ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda homered for the second consecutive game, helping Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.
Aranda connected for a two-run shot in the third inning against Yariel Rodríguez (1-7), giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. He also went deep in a 1-0 victory over Toronto on Friday night. Five of Aranda's nine career homers have come against the Blue Jays.
Click to Gallery
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda homered for the second consecutive game, helping Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.
Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, left, looks on as Tampa Bay Rays' Ben Rortvedt, right, hits an RBI-single during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe (15) congratulates Jonathan Aranda, right, after Aranda's two-run home run off Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda celebrates in the dugout after his two-run home run off Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays reliever Manuel Rodríguez pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays starter Taj Bradley pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Spencer Horwitz gestures toward the dugout after hitting a single off Tampa Bay Rays starter Taj Bradley during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
“I get excited about him, man,” Bradley said, “When I played with him in Triple-A, you give him enough playing time he's going to go on a run. He's doing it now.”
Bradley (7-11) pitched five innings of one-run ball in his first win since July 25. The right-hander, who struck out four and walked two, was 0-7 with a 7.88 ERA in his previous nine starts.
“I was really proud that he got through the fifth inning,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Bradley threw 103 pitches, 67 for strikes. “That’s a lot of pitches through five innings."
Drew Rasmussen struck out three over two perfect innings to get his first save.
Rodríguez gave up four hits and walked three in four innings. He also struck out three in his 20th start in his first season in the majors.
The Cuban right-hander agreed to a $32 million, five-year deal in February.
“I think it’s been a successful year for him in terms of routines, innings and understanding how this whole thing works out at the big league level,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s been cool to watch. There’s still a long way to go but the innings he has gotten in have been huge for him.”
The Blue Jays threatened in each of the first three innings but failed to score. They went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position after they went 0 for 7 in those situations on Friday.
Alejandro Kirk extended his career-high hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI triple in the seventh for Toronto. It was the catcher’s first career three-base hit.
Kirk got the ball he hit for the triple.
The Blue Jays scored their first run on Spencer Horwitz’s infield single in front of home plate in the fifth.
Ben Rortvedt had six hits in his previous 63 at-bats (.095) before putting the Rays ahead 1-0 on a second-inning RBI single.
Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 3 for 5 and is hitting .324. The third baseman overran Yandy Díaz's popup infield single in the seventh, but the Rays' leadoff hitter was left stranded at first base.
Guerrero has 20 three-hit games this season.
UP NEXT
Rays RHP Shane Baz (3-3. 3.21 ERA) starts Sunday against Toronto. Baz has gone five or more innings and allowed three hits or fewer in a team-record five consecutive starts. The Blue Jays have not announced their starter, but former Rays LHP Ryan Yarbrough (5-2, 3.36 ERA) could get the call.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri reacts after striking out against Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, left, looks on as Tampa Bay Rays' Ben Rortvedt, right, hits an RBI-single during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe (15) congratulates Jonathan Aranda, right, after Aranda's two-run home run off Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda celebrates in the dugout after his two-run home run off Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays reliever Manuel Rodríguez pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Toronto Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Tampa Bay Rays starter Taj Bradley pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Spencer Horwitz gestures toward the dugout after hitting a single off Tampa Bay Rays starter Taj Bradley during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced that it fired a barrage of missiles at a military base deep inside Israel early Sunday following an Israeli airstrike more than a day earlier that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group’s senior leaders as well as women and children.
It was not immediately clear if any of the rockets had hit their target. Israel’s emergency medical services reported that a man was lightly wounded by shrapnel from a missile that was intercepted in a village in the lower Galilee.
Local media reported that rockets shot from Lebanon were intercepted in the areas of Haifa and Nazareth. The Israeli military said only that it had monitored the launch of “about ten rockets” from Lebanon, of which most were intercepted.
Hezbollah said it had launched “dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles" - a new type of weapon the group had not used before - at the Ramat David airbase, southeast of Haifa, "in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese regions and led to the fall of many civilian martyrs.”
In July, the group had released a video with what it said was footage it had filmed of the base with surveillance drones.
Israel and Hezbollah had exchanged heavy fire on Saturday as rescue crews in Beirut searched the rubble of an apartment building that was leveled by the Israeli strike the day before.
Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel for a wave of apparently remotely detonated explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37 people - including two children - and wounding around 3,000. The attacks were widely blamed on Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
On Friday, an Israeli airstrike took down an eight-story building in a densely populated neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs as Hezbollah members were meeting in the basement, according to Israel. Among those killed was Ibrahim Akil, a top Hezbollah official who commanded the group’s special forces unit the Radwan Force. Also killed was Ahmed Wahbi, a top commander in the group’s military wing, the Israeli military said.
Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad, told reporters Saturday that at least seven women and three children were killed in Friday’s airstrike on the building. He said another 68 people were injured, including 15 who were hospitalized.
It was the deadliest strike on Beirut since the bruising monthlong war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, and the casualty count could grow, with 23 people still missing, a government official said.
Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said the attack thwarted the group's chain of command while taking out Akil, who he said was responsible for Israeli deaths and who was on the U.S. wanted list for years.
“This is our commitment to the fallen and their loved ones. This is our commitment to the residents of the north. And this is a clear message to all those who seek to harm us,” he posted on X.
The Israeli government braced for an expected surge in Hezbollah rocket attacks by setting new caps on the size of gatherings and other restrictions in the north of the country, near Israel’s border with Lebanon.
Akil, the main target, had been wanted by the U.S. for years for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s. The U.S. State Department last year announced a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his “identification, location, arrest, and/or conviction.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called Akil’s death “a good outcome” and said he had “American blood on his hands” for the embassy attack.
“You know, 1983 seems like a long time ago,” Sullivan said. “But for a lot of families and a lot of people, they’re still living with it every day.”
Wahbi was described as a commander who played major roles within Hezbollah for decades and was imprisoned in an Israeli jail in southern Lebanon in 1984. Hezbollah said he was one of the “field commanders” during a 1997 ambush in southern Lebanon that left 12 Israeli troops dead.
Hezbollah announced overnight that 15 of its operatives had been killed by Israeli forces, but it didn’t how or where they died. Meanwhile, the Israeli army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said Saturday 16 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Friday’s strike.
Israel and Hezbollah engaged in heavy back-and-forth strikes on Saturday. The Israeli military confirmed that about 90 rockets had been fired at northern Israel and that Israel had struck more than 400 rocket launchers in Lebanon during the day.
Expecting a surge in rocket attacks, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli defense spokesman, announced updated safety guidelines for areas north of Haifa, including caps on gatherings of 30 people in open spaces and 300 in enclosed spaces. Work and school can continue if people can reach protected areas in a timely manner. But since students and teachers in some places wouldn’t be able reach shelters in the required time, Sunday classes were canceled in at least two border regions within an hour of the announcement.
Earlier this week, Israel’s security cabinet said stopping Hezbollah’s attacks on the country’s north, which would allow displaced residents to return to their homes, is now an official war goal, as Israel considers a wider military operation in Lebanon that could spark an all-out conflict. Israel has since sent a powerful fighting force to its northern border.
Hezbollah has maintained that it will halt its strikes only when a cease-fire is reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza,
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire regularly since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel ignited the Israeli military’s devastating offensive in Gaza. But previous cross-border attacks have largely struck areas in northern Israel that had been evacuated and less-populated parts of southern Lebanon.
Friday's strike came hours after Hezbollah launched one of its most intense bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting, largely targeting Israeli military sites. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted most of the Katyusha rockets.
The militant group said its latest wave of rocket salvos was a response to Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. However, it came days after mass explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies killed at least 37 people, including two children, and wounded roughly 3,000 others.
Abiad, the Lebanese health minister, said Saturday that hospitals across the country were filled with the wounded.
The pager and walkie-talkie attacks have been widely attributed to Israel, which hasn't confirmed or denied involvement. They marked a major escalation in the past 11 months of simmering conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Associated Press writers Jack Jeffery and Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem, White House correspondent Zeke Miller in Wilmington, Delaware, and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Israeli firefighters work at a house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near the city of Safed, northern Israel, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo//Leo Correa)
Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of their comrades who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A car passes next to a fire after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli firefighters work at a house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near the city of Safed, northern Israel, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo//Leo Correa)
An Israeli firefighters plane uses a fire retardant to extinguish a fire after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an open area near the city of Safed, northern Israel, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Mourners chant slogans as they carry the coffins of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Mourners rise their hands and chant slogans during the funeral procession of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An Israeli Air Force war plane cross the sky over Israel, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Mourners carry the coffins of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah members carry the coffins of their comrades who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Women attend the funeral of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah supporters carry the coffin of their comrade who was killed in Friday's Israeli strike, during his funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah fighters carry wreaths during the funeral procession of their comrades who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A man mourns during the funeral procession of Hezbollah members who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes that hit Al-Rihan mountain, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of their comrades who were killed in Friday's Israeli strike, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Lebanese citizens watch the smoke of Israeli airstrikes on Mahmoudiyeh mountains, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from Israeli shelling in Jabal al-Rihan, seen from the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Mahmoudiyeh mountains, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from Israeli shelling in Jabal al-Rihan, seen from the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Emergency workers clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Relatives of the victims comfort each other near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from Israeli shelling, seen from the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from Israeli shelling, seen from the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The smoke trail from a Hezbollah rocket, seen from the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Damaged cars at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from Israeli shelling, seen from the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Emergency workers use excavators to clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Emergency workers clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A damaged building at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Emergency workers use an excavator to clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Emergency workers use excavators to clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A man reacts as he speaks on the phone near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Rescuers clear the rubble as they look for survivors at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Damaged cars at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Relatives of the victims react near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Lebanese soldiers secure the area a day after an Israeli missile strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Rescuers at the scene a day after an Israeli missile strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A Lebanese soldier walks near an ambulance an a firefighter truck, securing the area a day after an Israeli missile strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Lebanese soldiers secure the area a day after an Israeli missile strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Emergency workers use excavators to clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
