Stanton, Soto, Judge homer as Yankees hang on for 8-7 win over Rangers

NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer after Aaron Judge was intentionally walked in the fifth inning, Juan Soto went deep twice, Judge hit his MLB-best 42nd homer and the New York Yankees hung on for an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Judge reached base four times, marking the 41st time he reached base at least three times this season. He singled twice and homered for the first time since Aug. 3 — when Toronto walked him with two outs and nobody on base in the second inning following his 41st homer.

The Yankees moved back into a tie for first place with the Baltimore Orioles.

Playing in his ninth game since missing 28 with a hamstring injury, Stanton tied a season high with four RBIs and homered in consecutive games for the first time since June 11-12 in Kansas City to reach 20 homers for the 13th time in his first 15 seasons.

Stanton fell down to one knee and lined Jose LeClerc’s 2-2 slider into the left field seats to become the 17th player in baseball history to hit 20 homers in 13 of his first 15 seasons. He also became the third player to have 13 20-homer seasons since 2010.

Stanton homered after Judge was intentionally walked for the sixth time in the last eight games and 13th time overall.

“It’s part of the game,” Stanton said. “He’s an all-time talent. So that happens. I got to do what happened today in order for it not to happen. It’s part of the game. You have some fun with it.”

Judge agreed.

“I get on base and hopefully the guys behind me do their thing and today it worked out," he said.

Soto hit a solo homer off Texas starter Andrew Heaney (4-12) in the third and connected again in the seventh off Andrew Chafin. Soto reached 30 homers for the third time in his career as the Yankees won for the 10th time in 14 games and improved to 13-17 in games started by left-handers this season.

It was Soto’s fifth multihomer game this season and 22nd of his career.

Judge followed Soto’s drive with his 299th career homer and it was the third time this season the powerful trio went deep in the same game. The trio’s home runs traveled a combined 1,598 feet.

“I think whenever we get homers, it’s all great for the team,” Soto said.

Marcus Stroman (8-6) started on eight days rest and allowed one run and four hits in five-plus innings for his first win since June 22 — the same game Stanton got hurt. Stroman entered the game 0-3 with a 7.56 ERA in his previous six starts.

Stroman took a shutout into the sixth until Corey Seager doubled and was lifted for Jake Cousins, who struck out three. Tommy Kahnle retired Josh Jung with two on after a two-run fielding error by third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the seventh before Soto and Judge connected.

The Yankees needed Soto’s and Judge’s blasts in the seventh because Mark Leiter Jr. allowed a solo homer to Nathaniel Lowe and a two-run drive to Carson Kelly in the eighth.

Clay Holmes allowed an RBI single to Adolis García but stranded two to secure his 25th save in 35 chances.

“I knew it was a matter of digging deep and making pitches to get out of that,” Holmes said after throwing 45 pitches.

Heaney allowed four runs (three earned) and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Texas lost for the 11th time in 15 games since getting to within a game of .500 on July 25.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “They kept adding on but we kept adding on. We had the winning run on, that’s what makes it tough.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: RHP Max Scherzer (right shoulder fatigue) flew back to Texas because he is not making progress. … RHP Jacob deGrom (right elbow surgery rehab) will face hitters for the first time since his surgery Monday in Boston. He will face hitters at least twice before the team decides if deGrom is ready for a minor league rehab assignment. … RHP Nathan Eovaldi (right side tightness) could skip his next start after exiting after three innings in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader as a precaution. … RHP Josh Sborz (right shoulder fatigue) was placed on the IL for the third time this season and will get examined in Dallas by Dr. Greg Pearl, a thoracic outlet specialist.

Yankees: C Jose Trevino (quadriceps) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset and will play at least two more games there.

UP NEXT

Rangers: RHP Tyler Mahle (0-1, 1.80 ERA) makes his second start since returning from April 2023 Tommy John surgery last week and opposes RHP Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.16) in the opener of a three-game series Monday at Boston.

Yankees: RHP Luis Gil (12-5, 3.06) opposes White Sox LHP Ky Bush (0-1, 6.75) in the opener of a three-game series Monday at Chicago.

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

New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman, left, gets to first base in time to retire Texas Rangers' Josh Smith in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas (67) congratulates Juan Soto after his home run in the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

Texas Rangers' José Leclerc pitches against the New York Yankees during the eighth inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Texas Rangers' Corey Seager is tagged out by New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe at second base during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

Texas Rangers pitcher Andrew Heaney delivers to the plate during a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman delivers to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres dives across the plate for a run as Texas Rangers catcher Carson Kelly catches the late throw in the sixth inning during a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton watches his home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees batter Aaron Judge hits a home run in the seventh inning during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge is greeted in the dugout after hitting a home run in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a home run in the seventh inning, his second of the game, during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto gestures to his dugout after hitting a home run in the seventh inning, his second of the game, during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an apparent Israeli operation targeting Hezbollah's communications network but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them.

Pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack.

An American official said Israel briefed the United States on Tuesday after the conclusion of the operation, in which small amounts of explosive secreted in the pagers were detonated. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information publicly.

The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read.

Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding — leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.

It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.

The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Hezbollah, which has pointed the blame at Israel, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel “as in all the past days” as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza.

“This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday that it committed against our people, our families and our fighters in Lebanon,” it said. “This is another reckoning that will come, God willing.”

Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel on Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led attack in southern Israel triggered a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily, killing hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displacing tens of thousands on each side of the border.

At hospitals in Beirut on Wednesday, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait.

Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told journalists during a tour on hospitals Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Journalists were not allowed to enter hospital rooms or film patients.

The health minister said that the wounded had been distributed among all the area hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded and added that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help in treating the patients.

Earlier Wednesday, an Iraqi military plane landed in Beirut carrying medical equipment, airport officials said. Abiad said the plane was carrying 15 tons of medicine and medical equipment.

Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters.

It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon.

For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon.

“The phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech.

He later added: “I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife’s hands, and in your children’s hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it.”

Associated Press journalists Bassem Mroue and Abby Sewell in Beirut; Zeke Miller in Washington; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.(AP Photo)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard at a street that leads to the American University hospital where they bring wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)