Ragans throws 6 scoreless innings, Massey homers as Royals top Twins 5-0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Cole Ragans scattered four hits in six scoreless innings as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-0 on Friday night and traded places with the Twins in the AL Central and wild card standings.

The Royals now hold a half-game lead for second place in the division and the second wild card spot.

“His velocity was good, his carry was good, the curveball was really good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Ragans. “Overall, how can you argue with those results?”

Michael Massey had three hits, including a home run, for the Royals.

“I was trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Massey said. “It's been a minute since I hit one, but I put a good swing on it.”

Ragans (11-9) won for the first time since a 4-1 victory in Minneapolis on August 14, the Royals' lone win in Minnesota this season.

“Overall, I thought me and Sal (Perez) had a good plan,” he said. “We mixed it well. In the beginning, we got ahead pretty good. Towards the back end I had to battle a little bit. The defense was good, and the guys kept chipping away and adding runs throughout the game. It was a good team win.”

Zebby Matthews (1-3) took the loss. He allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings.

“I thought Zebby threw the ball pretty decently today,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There were a couple of pitches, a couple of at-bats, where he didn’t do what he wanted and they capitalized.”

Ragans picked up his third strikeout of the game — and 200th of the season — to end the third inning, making him the fifth pitcher in Royals history to post 200 strikeouts in a season. He is the first Royals pitcher since Zack Greinke in 2009 to accomplish the feat.

“Obviously that's not what I play for; I play to win,” a usually low-key Ragans said with a smile. “But I thought it was cool to reach a milestone like that.”

For Quatraro, it means more than just a number.

“It's surprising to me there have only been four previously, but that is a big number," he said. "It speaks to a lot of things. It's taking the ball every fifth day. Your stuff has to be good. You have to throw strikes. You have to be competitive. And you have to have that mentality to go out and challenge people in the zone and he does that. He's leading the way with the staff.”

The Royals plated a run in the third. Kyle Isbel drew a one-out walk and scored from first when Tommy Pham yanked the ball into the left field corner. The Twins answered with an almost identical play in the top of the fourth. Austin Martin ripped a two-out double to the wall in left, but Pham threw a relay to Bobby Witt Jr., who fired a strike to Perez to retire Kyle Farmer at the plate.

“It was a great throw from Tommy and a great throw from Bobby. And a great tag. That last 90 feet is a long way," Quatraro said.

Massey extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a 408-foot solo home run into the bullpen in right.

The Royals used their speed to add on in the fifth. Witt avoided a double play on a comebacker to Matthews and went to third on a single by MJ Melendez. Melendez stole second and both runners scored on a single by Hunter Renfroe.

Yuli Gurriel's sacrifice fly in the eighth scored the final run.

TRANSACTIONS

Royals: Renfroe was returned from the 10-day Injured List on Thursday's off day. In corresponding moves, RHP Steven Cruz was optioned to Triple-A Omaha and RHP Dan Altavilla was returned from the IL and designated for assignment.

UP NEXT

The Twins and Royals will play the second game of their three-game series. The Twins will start RHP Bailey Ober (12-6, 3.95 ERA) against Royals RHP Alec Marsh (7-8, 4.70 ERA).

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Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey, right, celebrates with Yuli Gurriel (18) after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey (19) runs the bases past Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Kyle Isbel beats the tag by Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez to score on a double by Tommy Pham during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans walks to the dugout after the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

LONDON (AP) — Former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards, once one of the most prominent media figures in Britain, was given a suspended prison sentence Monday for images of child sexual abuse on his phone.

Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July to three counts of making indecent images of children, a charge related to photos sent to him on the WhatsApp messaging service by a man convicted of distributing images of child sex abuse.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sentenced Edwards to a six-month prison term suspended for two years. He will be listed on a sex offenders register for seven years.

“It is not an exaggeration to say your long-earned reputation is in tatters,” Goldspring said.

Edwards' fall from grace over the past year has caused turmoil for the BBC after it was revealed the publicly funded broadcaster paid him about 200,000 pounds ($263,000) for five months of his salary after he had been arrested in November while on leave. The BBC has asked him to pay it back.

“We are appalled by his crimes,” the BBC said in a statement after the sentencing. “He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.”

Edwards had been one of the BBC’s top earners when he was suspended in July 2023 over separate claims made last year involving a teenager he allegedly paid for sexually explicit photos. Police investigated and decided not to bring charges.

Although Edwards was not publicly named at the time those allegations surfaced, his wife later revealed he was the news presenter investigated and said he was hospitalized for serious mental health issues.

He never returned to the air but the BBC kept him on the payroll until he resigned in April for health reasons.

Edwards began his BBC career in Wales four decades ago. He went on to become lead anchor on the nighttime news for two decades and led the coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 as well as election coverage.

The BBC said at the time of his guilty plea that it was shocked to hear the details of the charges against him.

More than 375 sexual images were sent to him on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021. More than 40 were indecent images of children, including seven classified as “category A” — the most indecent — with children estimated to be between 13 and 15. One child was aged between 7 and 9.

In chats with Alex Williams, who was later convicted of distributing child sex abuse images, Edwards was asked if he wanted sexual images of a person whose “age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16,” and Edwards replied, “yes xxx,” prosecutor Ian Hope said.

“From that chat in December 2020, Alex Williams said that he had ‘a file of vids and pics for you of someone special,’” Hope said.

Edwards asked who the subject and was then sent three images that appeared to be the same person who appeared to be aged 14 to 16, Hope said.

Williams later sent Edwards a video in February 2021 that involved two children, one possibly as young as seven and the other no older than 13, involving penetration, Hope said.

Edwards did not respond, but when asked by Williams if the material was too young, he said, “don’t send underage.” He also said he didn’t want him to send anything illegal.

Defense lawyer Philip Evans said Edwards was “truly sorry” for the offenses and the damage he had done to his family.

“He apologizes sincerely and he makes it clear that he has the utmost regret and he recognizes that he has betrayed the priceless trust and faith of so many people,” Evans said.

Evans said Williams had reached out to Edwards on Instagram at a time when he was mentally vulnerable and began sending him images. He said Edwards never received gratification from the images and hadn’t saved them or sent them to anyone.

Hope said Edwards paid Williams “not insignificant sums of money,” as gifts that Williams used while studying at a university.

At one point, Williams asked for a “Christmas gift after all the hot videos” he had sent. Edwards remarked that some of the images were “amazing,” Hope said.

Williams, 25, was given a suspended 1-year sentence in March for possessing and distributing indecent images as well as possessing prohibited images of children.

Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter arrives at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A small number of protesters wait for Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter to arrive at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A small number of protesters wait for Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter to arrive at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter arrives at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter arrives at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter arrives at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter arrives at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Huw Edwards an ex-BBC news presenter arrives at Westminster Magistrate's Court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in London, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)