Nick Gonzales hits winning single in 9th, Pirates rally for 8-7 win over Phillies

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nick Gonzales hit the winning RBI single in the ninth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a three-run deficit for an 8-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

With the Pirates trailing 7-6, Connor Joe led off the ninth with a single before José Alvarado (1-4) walked Andrew McCutchen. Michael A. Taylor, running for Joe, and McCutchen executed a double steal. Oneil Cruz brought in the tying run on a one-out fielder’s choice.

Gonzales then sent a first-pitch cutter through the left side of the infield to defeat the Phillies, who have lost three of four in front of a sellout crowd of 39,530, the largest in the regular season at PNC Park since April 13, 2015.

“I don’t think so," Gonzales said when asked whether he'd played in a more memorable game. "Just the back and forth, especially against them, it’s pretty cool to do. It kind of shows that we can compete against the best.”

The Pirates have won five in a row to move over .500 at 49-48 for the first time since April 24.

Carmen Mlodzinski (2-3) allowed two singles in the ninth before retiring three in a row.

Weston Wilson, who had a career-best three hits, put the Phillies ahead 4-3 in the third inning with a home run to left, his first this season and second in the majors. He capped a three-run first inning with his first of two singles, grounding it off the chest of third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes to follow a two-run double from Nick Castellanos.

“(Wilson is) a baseball player,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. “He can run. He can hit. ... He's a baseball player, so we're giving him a chance here. Hopefully, he grabs it.”

Cruz drove in the first of Pittsburgh’s three runs off Aaron Nola in the first, hitting a double with an exit velocity of 120.5 mph to center. He led off the third with another double before scoring on a sacrifice fly to tie it 4-all.

“He was outstanding," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I think if anybody needed the four days, it was him, because I think you guys saw him in Chicago. He was beat up and he wasn’t moving at full speed. To be able to get him back to healthy I think is really important.”

Nola was tagged for four runs and six hits with four strikeouts in five innings.

“Early in the game, he looked a little bit rusty,” Thomson said. “Seven days off between starts. A lot of stressful pitches early.”

Trea Turner put the Phillies up for a third time with a two-run homer off Pirates starter Martín Pérez in the fourth inning. Edmundo Sosa scored on Kyle Schwarber’s sacrifice fly to make it 7-4 in the fifth.

Pérez lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks.

Cruz hit an RBI infield single in front of Rowdy Tellez’s third sacrifice fly of the night that cut the deficit to 7-6 in the seventh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LHP Ranger Suárez threw Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, going out to 120 feet and throwing a flat-ground session before the game. He missed the All-Star Game with low back spasms. ... RHP Zack Wheeler (back tightness) also threw 120 feet on Friday but did not have a flat-ground session.

Pirates: LHP Bailey Falter threw a live bullpen on Thursday. He was placed on the 15-day injured list with left triceps tendinitis on July 7.

UP NEXT

RHP Luis Ortiz (4-2, 2.84 ERA) will take the mound for the Pirates on Saturday, opposite Phillies LHP Cristopher Sánchez (7-4, 2.96).

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

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Martín Pérez delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales hits a walkoff single off Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher José Alvarado during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper celebrates with teammates in the dugout after coming around to score in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos celebrates after hitting a two-run RBI double in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Philadelphia Phillies' Weston Wilson celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner (7) reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run off of Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Martin Perez in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz hits an RBI double in the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen slides in safely to third base in the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Philadelphia Phillies' Garrett Stubbs reacts after being hit by a pitch in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales, center, is is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walkoff single off Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher José Alvarado during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales, center, is mobbed by teammates after hitting a walkoff single off Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher José Alvarado during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales, right, reacts after hitting a walkoff single off of Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher José Alvarado during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes killed 16 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including five women and four children.

A strike flattened a home in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 10 people there, including four women and two children. The Awda Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the toll and also said 13 people were wounded. Hospital records show that the dead included a mother, her child and her five siblings.

Another strike on a home in Gaza City killed six people, including a woman and two children, according to the Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government.

Israel says it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack triggered the Israel-Hamas war nearly a year ago. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.

Here’s the latest:

SANAA, Yemen — The leader of Hamas Yahya Sinwar has told Yemen’s Houthi rebels that their recent missile attack has sent a message to Israel.

Yahya Sinwar’s letter to Abdul-Malek al-Houthi was published by the Houthis’ al-Masirah news channel Monday, a day after a missile fired by the Iran-backed rebels landed in an open area in central Israel and triggered air raid sirens at its international airport.

“I congratulate you for succeeding in making your missile reach the depth of the enemy’s entity after surpassing all defense systems,” Sinwar’s letter read, according to al-Masirah.

Sinwar added that the Yemeni missile attack sent a message that that attempts to “contain” Hamas have failed and that the back-up fronts by Iran-backed groups are becoming more effective.

Sinwar said that Hamas carried out the Oct. 7, attack on southern Israel and has since been fighting “a defensive war that has exhausted the enemy.” He added that Hamas had prepared for “a long war of attrition that will break” Israel’s political will.

Shortly after the Israel-Hamas war started, Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq have claimed responsibility for scores of attacks against Israel saying they are backing their allies in Hamas.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians say Israeli settlers wielding sticks stormed a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank, beating staff members and tying up the principal.

The Israeli military said Palestinians had attacked an Israeli nearby, inflicting a head injury, before fleeing to the school on Monday. It said a group of Israelis followed the attackers and a confrontation ensued in which a number of Palestinians were hurt.

Hassan Malihat, a Palestinian lawyer who at the time was visiting the school near the city of Jericho, said the settlers entered at around 8 a.m. He says the Israeli army arrived about two hours later and arrested three staff members, including the principal.

The military said soldiers and police were dispatched to the school, ended the confrontation and arrested a number of suspects.

The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service says seven Palestinians were wounded in the confrontation.

Settler violence has surged across the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza. In some cases, Israeli settlers have stormed Palestinian villages setting cars and properties ablaze.

There has also been a rise in car-ramming, stabbing and shooting attacks carried out against Israelis by Palestinian militant groups and lone attackers.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war — lands the Palestinians want for a future state.

The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in some areas. Over 500,000 settlers with Israeli citizenship live in well over 100 settlements considered illegal by most of the international community.

ANKARA, Turkey — Initial findings from an autopsy by Turkish authorities indicate that Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi who was killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank died from a gunshot wound to the head.

The eight-page report, signed by four forensic doctors and a forensic technician, was made available to The Associated Press on Monday. It described details such as skull fractures caused by the gunshot and brain tissue damage, noting that a toxicology report and tissue sample analysis are still pending.

The 26-year-old activist from Seattle, who held dual U.S. and Turkish citizenship, was killed on Sept. 6 during a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Her funeral and burial took place in the Turkish Aegean coastal town of Didim on Saturday.

The Israeli military stated last week that Eygi was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces. Turkey is conducting its own investigation into her death.

JERUSALEM — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says the first round of a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza ended successfully by reaching 90% of the children it targeted.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on the social media platform X, that Israel and Palestinian militants had largely observed humanitarian pauses to allow the campaign to proceed.

The vaccination drive showed that “when there is a political will, assistance can be provided without disruption,” Lazzarini wrote on Monday.

UNRWA is the main provider of humanitarian assistance in the coastal enclave. Health workers plan to administer a second dose of the vaccine at the end of this month.

The campaign was launched after the detection of Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years and sought to reach some 640,000 children under the age of 10. Health workers faced a host of challenges, including damaged roads, gutted health facilities and ongoing fighting nearly a year into the Israel-Hamas war.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister has told his U.S. counterpart that time is running out for an agreement with Hezbollah to halt the fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Yoav Gallant told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that “the possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas.”

“The trajectory is clear,” Gallant added, according to a statement released from his office on Monday.

Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into northern Israel after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Both armed groups are allied with Iran, and Hezbollah says it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel has responded to the attacks with airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders. It has threatened a wider operation, raising fears of another all-out war.

Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, but months of talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled.

Hamas has demanded a lasting cease-fire and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as part of any agreement to release the scores of hostages it still holds from the Oct. 7 attack.

Gallant told Austin that “in any possible scenario, Israel’s defense establishment will continue to operate with the aim of dismantling Hamas and ensuring the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza — by any means.”

A police officer inspects the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers move next to destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers take up position next to buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli airstrikes kill 16 in Gaza, including 4 children, Palestinians say

Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli airstrikes kill 16 in Gaza, including 4 children, Palestinians say

FILE -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)