SAN DIEGO (AP) — Xander Bogaerts had an RBI single in the seventh inning, Jackson Merrell made a game-saving diving catch in the ninth inning, and Joe Musgrove had a solid return from the 60-day injured list as the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Monday night.
The Padres won for the 17th time in 20 games since July 20, and handed the struggling Pirates their 10th loss in 11 games.
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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Xander Bogaerts had an RBI single in the seventh inning, Jackson Merrell made a game-saving diving catch in the ninth inning, and Joe Musgrove had a solid return from the 60-day injured list as the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Monday night.
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove waves to the crowd after exiting during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove works against a Pittsburgh Pirates batter during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill celebrates after making a catch for the out on Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds to end the baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. The Padres won, 2-1. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres' Xander Bogaerts watches his RBI single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
“The guys have been playing with a lot of emotion and intent, but when you get Joe Musgrove back, it takes it to another level. He is a cornerstone in the clubhouse,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “He was fantastic (tonight). His change-up was good, his heater was good – it had life to it.”
Musgrove, sidelined since May 26 due to right elbow inflammation, gave up two hits and walked one while striking out one in 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He pitched effectively, mixing his sliders, changeups and four-seam fastballs. It was Musgrove’s first scoreless outing since July 28, 2023, when he pitched six innings against Texas in his final start of the season.
“It felt incredible to be back out there. ... Physically, I felt great. There is a lot of room for improvement there. I think I flashed signs of my good stuff at times,” Musgrove said. “A lot of good things trending in the right direction.”
When Musgrove came out of the game in the fifth inning, he received a standing ovation from the 38th sold-out crowd of the season at Petco Park. He patted his heart and waved to the crowd while walking into the dugout.
“It was a good feeling walking off to that,” Musgrove said of the standing ovation. “This city has treated me so well since I came back here. I love pitching in this stadium, and I love representing this city.”
Jeremiah Estrada (4-2) got the win for the Padres after pitching one inning in relief and closer Robert Suarez earned his 26th save after giving up two singles and a run in the ninth inning.
With San Diego leading 2-1 and the Pirates' tying run at first with two outs, Merrell made a spectacular diving catch after running far to his left to rob Bryan Reynolds of extra bases and end the game.
“It was lay out or nothing in that situation,” Merrell said of his catch. “It was just one of those blackout, adrenaline moments that happens.”
Pirates starter Jake Woodford (0-4) pitched well in the loss, giving up one run and three hits in six-plus innings. He gave up a double to Jurickson Profar to lead off the seventh and Profar eventually scored when Bogaerts punched a single through the drawn-in Pirates infield against reliever Kyle Nicolas.
“I don’t want to take for granted Bogaerts’ at-bat. It was phenomenal,” Shildt said. “He was down in the count.”
San Diego’s Kyle Higashioka came off the bench to drive in an insurance run from third with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to extend the Padres' lead to 2-0.
The night ended favorably for the Padres and to Musgrove in his long-awaited return.
“I am going to give it everything I have as long as they will to allow me to hold the ball out there,” Musgrove said. “Me being healthy down the stretch is a big part of this team.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: To make room for Musgrove coming off the IL, RHP Carl Edwards Jr. was designated for assignment after only one appearance.
UP NEXT
Pirates RHP Luis Ortiz (5-2, 3.40) takes the mound against Padres RHP Michael King (9-6, 3.34), who will make his second straight start against Pittsburgh.
AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jake Woodford works against a San Diego Padres batter during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove waves to the crowd after exiting during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove works against a Pittsburgh Pirates batter during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill celebrates after making a catch for the out on Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds to end the baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. The Padres won, 2-1. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres' Xander Bogaerts watches his RBI single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
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)
