NEW YORK (AP) — Starling Marte walked to the plate with a gift — from a 12-year-old fan.
Batting with runners at the corners in the eighth inning of NL Championship Series Game 5, Marte wore an orange-white-and-blue necklace handed to him by a 12-year-old boy, Simeon.
Marte delivered an RBI single for his fourth hit and third RBI of the game in a 12-6 New York Mets victory over the Dodgers that forced a Game 6 in Los Angeles.
“Usually in the eighth inning I start to throw the balls to fans because I want the kids to go with a little memory. In the fifth inning a fan was trying to get my attention,” Marte said through an interpreter. “And in the seventh inning or eighth inning I ended up throwing the ball and they gave me the necklace. And in my next at-bat I ended up getting a hit there. I kind of just kept looking at him. So I just kept it. But it was a really special moment.”
Marte, a 36-year-old two-time All-Star, is hitting .409 with four RBIs in the series and .310 with nine RBIs in 12 postseason games.
“He’s been making the necklaces for a while for friends, and he had been trying for a few innings to give one to Starling,” Simeon's father, Andrew, wrote in an email, asking that the family's last name not be used. “He was so excited when he took it and then put it on.”
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New York Mets' Starling Marte celebrates after a double against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 5 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets' Starling Marte celebrates after a double against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 5 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets' Starling Marte hits a RBI-single against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning in Game 5 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Riot police were out in force in Venezuela 's capital Thursday looking to quell protesters seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro's attempt to cling to power despite credible evidence that he lost last summer's election by a landslide
The National Assembly, which like all institutions in Venezuela is controlled by the ruling socialist party, is scheduled to swear in Maduro on Friday to another six-year term. In anticipation, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was banned from running against Maduro and has been in hiding since the disputed vote, has called for mass protest to block that from happening.
Early Thursday, the normally bustling streets of Caracas were lifeless as schools, businesses and government agencies shuttered fearing violence.
By midday, there was a relatively small turnout for the protests. Venezuelans who've witnessed Maduro's security forces round up scores of opponents and regular bystanders since the July election were reluctant to mobilize in the same numbers as they have in the past.
“Of course, there’s fewer people,” said empanada vendor Miguel Contrera as National Guard soldiers carrying riot shields buzzed by on motorcycles. “There’s fear.”
Those demonstrators that did show up blocked a main avenue in one opposition stronghold Thursday to shouts of “Freedom! Freedom!” Many were senior citizens and dressed in red, yellow and blue, answering Machado’s call to wear the colors of the Venezuelan flag. All repudiated Maduro and said they would recognize Edmundo González — Machado's last minute stand-in on the ballot — as Venezuela's legitimate president.
The deployment of security forces as well as pro-government armed groups known as “colectivos" to intimidate opponents betrays a deep insecurity on the part of Maduro, said Javier Corrales, a Latin America expert at Amherst College.
Since the elections, the government has arrested more than 2,000 people — including as many as 10 Americans and other foreigners — who it claims have been plotting to oust Maduro and sow chaos in the oil rich South American nation. This week alone, masked gunmen arrested a former presidential candidate, a prominent free speech activist and even González's son-in-law as he was taking his young children to school.
“It’s an impressive show of force but it’s also a sign of weakness,” said Corrales, who co-authored this month an article, “How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote,” in the Journal of Democracy.
“Maduro is safe in office,” said Corrales, “but he and his allies recognize they are moving forward with a big lie and have no other way to justify what they are doing except by relying on the military.”
González, who has been crisscrossing the Americas this week after fleeing to Spain in September, appeared to walk back a pledge to return to Venezuela to take office himself on Jan. 10, saying instead he'd be back “very soon.”
“It’s evident that a regime like that represents a threat to the hemisphere,” he said while visiting the Dominican Republic, where he met with President Luis Abinader and a delegation of former presidents from across Latin America. “That is why we Venezuelans are determined to persevere in this fight until the end,”
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, also stacked with government loyalists, declared Maduro the winner of the election. But unlike in previous contests, authorities did not provide any access to voting records or precinct-level results.
The opposition, however, collected tally sheets from 85% of electronic voting machines and posted them online. They showed that its candidate, Edmundo González, had thrashed Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin. Experts from the United Nations and the Atlanta-based Carter Center, both invited by Maduro’s government to observe the election, have said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.
The U.S. and other governments have also recognized González as Venezuela's president-elect. Even many of Maduro's former leftist allies in Latin America plan to skip Friday's swearing-in ceremony.
President Joe Biden, meeting González at the White House this week, praised the previously unknown retired diplomat for having “inspired millions."
“The people of Venezuela deserve a peaceful transfer of power to the true winner of their presidential election,” Biden said following the meeting.
—
Goodman reported from Miami.
A man waves a flag during a protest by opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Security forces patrol past opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who are demonstrating the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro protest the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Government supporters, right, argue with an opponent of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during an opposition protest the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro demonstrate the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez waves after meeting with former presidents of various Latin American countries at the presidential palace in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)
A youth plays a horn during a protest by opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Government supporters ride past opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who are protesting the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
A man wearing the phrase in Spanish "Fight for freedom" kneels during a demonstration by opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Government supporters shout at opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who are protesting the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, third from left, stands with former presidents, from left, Vicente Fox of Mexico, Andres Pastrana of Colombia, Hipolito Mejia of the Dominican Republic, Jamil Mahuad of Ecuador and Felipe Calderon of Mexico at the presidential palace in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP PhotoRicardo Hernandez)
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro protest the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
