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Rays' Josh Lowe gets hurt on opening day, injures oblique for third time in 13 months

Sport

Rays' Josh Lowe gets hurt on opening day, injures oblique for third time in 13 months
Sport

Sport

Rays' Josh Lowe gets hurt on opening day, injures oblique for third time in 13 months

2025-03-29 08:15 Last Updated At:08:21

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Josh Lowe hurt his right oblique in the Tampa Bay Rays opener Friday, one year after the injury caused him to miss 46 games.

Lowe grounded out in his first at-bat and felt discomfort when he fouled off a sweeper on the sixth pitch of his fifth-inning plate appearance against Colorado's Kyle Freeland. Lowe singled to center on the next pitch, winced as he left the batter's box and ran gingerly to first.

Head athletic trainer Joe Benge met Lowe at the base and walked back to the dugout with him as José Caballero pinch-ran.

“It’s super frustrating,” Lowe said after the Rays' 3-2 win, still wearing eye black and looking dismayed. “I've done that so many times this spring where I've swung at that pitch and felt fine, and then for some reason for it to happen today, I don’t have words for it.”

Tampa Bay said Lowe had right oblique discomfort and will have an MRI on Saturday. Last year's injury felt lower, in the ribcage area.

Lowe, 27, hit .241 with 10 homers, 34 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in 106 games last season. The left fielder was slowed by left hip inflammation during spring training in 2024, then strained his right oblique and didn’t make his season debut until May 6. He was sidelined by the oblique again between May 22 and June 5.

“I’m confident he’s going to miss some time here,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Josh battled injuries for the better part of six months last year and then to have a healthy spring, a dominant spring, and then (second) at-bat in he’s out of the game. I can’t imagine what’s going through his head.”

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

Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe, right, winces in pain as he talks to first base coach Michael Johns (9) after his single during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe, right, winces in pain as he talks to first base coach Michael Johns (9) after his single during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Fighting raged Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after U.S. President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a new ceasefire.

Thai officials said they did not agree to a ceasefire. Cambodia has not commented directly on Trump’s claim, but its defense ministry said Thai jets carried out airstrikes Saturday morning.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Saturday that some of Trump's remarks didn't “reflect an accurate understanding of the situation.”

He said Trump’s characterization of a land mine explosion that wounded Thai soldiers as a “roadside accident” was inaccurate, and did not reflect Thailand's position that it was a deliberate act of aggression.

Sihasak said that Trump’s willingness to credit what may be “information from sources that deliberately distorted the facts” instead of believing Thailand hurt the feelings of the Thai people “because we consider ourselves — we are proud, in fact — to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region.”

The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.

The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

More than two dozen people on both sides of the border have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while more than half a million have been displaced.

The Thai military acknowledged 15 of its troops died during the fighting, and estimated earlier this week that there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers. Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and more than six dozen wounded.

Trump, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announced on Friday an agreement to restart the ceasefire.

“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

Trump’s claim came after midnight in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Anutin had, after his call with Trump, said he had explained Thailand’s reasons for fighting and said peace would depend on Cambodia ceasing its attacks first.

The Thai foreign ministry later explicitly disputed Trump’s claim that a ceasefire had been reached. Anutin's busy day on Friday included dissolving Parliament, so new elections could be held early next year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in comments posted early Saturday morning, also made no mention of a ceasefire.

Hun Manet said he held phone conversations on Friday night with Trump, and a night earlier with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thanked both “for their continuous efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand.”

“Cambodia is ready to cooperate in any way that is needed," Hun Manet wrote.

Anwar later posted on social media that he was urging the two sides to implement a ceasefire on Saturday night. Cambodia's prime minister, also posting online, endorsed the initiative, which included having Malaysia and the United States help monitor it. However, Thai Prime Minister Anutin denied that his country was even in negotiations over the proposal.

Thailand has been carrying out airstrikes on what it says are strictly military targets, while Cambodia has been firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets that have caused havoc but relatively few casualties.

BM-21 rocket launchers can fire up to 40 rockets at a time with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These rockets cannot be precisely targeted and have landed largely in areas from where most people have already been evacuated.

However, the Thai army announced Saturday that BM-21 rockets had hit a civilian area in Sisaket province, seriously injuring two civilians who had heard warning sirens and had been running toward a bunker for safety.

Thailand's navy was also reported by both sides' militaries to have joined the fighting on Saturday morning, with a warship in the Gulf of Thailand shelling Cambodia's southwestern province of Koh Kong. Each side said the other opened fire first.

——

Peck reported from Bangkok. Sopheng Cheang in Serei Saophoan, Cambodia, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

A man sits in a tent as he takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A man sits in a tent as he takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An evacuee cooks soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An evacuee cooks soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

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