Herrera and Walker homer, Cardinals beat Guardians 6-5 after Cleveland had clinched division

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Iván Herrera and Jordan Walker hit home runs and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Cleveland 6-5 on Saturday night after the Guardians had already clinched the AL Central title earlier in the day.

José Ramírez and Bo Naylor homered for Cleveland, which clinched its 12th division title since 1995, when the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 9-0 earlier Saturday.

“This is awesome just to see the joy,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “The result of tonight's game, it matters, but at the end of the day, we need to celebrate this. Any time you get the chance, you win the division, you've got to enjoy every second of it.”

Miles Mikolas (9-11) allowed one run on four hits in six innings to earn his first win since July 21 when he beat the Braves in Atlanta. He was 0-3 with a 6.80 ERA in his previous nine starts.

“It's a really good ball club,” Mikolas said. “They like to swing the bat, so you want to jump on top, get ahead early, do your best to keep them off balance and play some great defense out there today.”

Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 46th save in 50 chances to tie Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase for the major league lead.

“He's been incredible, and he's taken the ball every time,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “In a series like this against these guys, it's a race to your ninth inning guy. He did a really nice job of showing that he's one of the best closers in the game.”

Matthew Boyd (2-2) allowed two runs on four hits and three walks and struck out six before being pulled after throwing 88 pitches in four innings.

Andrés Giménez hit an RBI double off Matthew Liberatore after Ramírez hit his 37th home run of the season off JoJo Romero earlier in the eighth inning to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 6-5.

Herrera hit his fourth home run of the season off Nick Sandlin in the seventh after Masyn Winn scored on a rocket that bounced off Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor’s glove for an error to give St. Louis a 6-1 lead.

“I was looking for the fastball first pitch, and I swung at it but I barely saw it,” Herrera said. “Then I saw him shaking, saying no, and I was like he's going to throw a starter because that's his pitch. I just sat on the slider.”

Bo Naylor hit his 13th homer of the season into the right field bullpen to cut Cleveland’s deficit to 2-1 in the fifth.

Walker hit his fifth home run of the season to left field in the fourth inning to put St. Louis ahead 2-0.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Placed RHP Sonny Gray (right flexor tendinitis) on the 15-day injured list and recalled RHP Kyle Leahy from Triple-A Memphis. Gray said he would have been able to keep pitching if the Cardinals had not been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention Friday night.

UP NEXT

Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (3-10, 5.12 ERA) will face Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante in St. Louis’ home finale on Sunday.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the Cleveland manager’s first name to Stephen, instead of Steven.

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

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt walks back from the mound after making a pitching change during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt walks back from the mound after making a pitching change during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Masyn Winn, right, scores past Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Masyn Winn, right, scores past Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Ivan Herrera rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals' Ivan Herrera rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israeli troops raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an extraordinary order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera's broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.

The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, territories that the Palestinians hope to have for their future state.

There was no immediate acknowledgement of the shutdown by Israeli forces. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera denounced the move as it continued broadcasting live from Amman in neighboring Jordan.

Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live on air it would be shut for 45 days, saying that staff needed to leave immediately. The network later aired what appeared to be Israel troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in May 2022.

“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s local bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, in the live footage. “I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment.”

Al-Omari later said that Israeli troops began confiscating documents and equipment in the bureau, as tear gas and gunshots could be seen and heard in the area.

The Palestinians secured limited self-rule in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank through the 1993 Oslo agreements. While Israel occupies and controls vast areas of the West Bank, Ramallah is under full Palestinian political and security control, making the Israeli raid on the Al Jazeera office that much more surprising.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate denounced the Israeli raid and order.

“This arbitrary military decision is a new aggression against journalistic work and media outlets," it said.

The network has reported on the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants’ initial cross-border attack on Oct. 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its staff. It remains unclear whether the Israeli military would target Al Jazeera's operation in Gaza as well.

While including on-the-ground reporting of the war’s casualties, Al Jazeera's Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other regional militant groups.

That has led to Israeli claims by officials up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the network has “harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers.” Those claims have been vehemently denied by Al Jazeera, whose main funder, Qatar, has been key in negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire to end the war.

An order closing Al Jazeera in Israel has been repeatedly renewed in the time since, but it hadn't as of yet ordered the Ramallah offices closed.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. They abducted another 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.

The closure of Al Jazeera's Ramallah office also comes as tensions continue to rise over a possible expansion of the war to Lebanon, where electronic devices exploded last week in a likely sabotage campaign by Israel targeting the Shiite militia Hezbollah.

The explosions Tuesday and Wednesday killed at least 37 people — including two children — and wounded around 3,000 others.

FILE - Al Jazeera broadcast engineer Mohammad Salameh works at the Master Control Room unit inside the network's office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)