Aranda homers, 6 pitchers combine on a 5-hitter and Rays beat Blue Jays 1-0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda homered, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Friday night.

Aranda went deep against José Berríos (14-10) with one out in the sixth inning.

The loss ended Berríos' seven start winning streak, during which he had a 1.51 ERA. The right-hander allowed one run, six hits, one walk and had six strikeouts in six innings.

After Rays starter Tyler Alexander gave up two hits over 4 1/3 innings, Kevin Kelly (4-2) extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings after going 1 2/3 innings. Manuel Rodríguez worked out of a second-and-third jam in the seventh. Edwin Uceta and Colin Poche combined to get through the eighth before Hunter Bigge worked the ninth to get his first save.

The Rays limited Boston to one hit in a 2-0 victory on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay had a runner reach third in each of the first three innings against Berríos but went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games with a sixth-inning single.

Ernie Clement, filling in for injured Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, made a couple of strong defensive plays. He made a lunging play on Jonny DeLuca's two-out grounder during the third and started a nifty inning-ending double play in the fifth.

Clement walked leading off the eighth and stole second, but was tagged out trying to advance on Kirk's grounder to third.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: Bichette (broken right middle finger) will see a hand specialist on Tuesday. … RHP Kevin Gausman, who left his start after throwing five no-hit innings Thursday against Texas with back tightness, is feeling better and could make his next scheduled start. … INF Will Wagner had his left knee scoped on Friday. … OF Daulton Varsho will have right rotator cuff surgery on Monday and there is a chance he won’t be ready for spring training next year.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays RHP Yariel Rodríguez (1-6, 4.29 ERA) and Rays RHP Taj Bradley (6-11, 4.39 ERA) are Saturday’s scheduled starters.

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Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk (30) tags out Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Díaz, right, at the plate on a fielder's choice to Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays' Brandon Lowe walks back to the dugout after striking out against Toronto Blue Jays stater José Berríos during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Diaz, foreground, kneels on the bag after reaching third base on a passed ball by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Alexander pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Toronto Blue Jays starter José Berríos pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Toronto Blue Jays first base coach Mark Budzinski, front right, looks on as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, gestures toward the dugout after hitting a single to center field off Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Alexander during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero doubles to right field off Toronto Blue Jays starter José Berríos during the thitrd inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda (62) steps out of the way as Tampa Bay shortstop José Caballero, center, holds up on a throw to first after forcing out Toronto Blue Jays' Leo Jiménez at second base during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays teammates celebrate with Jonathan Aranda, center, in the dugout after his solo home sixth nning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Tampa Bay Rays first base Jonathan Aranda (62) hits a solo home run to right center field off Toronto Blue Jays starter José Berríos during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

BEIRUT (AP) — Chris Knayzeh was in a town overlooking Lebanon's capital when he heard the rumbling aftershock of the 2020 Beirut port blast. Hundreds of tons of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrates had exploded, killing more than 200 people and injuring thousands.

Already struggling with the country’s economic collapse, the sight of the gigantic mushroom cloud unleashed by the blast was the last straw. Like many other Lebanese, he quit his job and booked a one-way ticket out of Lebanon.

Knayzeh, now a lecturer at a university in France, was visiting Lebanon when news broke Tuesday of a deadly attack in which thousands of handheld pagers were blowing up in homes, shops, markets and streets across the country. Israel, local news reports said, was targeting the devices of the militant Hezbollah group. Stuck in Beirut traffic, Knayzeh started panicking that drivers around him could potentially be carrying devices that would explode.

Within minutes, hospitals were flooded with bloodied patients, bringing back painful reminders of the port blast four years ago that left enduring mental and psychological scars for those who lived through it.

A day later, a similar attack struck walkie-talkies. In total, the explosions killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,000, many of them civilians. Israel is widely believed to be behind the blasts, although it has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

“The country's state is unreal,” Knayzeh told The Associated Press.

The port blast was one of the biggest nonnuclear explosions ever recorded, and it came on top of a historic economic meltdown, financial collapse and a feeling of helplessness after nationwide protests against corruption that failed to achieve their goals. It compounded years of crises that have upended the lives of people in this small country.

Four years after the port catastrophe, an investigation has run aground. The ravaged Mediterranean port remains untouched, its towering silos standing broken and shredded as a symbol of a country in ruins. Political divisions and paralysis have left the country without a president or functioning government for more than two years. Poverty is on the rise.

On top of that and in parallel with the war in Gaza, Lebanon has been on the brink of all-out war with Israel for the past year, with Israel and Hezbollah trading fire across the border and Israeli warplanes breaking the sound barrier over Beirut almost daily, terrifying people in their homes and offices.

“I can’t believe this is happening again. How many more disasters can we endure?” asked Jocelyn Hallak, a mother of three, two of whom now work abroad and the third headed out after graduation next year. “All this pain, when will it end?”

A full-blown war with Israel could be devastating for Lebanon. The country’s crisis-battered health care system had been preparing for the possibility of conflict with Israel even before hospitals became inundated with the wounded from the latest explosions. Most of the injuries received were in the face, eyes and limbs — many of them in critical condition and requiring extended hospital stays.

Still, Knayzeh, 27, can't stay away. He returns regularly to see his girlfriend and family. He flinches whenever he hears construction work and other sudden loud sounds. When in France, surrounded by normalcy, he agonizes over family at home while following the ongoing clashes from afar.

“It’s the attachment to our country I guess, or at the very least attachment to our loved ones who couldn’t leave with us,” he said.

This summer, tens of thousands of Lebanese expatriates came to visit family and friends despite the tensions. Their remittances and money they spend while there help keep the country afloat and in some cases are the main source of income for families. Many, however, cut their vacations short in chaotic airport scenes, fearing major escalation after the assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas commanders in Beirut and Tehran last month, blamed on Israel.

Even in a country that has vaulted from one crisis to another for decades, the level of confusion, insecurity and anger is reaching new heights. Many thought the port blast was the most surreal and frightening thing they would ever experience — until thousands of pagers exploded in people’s hands and pockets across the country this week.

’’I saw horrific things that day,” said Mohammad al-Mousawi, who was running an errand in Beirut’s southern suburb, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, when the pagers began blowing up.

“Suddenly, we started seeing scooters whizzing by carrying defaced men, some without fingers, some with their guts spilling out. Then the ambulances started coming."

It reminded him of the 2020 port blast, he said. "The number of injuries and ambulances was unbelievable. “

“One more horror shaping our collective existence,” wrote Maha Yahya, the Beirut-based director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center.

“The shock, the disarray, the trauma is reminiscent of Beirut after the port explosion. Only this time it was not limited to a city but spread across the country,” she said in a social media post.

In the aftermath of the exploding pagers, fear and paranoia has taken hold. Parents kept their children away from schools and universities, fearing more exploding devices. Organizations including the Lebanese civil defense advised personnel to switch off their devices and remove all batteries until further notice. One woman said she disconnected her baby monitor and other household appliances.

Lebanon’s civil aviation authorities have banned the transporting of pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport “until further notice.” Some residents were sleeping with their phones in another room.

In the southern city of Tyre, ahead of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, city resident Hassan Hajo acknowledged feeling “a bit depressed” after the pager blasts, a major security breach for a secretive organization like Hezbollah. He was hoping to get a boost from Nasrallah’s speech. “We have been through worse before and we got through it,” he said.

In his speech, Nasrallah vowed to retaliate against Israel for the attacks on devices, while Israel and Hezbollah traded heavy fire across the border. Israel stepped up warnings of a potential larger military operation targeting the group.

Another resident, Marwan Mahfouz, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening Lebanon with war for the past year and he should just do it.

“If we are going to die, we’ll die. We are already dying. We are already dead,” he said.

Karam reported from London. Associated Press writer Hassan Ammar contributed to this report.

A man who was injured in the explosion of one of the handheld devices, sits outside the Eye Specialist hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

FILE - People remove debris from a house damaged by a massive explosion in the seaport of Beirut, on Aug. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

FILE - A survivor is taken out of the rubble after a massive explosion in Beirut, on Aug. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

FILE - A police officer speaks with a protesting depositor as they stand in front of burning tires set on fire in front of a branch of Emirates Lebanese Bank in Dawra, a suburb north-east of Beirut, on Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - A protester holds up a Lebanese national flag as he walks in front of burning tires that are blocking a main road, during a protest in downtown Beirut, on March 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Hezbollah members carry the coffins of two of their comrades who were killed on Wednesday when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

FILE - An anti-government protester flashes the victory sign amid tear gas fired by riot police during a protest marking the first anniversary of the massive blast at Beirut's port, near Parliament Square, in Beirut, on Aug. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - An Israeli reconnaissance drone flies over the funeral procession of four Hezbollah fighters who were killed Tuesday after their handheld devices exploded in the southern suburb of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

A man mourns during the funeral procession of two Hezbollah members, killed on Wednesday when a handheld device exploded, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

FILE - A drone picture shows the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, on Aug. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, on Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - A Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, on Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - Smoke rises after a massive explosion at the port in Beirut, on Aug. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)