MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For the second time in two days, the Minnesota Twins have reinstated one of their star players from the injured list to help with their playoff push.
Shortstop Carlos Correa, who has been on sidelined since the All-Star break with plantar fasciitis, has been activated from the 10-day injured list and is expected to be in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Reds.
Correa is hitting .308 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs in 75 games this season. He was chosen to represent the Twins in the All-Star Game but had to bow out due to his injury.
On Friday, the Twins reinstated center fielder Byron Buxton from the IL after he missed a month with an injured hip. Buxton homered in his return to the lineup, though Minnesota lost 8-4.
The Twins enter Saturday's action with a 2 1/2-game lead over Detroit for the final AL wild card spot.
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Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)
TOKYO (AP) — A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday, leading Tokyo to convey its “serious concerns” to Beijing over China’s increasingly assertive military actions around Japan, officials said.
The Chinese carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote, entering the country's co-called “contiguous zone,” the Defense Ministry said. That's an area of sea beyond a country's territorial waters in which it can still exercise some control over maritime traffic, reaching up to 24 nautical miles offshore.
The Liaoning's transit was part of a fleet movement Tuesday and Wednesday, during which Chinese warships also passed off the western coast of the disputed Japanese-controlled islets it calls the Senkakus, the ministry said. China claims the same islets, calling them the Diaoyus.
Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya told reporters that “the latest incident is absolutely unacceptable from the perspective of the national and regional security.”
Last month, Japan said that a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance airplane violated Japanese airspace. Days later, a Chinese survey ship breached the Japanese territorial water just off the southern prefecture of Kagoshima.
Moriya said the Japanese government expressed “our serious concerns” to China through diplomatic channels on Wednesday.
“China has increasingly expanded and intensified military activities around Japan in recent years,” Moriya said. “We will continue to closely watch Chinese warships’ activity around Japan and the regional waters while ensuring information gathering and vigilance.”
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian defended the activity of his country's warships, saying it “complies with China’s domestic laws and international laws.”
Tokyo had reinforced defenses in southwestern Japan, including remote islands that are considered key to Japan’s defense strategy in the region.
The Soviet-built Liaoning underwent extensive refurbishing before being commissioned in 2012 as China's first aircraft carrier. The country now has two more aircraft carriers, including one fully designed and built in China.
FILE -The Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, sails into Hong Kong for a port call to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison's presence in the semi-autonomous Chinese city and former British colony on July 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
