De La Cruz again batters Miami as Reds defeat Marlins 8-2

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De La Cruz again batters Miami as Reds defeat Marlins 8-2

2024-08-07 10:19 Last Updated At：10:21

MIAMI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz again battered the Marlins while at bat and on the bases, going 4 for 5 with two doubles, as the Cincinnati Reds routed Miami 8-2 on Tuesday night.

A night after hitting two homers and two doubles, De La Cruz singled in the first, doubled and scored in the third and hit a bases-loaded double in the fourth that scored two. He then scored after stealing his major league-leading 58th base of the season, snagging third without a throw while Marlins starter Max Meyer (2-2) was in his stretch.

Going on the pitch after singling in the eighth, his speed distracted shortstop Xavier Edwards into a throwing error on Spencer Steer's grounder, taking third without breaking stride. He was stranded.

De La Cruz said he enjoyed Tuesday's performance more, as it built on his earlier outing.

“I am just having fun out there,” De La Cruz said.

Manager David Bell said while the 22-year-old has dominated the first two games of the series, he was particularly impressed by his fourth-inning double which came after he had two strikes. De La Cruz, a left-handed hitter, smacked the pitch deep the opposite way, just inside the left field line, showing some maturity.

“He didn't try to do too much. He got the job done and also drove the ball almost off the wall in left field. Those kind of at bats go a long way,” Bell said.

The Reds also got a strong outing from starter Nick Lodolo (9-4), who gave up two runs on two hits in six innings. He struck out seven. He had struggled since returning last month from the injured list after suffering a blister on his throwing hand, posting a 6.67 ERA in five starts entering Tuesday.

He skated through the first three innings, only allowing a double to Edwards to lead off the first. Then after walking Jonah Bride with one out in the fourth, he appeared to have gotten a double-play grounder from Otto Lopez, but that call was overturned on review. He walked the next two batters to load the bases, before Derek Hill singled in two, for the only Marlins' scoring of the night.

Lodolo said the replay delay and overturned call didn't distract him, saying, “I just tried to do a little too much in that situation.”

“It's something I have got to work on,” he said. But overall, he was pleased with his effort.

“It was good, especially early. I was getting a lot of swing and miss,” he said.

Meyer (2-2) had his third straight rough start since being recalled last month from Triple-A Jacksonville, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking three and hitting one over four innings. The 2020 first-round draft pick, who returned this season from Tommy John surgery, has allowed 13 runs over 13 innings in those starts.

The Reds have now scored 37 runs in five games this season against Miami, going 4-1.

Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson opened the scoring in the second, belting a 418-foot homer to center off Meyer, his 14th of the season. Ty France also homered for Cincinnati, a 395-foot shot to right-center in the fifth off reliever Emmanuel Ramirez, his 10th and second in two games.

Edwards' double extended his on-base streak to 23 games, tying the Phillies' Alec Bohm for the longest active streak in the majors. Philadelphia played later Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

Darren McCaughan, who was called up before the game from Jacksonville, pitched four strong innings in relief for Miami, allowing one run on four hits while striking out three.

TRAINERS ROOM

Marlins: LHP Jesus Luzardo, who has been out since June 22 with a back injury, will not throw for another six weeks, putting his return this season in doubt. C Nick Fortes, who left Monday's game with quadriceps tightness, jogged before Tuesday's game and was available in an emergency.

UP NEXT

LHP Andrew Abbott (9-8, 3.41) will start the third game of the series on Wednesday, while the Marlins will go with Valente Bellozo (0-1, 4.20).

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

Lebanon's new central bank chief vows to fight money laundering and terrorism funding

2025-04-04 18:46 Last Updated At：18:51

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s new central bank governor vowed Friday that the institution will fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism and will work independently away from political intervention.

Karim Souaid, who was speaking after officially taking office in Beirut, added that he will work on restructuring the banking sector, public debt and returning money to depositors.

Lebanon’s economy has been witnessing its worst crisis in its modern history since 2019 and the state must implement reforms demanded by the international community. Such reforms are needed to unlock international aid, and on top of that, Israel’s 14-month war with Hezbollah that caused what the World Bank estimates was $11 billion in damages and economic losses.

Lebanon’s crisis is rooted in decades of corruption by the country’s political and financial leaders that drained state resources and eventually led to a run on the banks in 2019 afterwhich people have lost access to their deposits. The situation has since been made worse with Covid-19, the massive Beirut port blast in August 2020 and the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Since the historic meltdown began Lebanon has been running on a cash economy and in October, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, an international anti-money laundering watchdog, placed Lebanon on its “grey list.”

“We will work on implementing international laws on top of them combating money laundering and supporting terrorism,” Souaid said. The former asset manager added that banks in Lebanon should recapitalize by pumping new money and those that cannot and don’t want to can merge with other lenders. He said that the priority will be to return deposits starting with people who have small accounts. He said the return of deposits should be the responsibility of the banks, central bank and the state.

Souaid said the central bank will study all economic recovery plans put forward by previous governments to help the small nation get out of the crisis.

Wassim Mansouri, who had been acting central bank governor since July 2023, said the central bank’s reserves stood at 10.727 billion at the end of March.

Souaid succeeds Riad Salameh, the embattled former governor of 30 years whose term ended with several international corruption cases lodged against him and for embezzlement and other financial crimes. Salameh was appointed in 1993, when Lebanon was scrambling to bounce back after a 15-year civil war.