Berríos wins seventh straight start, Guerrero gets 500th RBI as Blue Jays beat Cardinals 7-2

TORONTO (AP) — José Berríos pitched seven strong innings to win his seventh straight start, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in his 500th career run and scored twice, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Saturday.

Guerrero went 1 for 3 with a walk, maintaining his batting average at .320, the third-highest in the AL.

“This year he’s separated himself and been on a different level offensively,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Guerrero. “He’s a really good hitter who understands how to drive in runs.”

Guerrero, 25, is the youngest player in Blue Jays history to drive in 500 runs. He reached the mark in 806 games.

Davis Schneider went 3 for 4 with a home run and drove in two as Toronto won its second straight.

Addison Barger had two hits and an RBI and Alejandro Kirk drove in a pair as the Blue Jays handed the Cardinals their first series loss against an AL East opponent in more than two years.

St. Louis lost for the fifth time in eight games and fell back to .500 at 74-74. The Cardinals began the day seven games out of the third NL wild card.

“I’m not really looking at the standings,” Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “I’m not too worried about it. Just try to take care of business and we’ll see where we end up. Obviously we’ve dug ourselves a hole and we need teams to play bad for us to get to where we want to go.”

Berríos (16-9) allowed one run and two hits, walked two and struck out four. He’s 3-0 in five career starts against St. Louis.

“Offensively, we just didn’t string anything together all day,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Berríos did a nice job against us.”

Arenado praised Berríos for making at least 30 starts in each of the past six full seasons, excluding 2020.

“He doesn’t get a whole lot of credit around the game for how consistent he really is, just posting and putting innings up,” Arenado said. “He’s probably one of the more consistent pitchers in the game that people don’t talk about. His ball moves a lot.”

Roy Halladay won a Toronto-record 11 consecutive starts in 2003.

Ryan Burr worked the eighth and Luis Frías finished for Toronto.

Jordan Walker hit a solo home run, his third of the season, for the Cardinals. St. Louis came in 9-4 against AL East foes. They last lost a series to an AL East team by dropping two of three at Boston in June, 2022.

Arenado stayed in the game after an insect stung his left pinkie while he was fielding in the eighth.

“A bee flew near my ear, I wiped it with my glove,” Arenado said. “I thought it was gone, I put my glove on and got stung. It got stuck in my glove and it stung me on my pinkie. When I pulled my hand out after it stung me, the stinger was on my finger.”

Arenado had some mild swelling but said he expected to be available Sunday.

Walker opened the scoring with a two-out homer in the third, but Schneider tied it by connecting off Cardinals right-hander Kyle Gibson in the bottom half for his 11th home run and first since June 22.

Toronto took the lead with a four-run sixth. After the Blue Jays used a single and two walks to load the bases, Gibson exited after shortstop Masyn Winn’s throwing error on Ernie Clement’s grounder allowed the tiebreaking run to score.

Ryan Fernandez came on and gave up Kirk’s RBI groundout, and run-scoring singles by Barger and Schneider.

Gibson (8-7) allowed five runs – one earned – and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out one.

“It’s unfortunate how the outing ended,” Gibson said. “Overall I felt pretty good, just wish I could have avoided those two walks there in the sixth.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Leo Jiménez was scratched from the lineup because of a right index finger contusion and replaced by Clement. … OF Joey Loperfido departed after four innings because of left adductor discomfort, the team said.

UP NEXT

RHP Yariel Rodríguez (1-6, 4.42) is scheduled to start for Toronto Sunday as the Blue Jays look for the sweep. RHP Miles Mikolas (8-11, 5.55) starts for the Cardinals.

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

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gestures for the ball after hitting an RBI single, his 500th RBI as a Blue Jay, as he stands with St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt during seventh inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reacts after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reacts after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is doused after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gestures for the ball after hitting an RBI single, his 500th RBI as a Blue Jay, as he stands with St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt during seventh inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrates in the dugout after scoring a run during seventh inning interleague MLB baseball action against the St. Louis Cardinals in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages reaches for the ball as Toronto Blue Jays' Nathan Lukes scores during sixth inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Fernandez reacts during sixth inning interleague MLB baseball action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Saturday September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gestures to the bench as he stands alongside St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt after hitting an RBI single during seventh inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is doused after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, September 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Davis Schneider rounds the bases after hitting a home run off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson during third inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson works against Toronto Blue Jays during first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Davis Schneider celebrates in the dug out with teammate Luis De Los Santos after hitting a home run off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson during third inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos works against St. Louis Cardinals during first inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker (18) rounds the bases after hitting a home run off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher José Berrios during the third inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

José Berríos of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during fourth inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Paige Taylor White/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos works against St. Louis Cardinals during first inning interleague MLB baseball action in Toronto, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah's communications network but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them.

Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack.

An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the conclusion of the operation, in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly.

The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read.

Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding — leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.

It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.

The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Hezbollah, which has pointed the blame at Israel, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel “as in all the past days” as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza.

“This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday that it committed against our people, our families and our fighters in Lebanon,” it said. “This is another reckoning that will come, God willing.”

Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border.

At hospitals in Beirut on Wednesday, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait.

Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour on hospitals Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients.

The health minister said that the wounded had been distributed among all the area hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help in treating the patients.

Earlier Wednesday, an Iraqi military plane landed in Beirut carrying medical equipment, airport officials said. Abiad said the plane was carrying 15 tons of medicine and medical equipment.

Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters.

It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon.

For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon.

“The phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech.

He later added: “I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife’s hands, and in your children’s hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it.”

Associated Press journalists Bassem Mroue and Abby Sewell in Beirut; Zeke Miller in Washington; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.(AP Photo)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard at a street that leads to the American University hospital where they bring wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)