JJ Bleday connects twice for first career multi-homer game, A's beat Pirates 5-2

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — JJ Bleday hit a go-ahead home run with one out in the fifth inning and a two-run drive in the seventh for his first career multi-homer game, leading the Oakland Athletics past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Tuesday night.

“Oh, it's awesome, it's a very special night,” Bleday said. “You always dream about those moments and then when it finally comes true it's just like ‘that’s sweet.' But now it's try to find another goal, something else to do.”

Like what? “Maybe three home runs,” Bleday said with a grin.

Mitch Spence (3-1) struck out two over three scoreless innings in relief of starter Alex Wood. The left-hander is still winless over four starts in Oakland since joining the club as a free agent Feb. 2 — and he is yet to pitch more than 5 2/3 innings in seven starts this season.

Tyler Nevin and Abraham Toro hit RBI singles in the second for the A's after Shea Langeliers doubled to start the inning against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller (2-3).

The A’s, who have won three straight and five of six, drew an announced crowd of 3,876 and finished the month of April with a 13-14 record.

“Guys are confident. I think down to each guy I think they were sick of going through what they went through last year,” Wood said of Oakland’s 112-loss 2023 season. “There’s a really strong will to go out there and play well and try and win every night, and you can see it in every guy out there.”

Lucas Erceg struck out the side in the eighth and Mason Miller finished the 2 hour, 22-minute game for his eighth save. The Oakland bullpen has now gone six straight games and eight of nine without surrendering a run — the longest stretch by A's relievers since an eight-game scoreless streak from Aug. 20-29, 2020.

The pitchers are feeding off each other, and the A's are on a roll playing solid, smart baseball — pitching, at the plate and on defense.

“It builds confidence, it gives you momentum,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “When you play good baseball, it's contagious the same as hitting is contagious and guys start feeding off each other.”

Connor Joe homered in the first and singled in the fifth for the Pirates — matching his team's total hits from a night earlier in a 5-1 defeat. Ke'Bryan Hayes added a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

The Pirates lost for the eighth time in 11 games, dropping to 6-4 in games started by an opposing lefty.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: LHP Scott Alexander (bruised left rib) threw live batting practice — IF/OF Miguel Andujar faced him as he recovers from right knee surgery — and will report Friday to Class-A Stockton to begin a rehab assignment. ... RHP Luis Medina will test his sprained right knee with a bullpen session Wednesday.

UP NEXT

RHP Quinn Priester (0-1, 3.84 ERA) pitches the afternoon finale for Pittsburgh opposite Oakland RHP Ross Stripling (0-5, 4.98) still trying to end a career-long 10-game losing streak and earn his first victory since going 10-4 with Toronto in 2022. He was 0-5 with the Giants last year.

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

Oakland Athletics shortstop Darell Hernaiz throws out Pittsburgh Pirates' Joey Bart at first base during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Connor Joe breaks his bat hitting a single against the Oakland Athletics during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Jared Triolo runs home to score against the Oakland Athletics during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Michael A. Taylor catches a line out hit by Oakland Athletics' JJ Bleday during the first inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Connor Joe, right, is congratulated by Andrew McCutchen (22) after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Connor Joe (2) gestures toward teammates past third base coach Mike Rabelo, left, after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Oakland Athletics third baseman Tyler Nevin throws out Pittsburgh Pirates' Alika Williams at first base during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Oakland Athletics' Abraham Toro, right, runs home to score next to Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart during the second inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Oakland Athletics' Tyler Nevin hits an RBI single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Oakland Athletics pitcher Alex Wood works against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

NEW YORK (AP) — A defense witness in Donald Trump's hush money case whom the judge threatened to remove from the trial over his behavior will return to the stand Tuesday as the trial nears its end.

Trump's lawyers are hoping Robert Costello's testimony will help undermine the credibility of a key prosecution witness, Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen.

“They have no case," Trump said outside the courtroom Tuesday. "There’s no crime.”

But Costello angered Judge Juan Merchan on Monday by making comments under his breath, rolling his eyes and calling the whole exercise “ridiculous," prompting the judge to briefly kick reporters out of the courtroom to admonish him.

The judge told Costello, a former federal prosecutor, he was being “contemptuous," adding, “If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand," according to a court transcript.

Costello didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday from The Associated Press.

The chaotic scene unfolded after prosecutors rested their case accusing Trump of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to bury stories that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign. The criminal trial, the first of a former U.S. president, is in the final stretch, with closing arguments expected the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

The charges stem from internal Trump Organization records in which payments to Cohen were marked as legal expenses. Prosecutors say they were really reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public before the 2016 election with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump says nothing sexual happened between them.

Trump has said he did nothing illegal and has slammed the case as an effort to hinder his 2024 bid to reclaim the White House. Trump, a Republican, called the judge a "tyrant" in remarks to reporters while leaving the courthouse Monday and called the trial a “disaster” for the country.

After jurors left for the day Monday, defense attorneys pressed the judge to throw out the charges before jurors even begin deliberating, arguing prosecutors have failed to prove their case. The defense has suggested that Trump was trying to protect his family, not his campaign, by squelching what he says were false, scurrilous claims.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche argued that there was nothing illegal about soliciting a tabloid's help to run positive stories about Trump, run negative stories about his opponents and identify potentially damaging stories before they were published. No one involved “had any criminal intent,” Blanche said.

"How is keeping a false story from the voters criminal?” Blanche asked.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo shot back that “the trial evidence overwhelmingly supports each element” of the alleged offenses and said the case should proceed to the jury.

The judge didn't immediately rule on the defense's request. Such long-shot requests are often made in criminal cases but are rarely granted.

The defense called Costello because of his role as an antagonist to Cohen since their professional relationship splintered in spectacular fashion. Costello had offered to represent Cohen soon after the lawyer’s hotel room, office and home were raided and as Cohen faced a decision about whether to remain defiant in the face of a criminal investigation or to cooperate with authorities in hopes of securing more lenient treatment.

Costello in the years since has repeatedly maligned Cohen’s credibility and was even a witness before last year’s grand jury that indicted Trump, offering testimony designed to undermine Cohen's account. In a Fox News Channel interview last week, Costello accused Cohen of lying to the jury and using the case to “monetize” himself.

Costello contradicted Cohen's testimony describing Trump as intimately involved in all aspects of the hush money scheme. Costello told jurors Monday that Cohen told him Trump “knew nothing” about the hush money payment to Daniels.

“Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times,” Costello testified.

Cohen, however, testified earlier Monday that he has “no doubt” that Trump gave him a final sign-off to make the payments to Daniels. In total, he said he spoke with Trump more than 20 times about the matter in October 2016.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove told the judge that the defense does not plan to call any other witnesses after Costello, though it may still call campaign finance expert Bradley A. Smith for limited testimony. It has not said definitively that Trump won’t testify, but that’s the clearest indication yet that he will waive his right to take the stand in his own defense.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michelle Price in New York; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C.; and Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

Former president Donald Trump waves while leaving Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Members of the press and public stand outside the courtroom after being asked to leave by Judge Juan Merchan during former President Donald Trump's hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Monday, May 20, 2024 in New York. Judge Juan Merchan briefly kicked reporters out of the courtroom after admonishing defense witness Robert Costello for his behavior on the stand. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Judge Juan Merchan, left, castigates witness Robert Costello about his "decorum" in the courtroom in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan Criminal Court during his ongoing hush money trial, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP)

Donald Trump, far left, watches as defense attorney Emil Bove questions Robert Costello, right, with Judge Juan Merchan presiding in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)