WASHINGTON (AP) — Jake Burger had three hits, Jonah Bride and Connor Norby had two RBIs apiece and the Miami Marlins scored three unearned runs off three errors in a 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Bride had a game-tying single in the eighth inning and Otto Lopez put the Marlins ahead when his fielder's choice grounder was mishandled two batters later as Miami snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-9 against the Nationals this season.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Jake Burger had three hits, Jonah Bride and Connor Norby had two RBIs apiece and the Miami Marlins scored three unearned runs off three errors in a 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Washington Nationals' CJ Abrams steals third base during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Miami Marlins left fielder Kyle Stowers chases down a two-run RBI double by Washington Nationals' Jose Tena during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Nationals' Jose Tena watches his two-run RBI double go to left field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Nationals' James Wood, foreground, rounds third base to score on a double by teammate Jose Tena during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Miami Marlins staring pitcher Darren McCaughan throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington, which has dropped three of its last four, lost its 81st game, assuring its fifth straight season without a winning record since its 2019 World Series title.
The Marlins trailed 3-2 entering the eighth but tied it against Derek Law (7-4) on pinch hitter Xavier Edwards’ double, Norby’s walk and Bride’s RBI single to center. After Burger singled to load the bases with nobody out, Lopez bounced a grounder to shortstop CJ Abrams, who flipped the ball to second baseman Luis García Jr. for a force out. Garcia tried to complete a double play, but his throw bounced away from first baseman Joey Gallo, allowing Bride to score an insurance run.
Norby added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Anthony Bender (5-2) struck out Dylan Crews to finish the seventh. Jesús Tinoco worked two scoreless innings for his first save since Sept. 14, 2019, and the second of his career.
The Marlins scored twice in the third after Abrams’ errant throw on a fielder’s choice grounder put two runners in scoring position with none out. Norby followed with an RBI groundout and Bride added a sacrifice fly.
Nationals starter Mitchell Parker didn’t permit another runner to reach second base in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed two unearned runs on three hits and no walks while striking out five. The rookie has a 1.10 ERA in three starts against Miami.
Washington pounced in the first inning against Miami right-hander Darren McCaughan. Abrams ripped a leadoff double, stole third and scored when Crews hit a sharp single off the drawn-in shortstop Lopez. James Wood walked, and two batters later José Tena poked a two-run double to left.
McCaughan allowed three runs and six hits in five innings as he matched the longest outing of his career.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: Miami placed RHP John McMillon (elbow tightness) on the 15-day injured list, selected the contract of RHP Jeff Lindgren from Triple-A Jacksonville and designated LHP Jonathan Bermúdez for assignment. RHP Michael Petersen, who was claimed off waivers Wednesday from the Los Angeles Dodgers, was added to the active roster. … LHP Braxton Garrett (forearm flexor strain) pitched three scoreless innings in a rehabilitation appearance for Triple-A Jacksonville.
UP NEXT
Miami RHP Edward Cabrera (4-6, 4.88 ERA), who has won back-to-back starts for the first time since June 2023, faces Washington LHP DJ Herz (3-7, 3.82), who struck out 13 in six scoreless innings June 15 in his first outing against the Marlins.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Mitchell Parker throws through during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Nationals' CJ Abrams steals third base during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Miami Marlins left fielder Kyle Stowers chases down a two-run RBI double by Washington Nationals' Jose Tena during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Nationals' Jose Tena watches his two-run RBI double go to left field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Washington Nationals' James Wood, foreground, rounds third base to score on a double by teammate Jose Tena during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Miami Marlins staring pitcher Darren McCaughan throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
NEW YORK (AP) — In what appears to be a sophisticated, remote attack, pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least nine people — including an 8-year-old girl — and wounding thousands more.
A U.S. official said Israel briefed the U.S. on the operation — in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated — on Tuesday after it was concluded. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly.
The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the deadly explosions, which targeted an extraordinary breadth of people and showed signs of being a long-planned operation. Details on how the attack was executed are largely uncertain and investigators have not immediately said how the pagers were detonated. The Israeli military has declined to comment.
Here's what we know so far.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry cellphones, saying they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. As a result, the organization uses pagers to communicate.
A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the exploded devices were from a new brand the group had not used before. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, did not identify the brand name or supplier.
Nicholas Reese, adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York University’s School of Professional Studies, explains smart phones carry a higher risk for intercepted communications in contrast to the more simple technology of pagers.
This type of attack will also force Hezbollah to change their communication strategies, said Reese, who previously worked as an intelligence officer, adding that survivors of Tuesday's explosions are likely to throw away "not just their pagers, but their phones, and leaving their tablets or any other electronic devices.”
Even with a U.S. official confirming it was a planned operation by Israel, multiple theories have emerged Tuesday around how the attack might have been carried out. Several experts who spoke with The Associated Press explained how the explosions were most likely the result of supply-chain interference.
Very small explosive devices may have been built into the pagers prior to their delivery to Hezbollah, and then all remotely triggered simultaneously, possibly with a radio signal.
By the time of the attack, “the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery," said Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec.
A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge.
“A pager has three of those already,” explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. “You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.”
After security camera footage appeared on social media Tuesday purporting to show one of the pagers explode on a man’s hip in a Lebanese market, two munitions experts offered opinions that corroborate the U.S. official's statement that the blast appeared to be the result of a tiny explosive device.
“Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,” said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert.
This signals involvement of a state actor, Moorhouse said. He adds that Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is the most obvious suspect to have the resources to carry out such an attack.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, an expert in military arms who is director of the Australian-based Armament Research Services, notes that Israel had been accused of carrying out similar operations in the past. Last year, AP reported that Iran accused Israel of trying to sabotage its ballistic missile program through faulty foreign parts that could explode, damaging or destroying the weapons before they could be used.
It would take a long time to plan an attack of this scale. The exact specifics are still unknown, but experts who spoke with the AP shared estimates ranging anywhere between several months to two years.
The sophistication of the attack suggests that the culprit has been collecting intelligence for a long time, Reese explained. An attack of this caliber requires building the relationships needed to gain physical access to the pagers before they were sold; developing the technology that would be embedded in the devices; and developing sources who can confirm that the targets were carrying the pagers.
And it's likely the compromised pagers seemed normal to their users for some time before the attack. Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based veteran and a senior political risk analyst with over 37 years experience in the region, said he has had conversations with members of Hezbollah and survivors of Tuesday's pager attack. He said the pagers were procured more than six months ago.
“The pagers functioned perfectly for six months," Magnier said. What triggered the explosion, he said, appeared to be an error message sent to all the devices.
Based on his conversations with Hezbollah members, Magnier also said that many pagers didn’t go off, allowing the group to inspect them. They came to the conclusion that between 3 to 5 grams of a highly explosive material were concealed or embedded in the circuitry, he said.
Jenzen-Jones also adds that “such a large-scale operation also raises questions of targeting" — stressing the number of causalities and enormous impact reported so far.jenzen
“How can the party initiating the explosive be sure that a target’s child, for example, is not playing with the pager at the time it functions?” he said.
Hezbollah issued a statement confirming at least two members were killed in the bombings. One of them was the son of a Hezbollah member in parliament, according to the Hezbollah official who spoke anonymously. The group later issued announcements that six other members were killed Tuesday, though it did not specify how.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will “for sure get its just punishment.”
People donate blood for those who were injured by their exploded handheld pagers, at a Red Cross center, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
