Royce Lewis has 4 RBIs, Twins send White Sox to 18th straight loss with 10-2 romp

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis homered and had a season-high four RBIs and the Minnesota Twins sent the Chicago White Sox to their 18th straight loss, romping to a 10-2 victory Friday night.

The futility streak is the longest in the majors since Baltimore lost 19 straight in August 2021. Chicago had just three hits.

Willi Castro and Byron Buxton homered in a six-run eighth inning.

Miguel Vargas went deep for the White Sox.

The White Sox have been outscored 112-39 during their skid and scored three or fewer runs in 13 of 14 games since the All-Star break.

“Going out there and winning games is what we need to think about,” Vargas said.

Lewis lined a two-run home run in the first and laced a two-run double to the gap in right center in the third.

“I just got some pitches that I think he left over the middle plate a little more than he wanted to,” Lewis said.

A sparkplug for Minnesota’s offense when healthy, Lewis was 4 for 19 in his previous six games after missing 16 because of a right adductor strain. A right quad strain in the season opener led to 63 games being missed.

He has 12 home runs and 25 RBI in 31 games this season, and he has eight games of at least four RBI in 101 career games.

In the eighth, Christian Vázquez had a two-run double before Castro and Buxton each hit two-run home runs.

Joe Ryan (7-7) allowed three hits and struck out seven across 6 1/3 innings for his first victory in four starts. He has 25 straight starts of at least five innings. That includes all 22 this year, the fourth-longest streak in baseball.

“I think it’s a nice, real step for a Joe Ryan at this point in his career to sit here and say, `We expect him to go out and pitch like that,’" manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I wouldn’t say that unless it was the case. It is the case. He’s doing his job and then some right now.”

Ryan struck out the first four Chicago hitters and did not allow a hit until Vargas went deep for his first White Sox home run, a two-run shot in the third. Vargas was acquired from the Dodgers on Monday as part of a three-team trade that included St. Louis.

Making his first start since Oct. 5, 2022, Davis Martin (0-1) allowed four earned runs on six hits and struck out five in 3 2/3 innings. The right-hander had Tommy John surgery in May 2023, and made his season debut with 2 2/3 innings of relief last Saturday.

He was one strike away from getting out of the first inning, but a 3-2 slider to Lewis landed halfway up the left-field seats for a 2-0 Twins lead.

“When you leave something over the middle of the plate he hits it. We wanted to try and do some stuff, but just didn’t execute very well and he capitalized on them,” Martin said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: RHP Drew Thorpe was placed on the 15-day Injured List, retroactive to Thursday, because of a right flexor strain. RHP Prelander Berroa was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

Twins: RF Max Kepler did not play two days after striking out but getting hit in the helmet by Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez’s attempted throw to second base. Baldelli said Kepler passed all concussion-protocol tests but needs to go through a full workout.

UP NEXT

LHP Garrett Crochet (6-8, 3.23) was scheduled to start for Chicago on Saturday night against RHP Bailey Ober (10-5, 3.76).

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Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Steven Wilson reacts after giving up a home run to Minnesota Twins' Willi Castro during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Willi Castro runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton celebrates after his two-run home run as he runs the bases during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton, right, rounds third base on a double hit by designated hitter Royce Lewis during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. Buxton scored on the play. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins designated hitter Royce Lewis celebrates after his two-run home run as he runs the bases during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin winds up to deliver against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas celebrates after his two-run home run with third base coach Eddie Rodriguez as he runs the bases during the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan delivers against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins designated hitter Royce Lewis runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese health authorities reported that at least three people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday, the first such Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital in months.

The Israeli strike came after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with rockets and the region awaited the revenge promised by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah for this week’s mass bombing attack on pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members.

The target of Israel’s airstrike in Beirut’s crowded southern suburbs during rush hour, as people were leaving their work and students heading home from school, wasn't immediately clear. Lebanon's Health Ministry didn't elaborate on the identities of the victims.

Lebanese news stations broadcast footage of wounded people being pulled from the ruins of a flattened building as ambulances rushed to the scene of the strike.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel hit a Beirut suburb with an airstrike Friday, not long after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets following a vow by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said.

The Israeli military said it had carried out a “targeted strike” in Beirut. It offered no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard coming from the city’s southern suburbs.

Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV reported that a drone fired several missiles on the heavily-populated area known as Dahiyeh.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media, confirmed to The Associated Press that an airstrike struck the area, without giving further details.

The strike came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets, which the Israeli military said came in three waves targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.

Following the attacks, the Israeli military said that it had struck areas across southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, but didn’t provide details of damage.

Hezbollah said that its attacks had targeted several sites along the border with Katyusha rockets, including multiple air defense bases as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade they said they’d struck for the first time.

The Israeli military said that 120 missiles were launched at areas of the Golan Heights, Safed and the Upper Galilee, some of which were intercepted. Fire crews were working to extinguish blazes caused by pieces of debris that fell to the ground in several areas, the military said.

The military didn’t say whether any missiles had hit targets or caused any casualties.

Another 20 missiles were shot at the areas of Meron and Netua, and most fell in open areas, the military said, adding that no injuries were reported.

Hezbollah said that the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages and homes in southern Lebanon, not two days of attacks widely blamed on Israel that set off explosives in thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies.

On Thursday, Israel said its military had struck “hundreds of rocket launcher barrels” in southern Lebanon, saying that they “were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory”

The army also ordered residents in parts of the Golan Heights and northern Israel to avoid public gatherings, minimize movements and stay close to shelters in anticipation of the rocket fire that eventually came Friday.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire since Oct. 8, a day after the Israel-Hamas war’s opening salvo, but Friday’s rocket barrages were heavier than normal.

Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to keep up daily strikes on Israel despite this week’s deadly sabotage of its members’ communication devices, which he described as a “severe blow.”

At least 20 were killed in the attacks and thousands were wounded when pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The sophisticated attacks have heightened fears that the cross-border exchanges of fire will escalate into all-out war. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the attacks.

In recent days, Israel has moved a powerful fighting force up to the northern border, officials have escalated their rhetoric, and the country’s security Cabinet has designated the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents to their homes in northern Israel an official war goal.

Fighting in Gaza has slowed, but casualties continue to rise.

Overnight, Palestinian authorities said that 15 people were killed in multiple Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Those included six people, including an unknown number of children, in an airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City that hit a family home, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.

Israel maintains that it only targets militants, and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says that more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry doesn’t 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 more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

More than 95,000 people have also been wounded in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry said.

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

Ambulances arrive at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People stand on top of a damaged car at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People and rescuers gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather near a damaged building at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)