Pablo López (9-7, 4.73 ERA) opposes RHP Luis Severino (7-3, 3.58).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Minnesota Twins' David Festa pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Minnesota Twins' David Festa pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Mark Vientos, left, and Francisco Lindor, right, walk into the dugout together during the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso, left, and Brandon Nimmo, right, celebrate as Nimmo scores on a single by J.D. Martinez during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Mark Vientos celebrates hitting a home run in the dugout with teammates during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Mark Vientos celebrates hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Edwin Díaz pitches during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Minnesota Twins' Caleb Thielbar pitches during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, left, and Brandon Nimmo, right, celebrate winning a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso, left, and Jose Iglesias, right, celebrate winning a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea reacts as he walks to the dugout after striking out Minnesota Twins' Willi Castro during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Sean Manaea pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González has fled into exile after being granted asylum in Spain, delivering a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his upstart campaign to end two decades of single-party rule.

The surprise departure of the man considered by Venezuela’s opposition and several foreign governments to be the legitimate winner of July’s presidential race was announced late Saturday night by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.

She said the government decided to grant González safe passage out of the country, just days after ordering his arrest, to help restore “the country’s political peace and tranquility.”

Neither González nor opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has commented.

Meanwhile, Spain’s center-left government said the decision to abandon Venezuela was González's alone and he departed on a plane sent by the country's air force.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Spanish national broadcaster RTVE that his government will grant González political asylum as he has requested. Albares spoke while en route to China with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on a state visit.

“I have been able to speak to (González) and once he was aboard the airplane he expressed his gratitude toward the Spanish government and Spain,” Albares said. “Of course I told him we were pleased that he is well and on his way to Spain, and I reiterated the commitment of our government to the political rights of all Venezuelans.”

Sánchez said in a speech Friday, before González's departure was announced, that the opposition leader was “a hero whom Spain is not going to abandon.”

Albares said that González had spent an unspecified number of days at the Spanish Embassy in Caracas before his departure.

A Spanish official with knowledge of details on González’s departure said that his government did not discuss González’s exit with Maduro’s administration. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry protocols.

González, a 75-year-old former diplomat, was a last minute stand in when Machado was banned from running. Previously unknown to most Venezuelans, his campaign nonetheless rapidly ignited the hopes of millions of Venezuelans desperate for change after a decade-long economic freefall.

While President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the July vote, most Western governments have yet to recognize his victory and are instead demanding that authorities publish a breakdown of votes. Meanwhile, tally sheets collected by opposition volunteers from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines indicate that González won by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

The tally sheets have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. In previous presidential elections, the National Electoral Council published online the results of each of the more than 30,000 voting machines but the Maduro-controlled panel did not release any data this time, blaming an alleged cyberattack mounted by its opponents from North Macedonia.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a staunch Maduro ally, sought González's arrest after he failed to appear three times in connection with a criminal investigation into what it considers an act of electoral sabotage.

Saab told reporters the voting records the opposition shared online were forged and an attempt to undermine the National Electoral Council.

Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which at the invitation of Maduro’s government observed the election, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. In a statement critical of the election, the U.N. experts stopped short of validating the opposition’s claim to victory, but they said the voting records it published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.

Spain has been a major point of exodus for Venezuelans, particularly of those leading opposition to Maduro’s regime. They include Leopoldo López, who fled to Spain to reunite with his family in 2020, and Antonio Ledezma, who left for the European country in 2017.

Some 44,000 Venezuelans immigrated to Spain in the first six months of this year. The last government statistics from 2022 said that some 212,000 Venezuelans were then residing in Spain.

——

Goodman reported from Miami and Wilson from Barcelona, Spain.

FILE - Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez waves to supporters during a political event at a square in the Hatillo municipality of Caracas, Venezuela, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)