Braves heading back to the playoffs after a season of adversity

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Braves heading back to the playoffs after a season of adversity

2024-10-01 08:12 Last Updated At：08:20

ATLANTA (AP) — After a season that didn't go nearly as planned, the Atlanta Braves find themselves back in a familiar spot.

The postseason.

The Braves overcame an interminable string of injuries — including the loss of their MVP outfielder and ace pitcher — and an excruciating final day to lock up their seventh straight playoff appearance with a 3-0 win over the New York Mets in the second game of a makeup doubleheader Monday.

Atlanta faces a quick turnaround as it heads across the country to face the San Diego Padres in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, which begins Tuesday.

“A lot of emotions,” longtime manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s why you play this thing, to get in these positions.”

While Atlanta's streak of six consecutive NL East titles was snapped by the Philadelphia Phillies, there were no complaints after all the team went through.

Spencer Strider, coming off a 20-win season in which he set a franchise record with 281 strikeouts, made only two starts before his season ended because of an elbow injury.

Ronald Acuña Jr., the unanimous NL MVP in 2023 when he became the first player in baseball history with 40 homers and 70 stolen bases, went down in late May with the second season-ending knee injury of his career.

Acuña and Strider were the biggest losses, but only part of a revolving door to the injured list that hampered the Braves all year.

Slugging third baseman Austin Riley sustained a broken hand in mid-August and has been ruled out for the playoffs. Key reliever A.J. Minter is also done for the year after undergoing hip surgery. Second baseman Ozzie Albies and center fielder Michael Harris Jr. have returned after missing significant time.

At one point late in the season, the Braves were going with a regular lineup that included three players — Gio Urshela, Ramón Laureano and Whit Merrifield — who landed in Atlanta after being cut by other clubs. Marcell Ozuna was the only hitter the Braves could count on all season, turning in another big year with 39 homers and 104 RBIs.

Through it all, the Braves persevered.

They went into the final week of the regular season trailing the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks by two games for the final two wild-card spots. They went to the final game in a must-win situation after losing 8-7 to the Mets in the opener of a doubleheader.

Atlanta catcher Travis d'Arnaud credited the clubhouse culture.

“We’ve always had each other’s backs,” he said. “When we were going through our lull in the middle of the year, we all had each other’s backs, and that has made us stronger today. We never give up and we believe we can win any game.”

The Braves never looked for excuses, even as all the injuries piled up.

“We lost last year’s MVP. That was a gut punch. But nobody felt sorry for us," d'Arnaud said. “They all want to get to the playoffs and when our big guys went down, I’m sure they all felt a little better about our chances of not making it. ... We knew we had to keep going and now fate is in our hands.”

After relying on an offense that tied a big league record with 307 homers in 2023, the Braves turned to a familiar strength — pitching — to carry them back to the playoffs.

In a twist on the injury theme, Chris Sale was acquired in a trade with the Red Sox and turned in his first largely healthy season since 2018 — though a back issue has clouded his postseason plans.

The 35-year-old left-hander reclaimed his status as one of the game's top pitchers, going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA to stamp himself as the NL favorite for the first Cy Young Award of his career.

Reynaldo López was another revelation. Signed as a free agent, he returned to a starting role after several seasons in the bullpen, going 8-5 with a sparkling 1.99 ERA.

“I just couldn’t have expected this type of season,” López said through an interpreter. “It’s been tremendous."

Sale and López teamed with holdovers Max Fried and Charlie Morton and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach to give Atlanta one of baseball's top rotations.

The bullpen was stout, too, led by closer Raisel Iglesias.

Now, after two straight one-and-done playoff appearances with much stronger rosters, the Braves are hoping to duplicate their improbable run to a World Series championship in 2021.

That team won it all after losing Acuña and patching together an entirely new outfield at the trade deadline.

“All we really care about,” Lopez said, “is getting a ring on our finger at the end of the day.”

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

Israel begins 'limited' ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

2024-10-01 08:07 Last Updated At：08:10

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli ground forces moved into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah and opening a new front in a yearlong war against its Iranian-backed adversaries.

The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah — including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and seeks to step up the pressure on the Lebanese militant group. The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong war in 2006.

The Israeli military said in a brief statement it had begun “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

“These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” it said.

There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the army said soldiers had been training and preparing for the mission in recent months.

Ahead of the Israeli announcement, U.S. officials said Israel had launched small ground raids inside Lebanon. And in another sign the invasion was imminent, Israel declared three small border communities to be a “closed military zone,” restricting access only to army personnel.

There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants. But throughout the evening, Israeli artillery units pounded targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut. Smoke rose from the capital’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate.

Israel has been emboldened by its recent battlefield gains against Hezbollah and appears intent on delivering a knockout blow to its archenemy. But a ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of fighting. It also threatens to unleash further devastation on Lebanon, where hundreds have been killed in recent Israeli strikes and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate.

Both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown. While Hezbollah has built up a formidable arsenal, Israel has invested great sums into training and intelligence gathering. Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah indicate that Israel has infiltrated deep inside the group's upper echelons.

Hezbollah vowed Monday to keep fighting even after its recent losses. The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement that Hezbollah would be ready for a ground operation. He said commanders killed in recent weeks have already been replaced.

The man widely expected to take over the top post from Kassem is Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs.

Israeli strikes in recent weeks have hit what the military says are thousands of militant targets across large parts of Lebanon. Over 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry.

Early Monday, an airstrike hit a residential building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian militants, as Israel appeared to send a message that no part of Lebanon is out of bounds.

Israel declared war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ cross-border attack last Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel the following day in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since then, coming close to a full-fledged war on several occasions but stepping back from the brink.

But as Israel’s war against against Hamas has scaled back in recent weeks, it has turned its focus northward toward Lebanon and stepped up the attacks on Hezbollah. It says it will continue to strike the group until it is safe for displaced Israelis from border communities to return to their homes.

Israeli leaders say they want to Hezbollah to implement the U.S. resolution that ended the 2006 war, which required the group to withdraw some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Israeli border.

Hezbollah has suffered key setbacks in recent weeks. Before Nasrallah’s assassination, a series of mysterious explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies blamed on Israel killed or wounded hundreds of people, many of them Hezbollah members. And Israeli airstrikes have killed most of the group’s senior commanders.

But Hezbollah has continued to launch rockets and missiles into Israel and is still believed to have thousands of fighters near the Israeli border.

Israeli leaders for years have accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters inside homes and other civilian structures in border villages. Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled southern Lebanon in recent weeks fearing an Israeli military onslaught.

Hezbollah has few air defenses, giving the Israeli air force freedom of action over Lebanon’s skies. But a ground operation will be much more challenging, with Hezbollah forces embedded and hiding in local communities and familiar with the local terrain.

Still, Hezbollah’s capabilities remain unclear. It’s possible Hezbollah is holding back to save resources for a bigger battle. But the militant group might also be in disarray after Israeli intelligence apparently penetrated its highest levels.

Some European countries began pulling their diplomats and citizens out of Lebanon on Monday. Germany sent a military plane to evacuate diplomats’ relatives and others. Bulgaria sent a government jet to get the first group of its citizens out.

Israel has a long and bloody history in Lebanon. It briefly invaded in 1978 in a strike against Palestinian militants. It invaded again in 1982 in an operation that turned into an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

The stepped-up action against Hezbollah also could raise the risk of a broader region-wide war as Israel confronts a series of foes backed by arch-enemy Iran.

Israel this week carried out an airstrike in Yemen against the Houthi militia in response to a series of missile strikes. Netanyahu has also threatened Iran, warning the Tehran government that Israel is capable of striking anywhere in the Middle East.

The United States and its allies have called for a cease-fire, hoping to avoid further escalation that could draw in Iran and set off a wider war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown little interest, as his country racks up military achievements against a longtime foe.

France, which has close ties to Lebanon, has joined the United States in calling for a cease-fire. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, visiting Beirut Monday, urged Israel to refrain from a ground offensive.

Barrot also called on Hezbollah to stop firing on Israel, saying the group “bears heavy responsibility in the current situation, given its choice to enter the conflict.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaking after meeting with Barrot, said the country is committed to an immediate cease-fire followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, in keeping with a U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war but was never fully implemented.

Sewell reported from Beirut and Lee reported from Washington.