Francis fires gem, Wagner gets 3 hits in MLB debut as Blue Jays beat Angels 4-2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Bowden Francis pitched seven dominant innings and Will Wagner got hits in the first three at-bats of his major league debut as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 on Monday night.

Leo Jiménez launched his first career home run and the last-place Blue Jays won the opener of a six-game trip after losing four of their previous five road games.

Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell homered for the Angels, who lost for the third time in four games after earning a series win on the road against the New York Yankees.

Wagner, the son of former All-Star closer Billy Wagner, hit the first pitch he saw into right-center field for a second-inning double.

“I was nervous on the on-deck circle, but once I was walking to the plate, I just started to gain a little bit more confidence,” Wagner said. “Just go up there and know I’m here for a reason and I was just trying to be aggressive.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Spencer Horwitz delivered back-to-back doubles in the third to open the scoring. Wagner singled with two outs for his first career RBI and a 2-0 lead.

Jiménez followed with a two-run shot to center field, his first homer in 30 games since making his big league debut July 4.

In his third at-bat, Wagner rolled a single into right field in the fifth. All three hits to begin his career came against right-hander Davis Daniel (1-4), who gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings with two walks and five strikeouts.

“Just growing up in big league clubhouses, I kind of know what to expect,” Wagner said. “It was a nerve-wracking day for sure, but once you get that first at-bat out of the way it’s all good.”

Wagner became the fourth player in Blue Jays history to have three hits in his major league debut. He finally made his first out on a fly to center in the seventh.

“It’s pretty cool when you have a debut like that. It kind of gives guys some energy,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Leo with his first homer, really good defense and awesome pitching. I think we’re all going to remember Will tonight, but can’t overlook what Bowden did.”

The only hit Francis (5-3) gave up was Moniak’s solo homer in the third. He was otherwise untouchable, with no walks and a career-high eight strikeouts. The right-hander retired his first seven batters and then his last 14.

“I think efficiency was the biggest thing for me,” Francis said. “I just feel like I haven’t been scared. Obviously, the home runs happen, but that’s just me attacking it and not being timid. I’m just trying to be in the zone as much as I can.”

Chad Green gave up a home run to Adell in the ninth before earning his 12th save.

Billy Wagner was in attendance while on a whirlwind adventure that first had him at Triple-A Buffalo over the weekend to watch his son play. After flying home to Virginia on Sunday, he learned of his son’s promotion and boarded a plane for California.

The only hiccup Will Wagner had on the day was forgetting to leave tickets for his fiancé and his father.

“My dad texted me and was like, ‘Hey, we still can’t get in,'” Will Wagner said. “I was like, ‘Oh gosh, I've got to get them tickets.’ But we got it all figured out.”

The Blue Jays acquired the younger Wagner in the July 29 trade that sent left-hander Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros, where his father spent nine seasons.

“When I was at Houston, in big league camp, we had (Alex) Bregman, (Jeremy) Peña and (Jose) Altuve and I would talk to them every day,” Will Wagner said before the game. “And I was like, ‘These guys are going to be Hall of Famers.’ Now I’m here and I have (Guerrero) and Bo (Bichette) to talk to, too. And there is a mix of guys who are younger that I can fit in with, too. So I’m excited.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: Bichette returned to Florida to continue his rehab from a right calf strain and could begin baseball activity by next week. ... RHP Jordan Romano (elbow) also returned to Florida and is close to beginning a light throwing program.

Angels: C Logan O’Hoppe exited after six innings with right knee soreness and was replaced by Matt Thaiss. O’Hoppe left not long after he threw out Steward Berroa, who was trying to steal second base in the top of the sixth.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP Kevin Gausman (10-8, 4.42 ERA) has reached double digits in wins over four consecutive seasons and six times total.

Angels: RHP Carson Fulmer (0-2, 3.74) has made five starts this season, with a 3.60 ERA in those outings.

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

Los Angeles Angels' Davis Daniel delivers to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

Toronto Blue Jays' Leo Jimenez is greeted in the dugout after hitting two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

Toronto Blue Jays' Will Wagner, right reacts at first base after hitting an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

Toronto Blue Jays' Bowden Francis delivers to the plate during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

Toronto Blue Jays' Bowden Francis delivers to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

Toronto Blue Jays' Will Wagner, right, runs to first after hitting an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

Toronto Blue Jays' Will Wagner, right, hits an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli military said Tuesday an American activist killed in the West Bank last week was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by its soldiers, drawing a strong rebuke from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the activist's family.

Israel said a criminal investigation has been launched into the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old activist from Seattle who was taking part in a demonstration against settlements in the Palestinian territory. Doctors who treated Eygi, who also held Turkish citizenship, said she was shot in the head.

Blinken condemned the fatal shooting when asked about it at a news conference in London, and said the U.S. would make clear to its ally that such actions are “not acceptable.”

“No one — no one — should be shot and killed for attending a protest,” he said. “Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way they operate in the West Bank.”

Eygi's family in the U.S. released a statement saying “we are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional.”

During Friday's demonstration, clashes broke out between Palestinians throwing stones and Israeli troops firing tear gas and ammunition, according to Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting of Eygi.

Pollak said the violence had subsided about a half hour before Eygi was shot, after protesters and activists had withdrawn several hundred meters (yards) away from the site of the demonstration. Pollak said he saw two Israeli soldiers mount the roof of a nearby home, train a gun in the group’s direction and fire, with one bullet hitting Eygi.

Israel said its inquiry into Eygi’s killing “found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by (Israeli army) fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot.” It expressed its “deepest regret” at her death.

International Solidarity Movement, the activist group Egyi was volunteering with, said it “entirely rejects” the Israeli statement and that the “shot was aimed directly at her.”

The killing came amid a surge of violence in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and heavier military crackdowns on Palestinian protests.

Israel says it thoroughly investigates allegations of its forces killing civilians and holds them accountable. It says soldiers often have to make split-second decisions while operating in areas where militants hide among civilians. But human rights groups say soldiers are very rarely prosecuted, and even in the most shocking cases — and those captured on video — they often get relatively light sentences.

The Palestinian Authority held a funeral procession for Eygi in the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday. Turkish authorities said they were working on repatriating her body to Turkey for burial in the Aegean coastal town of Didim, as per her family’s wishes.

Eygi's uncle said in an interview with the Turkish TV channel HaberTurk that she kept her visit to the West Bank secret from at least some of her family members. She said she was traveling to Jordan to help Palestinians there, he said.

"She hid the fact that she was going to Palestine. She blocked us from her social media posts so that we would not see them,” Yilmaz Eygi said.

The deaths of American citizens in the West Bank have drawn international attention, such as the fatal shooting of a prominent Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022 in the Jenin refugee camp.

Several independent investigations and reporting by The Associated Press determined that Abu Akleh was likely killed by Israeli fire. Months later, the military said there was a “high probability” one of its soldiers had mistakenly killed her but that no one would be punished.

In January 2022, Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, died of a heart attack after Israeli troops at a checkpoint dragged him from his car and made him lie facedown, bound, temporarily gagged and blindfolded. The military ruled out criminal charges and said it was reprimanding one commander and removing two others from leadership roles for two years.

The U.S. had planned to sanction a military unit linked to abuses of Palestinians in the West Bank but ended up dropping the plan.

The deaths of Palestinians who do not have dual nationality rarely receive the same scrutiny.

Human rights groups say Israel military investigations into Palestinians' deaths reflect a pattern of impunity. B’Tselem, a leading Israeli watchdog, became so frustrated that in 2016 it halted its decades-long practice of assisting investigations and called them a “whitewash.”

Last year, an Israeli court acquitted a member of the paramilitary Border Police charged with reckless manslaughter in the deadly shooting of 32-year-old Eyad Hallaq, an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem’s Old City in 2020. The case had drawn comparisons to the police killing of George Floyd in the United States.

In 2017, Israeli soldier Elor Azaria was convicted for manslaughter and served nine months after he killed a wounded, incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron. The combat medic was caught on video fatally shooting Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who was lying motionless on the ground.

That case deeply divided Israelis, with the military saying Azaria had clearly violated its code of ethics, while many Israelis — particularly on the nationalist right — defended his actions and accused military brass of second-guessing a soldier operating in dangerous conditions.

Associated Press reporters Matthew Lee and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s Gaza coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

This undated family photo provided by the International Solidarity Movement on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, shows Aysenur Ezgi Eygi of Seattle. (Courtesy of the Eygi family/International Solidarity Movement via AP)

ADDS WITNESS SAYS: Two fellow activists of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who a witness says was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers while participating in an anti-settlement protest in the West Bank, carry posters with her name and photo during Eygi's funeral procession in the West Bank city of Nablus, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)