Warren earns first career win and Bellinger hits go-ahead single as Yanks beat Giants 8-4

NEW YORK (AP) — Will Warren pitched five innings in rainy conditions for his first major league win, Cody Bellinger hit a go-ahead RBI single in New York's five-run fifth inning and the Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 8-4 on Saturday.

Warren (1-0) allowed two runs and two hits in his eighth career start and gave the Yankees a much-needed solid outing after Marcus Stroman got two outs Friday and went on the injured list with left knee inflammation before the game.

Bellinger hit an RBI triple in the first before snapping a 2-2 tie with a single off Jordan Hicks (1-1). Paul Goldschmidt followed with an RBI ground-rule double and Anthony Volpe lifted a sacrifice fly before Jasson Domínguez had a two-run single.

Ben Rice also homered for the Yankees, who lead the AL with 26.

The Yankees entered with four losses in their previous five games and a 5.46 ERA from their rotation, the worst amongst 30 teams.

Struggling New York closer Devin Williams struck out two and stranded a pair of runners in the ninth.

Wilmer Flores hit a two-run homer and a two-run double for the Giants, whose 11-4 start is their best through 15 games since 2003.

Hicks allowed seven runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.

The Yankees went ahead when Bellinger’s fly ball caromed off left fielder Heliot Ramos’ glove. After Flores homered in the second, Bellinger singled to center and Goldschmidt hit a double that bounced into the right field seats for a 4-2 lead.

Warren got a called third strike with his fastball on Mike Yastzemski to end the fifth after he walked ninth-place hitter Tyler Fitzgerald. ... Weaver fanned Sam Huff to end the sixth with two on after the Giants cut the lead to 7-4.

Bellinger, who got food poisoning in Detroit on Monday night, entered with three hits in his previous 21 at-bats. ... Domínguez was hitless in 15 at-bats before singling in the fifth.

San Francisco RHP Logan Webb (1-0, 1.89 ERA) faces New York LHP Carlos Rodon (1-2, 5.19) in Sunday’s series finale.

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

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge reacts after hitting a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

San Francisco Giants' Jordan Hicks pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

San Francisco Giants' Willy Adames, left, and Jung Hoo Lee, right, react after scoring during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Ben Rice, right, and Aaron Judge, left, react after Rice hit a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge rounds third to score on an RBI triple hit by Cody Bellinger in the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Ben Rice is greeted in the dugout after scoring a run on a single hit by Cody Bellinger in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

San Francisco Giants' Wilmer Flores hits a single scoring Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Luke Weaver pitches during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger, left, celebrates with third base coach Luis Rojas, right, after hitting a triple that scored Aaron Judge during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Will Warren pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An American pastor who was kidnapped last week by armed and masked men during a sermon in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa was rescued on Tuesday after three of his abductors engaged in gunfire with officials and were killed, police said Wednesday.

The 45-year-old American citizen, Josh Sullivan from Tennessee, has been based in the Motherwell township branch of the Fellowship Baptist Church since 2018 alongside his wife and two children.

The missionary was abducted on Thursday when four men broke into the church. They stole two cellphones from members of the congregation before seizing Sullivan from the pulpit and bundling him out of the building. His truck was found abandoned a few hours later.

A multi-agency task force, including the Anti-Gang Unit and the Serious Organised Crime Unit, took over the investigation. On Tuesday night they approached the location where they suspected Sullivan was being held, a house in KwaMagxaki in the city of Gqeberha, about 20 minutes' drive from the Baptist church.

According to police, a shootout began when suspects in a car parked outside the house tried to escape and began firing at them. Three unidentified suspects were killed, police said.

“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba said in a statement. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”

The number of kidnappings in South Africa has risen by 264% over the past decade, police data showed.

According to the Institute of Security Studies, a think tank specializing in Africa, kidnapping has become a key tactic in armed robberies and carjackings. In its latest Africa report, the ISS noted that less than 5% of kidnappings in South Africa involve ransom demands.

Since his release, Sullivan, who describes himself as “a church-planting missionary” on his personal website, has been reunited with his wife, Meagan, and their two children.

A man named Tom Hatley, whom Sullivan describes on his blog as a training pastor, posted a picture of Sullivan and his family on Facebook. “Josh has been released,” Hatley wrote.

“Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for the Sullivans,” his post read.

South African Police Service, South African law enforcement officers walk inside a yard of the house where an American missionary Josh Sullivan was being held in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha, South Africa, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo)