Brent Rooker homers twice in 3rd inning, Athletics roll Marlins 20-4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Brent Rooker became the first Oakland player in nearly 30 years to homer twice in an inning, accomplishing the feat in the third inning to help the Athletics pound the Miami Marlins 20-4 on Saturday for their sixth consecutive victory.

The Athletics only All-Star a year ago, Rooker drilled a two-run drive off Marlins starter Trevor Rogers (0-5), then added a three-run shot off Darren McCaughan in the 10-run inning.

“That’s Rook, we (saw) it last year,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He gets hot and he hits mistakes. He got a couple today.”

Oakland set season highs for runs and hits with 21.

Rooker, who also singled in the sixth, is the 60th player in major league history to homer twice in an inning. Trea Turner of Philadelphia was the most recent to do it, reaching the milestone Aug. 19. The last A’s player to do it was Mark McGwire against Seattle on Sept. 22, 1996.

“I grew up in Memphis a big (St. Louis) Cardinals fan so he was kind of one of the first players I remember watching during his time there,” Rooker said. “Being able to do anything the same as him is a huge accomplishment and something that’s really cool for me.”

Brett Harris also homered twice for Oakland, a day after making his major league debut. The home runs were Harris’ first hits in the majors and came with his parents and fiancee among those in attendance. JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers added three-run home runs in the game delayed nearly 3 1/2 hours by rain.

Paul Blackburn (3-1) benefited from all the offense, though he hardly needed it. He retired the first 10 batters and allowed one run and four hits over seven innings.

“Just trying to create some early contact and get those bats back in the dugout,” Blackburn said.

The Athletics (17-17) have been one of the best stories in baseball after losing 112 games in 2023. Oakland — which didn’t win its 17th game last season until June 12 — reached .500 after beginning the year 1-7.

“You’re seeing a group that has some confidence right now,” Kotsay said. “Those are all things that I really I felt this group could accomplish. Maybe it’s come together a little bit sooner but those are good signs.”

Bryan De La Cruz and Nick Fortes homered for the Marlins. Rogers allowed seven runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: Left fielder Esteury Ruiz was shaken up and left the game with a left wrist injury after making a diving catch to rob Bryan De La Cruz of a hit in the sixth inning.

UP NEXT

Athletics RHP Joe Boyle (2-4, 6.08 ERA) was set to start the series finale Sunday against RHP Sixto Sánchez (0-1, 8.36).

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

Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker watches his two-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker hits a three-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker (25) celebrates with Abraham Toro (31) and Tyler Nevin (26) after hitting a three-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics left fielder Esteury Ruiz catches a flyout hit by Miami Marlins' Bryan De La Cruz during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Brett Harris (77) celebrates with JJ Bleday (33) after hitting a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials have developed specific and highly credible intelligence suggesting that an American citizen who disappeared seven years ago while traveling in Syria has died, the man's daughter said Saturday.

Maryam Kamalmaz said in an interview with The Associated Press that during a meeting in Washington this month with eight senior American officials she was presented with detailed intelligence about the presumed death of her father, Majd, a psychotherapist from Texas.

The officials told her that on a scale of one to 10, their confidence level about her father's death was a “high nine." She said she asked whether other detained Americans had ever been successfully recovered in the face of such credible information, and was told no.

“What more do I need? That was a lot of high-level officials that we needed to confirm to us that he’s really gone. There was no way to beat around the bush,” Maryam Kamalmaz said.

She said officials told her they believe the death occurred years ago, early in her father's captivity. In 2020, she said, officials told the family that they had reason to believe that he had died of heart failure in 2017, but the family held out hope and U.S. officials continued their pursuit.

But, she said, “Not until this meeting did they really confirm to us how credible the information is and the different levels of (verification) it had to go through."

She did not describe the intelligence she learned.

A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment Saturday. The FBI's Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell issued a statement that did not offer any update on Kamalmaz but said that no matter how much time has passed, it continues to work “on behalf of the victims and their families to recover all U.S hostages and support the families whose loved ones are held captive or missing.”

Majd Kamalmaz disappeared in February 2017 at the age of 59 while traveling in Syria to visit an elderly family member. The FBI has said he was stopped at a Syrian government checkpoint in a suburb of Damascus and had not been heard from since.

Kamalmaz is one of multiple Americans who have disappeared in Syria, including the journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus. Syria has publicly denied holding Americans in captivity.

In 2020, in the final months of the Trump administration, senior officials visited Damascus for a high-level meeting aimed at negotiating release of the Americans. But the meeting proved unfruitful, with the Syrians not providing any proof-of-life information and making demands that U.S. officials deemed unreasonable. U.S. officials have said they are continuing to try to bring home Tice.

The New York Times first reported on the presumed death of Majd Kamalmaz.

FILE - Rep. Al Green, right, listens as Samar Hamwi, sister of Majd Kamalmaz, speaks during the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, a campaign led by family members of Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, news conference on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 in Houston. U.S. officials have developed specific and highly credible intelligence suggesting that Majd Kamalmaz, an American citizen who disappeared seven years ago while traveling in Syria has died, his daughter, Maryam Kamalmaz, said Saturday, May 18. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP, file)

FILE - Maryam Kamalmaz poses for a photo in her home in Grand Prairie, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. U.S. officials have developed specific and highly credible intelligence suggesting that Majd Kamalmaz, an American citizen who disappeared seven years ago while traveling in Syria has died, Maryam Kamalmazr said Saturday, May 18. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)

FILE - Maryam Kamalmaz hold a photo of her father with some of his 14 grandchildren in Grand Prairie, Texas, Jan. 17, 2024. U.S. officials have developed specific and highly credible intelligence suggesting that Majd Kamalmaz, an American citizen who disappeared seven years ago while traveling in Syria has died, Maryam Kamalmaz said Saturday, May 18. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)