Brandon Pfaadt wins 4th straight start and Diamondbacks beat Rays 5-1

PHOENIX (AP) — Brandon Pfaadt won his fourth straight start, Pavin Smith hit a two-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat Tampa Bay 5-1 on Tuesday night as the Rays started their first extended road trip this season.

Smith homered in the third off Zack Littell (0-5) and Tim Tawa followed with a solo shot two innings later. Josh Naylor hit a run-scoring single in the eighth for a 4-1 lead and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added a sacrifice fly.

Pfaadt (4-1) allowed one run and four hits in six innings with five strikeouts and no walks to win four straight starts for the first time in his three-year career.

Tampa Bay started a six-game trip to Arizona and San Diego after playing 19 of its first 22 games at its temporary home, the New York Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field spring training ballpark. The Rays were swept at Texas from April 4-6 and are 0-4 on the road. They have lost six of seven overall.

Coming off a win over Miami, Pfaadt gave up Jake Mangum's run-scoring single in the second inning and little else. He induced a double play in the fourth inning and stranded a runner at third with one out in the fifth.

Littell, tied for the big league lead in losses. took the defeat in his prior start despite allowing a run on five hits in six innings against Boston — a common theme for the right-hander. The Rays had given him three runs of support through his first four starts, a majors-low 1.17 per-game average.

The right-hander left a pitch up in the zone in the third inning and Smith launched it out to right for his fourth homer of the season. Tawa made it 3-1 in the fifth with his third homer of the season.

Littell allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

Mangum led off the fifth inning with a double, but was tagged out after being caught in a rundown on a grounder to first.

Pavin also doubled and finished 2 for 3, raising his average to .397.

Tampa Bay RHP Taj Bradley (2-1, 5.24 ERA) faces Arizona LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2, 4.09) in the middle game of the three-game series on Wednesday.

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Arizona Diamondbacks' Pavin Smith celebrates with Corbin Carroll (7) after hitting a two run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the third inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jake Mangum, right, gets tagged out by Arizona Diamondbacks third base Eugenio Suárez while trying to advance to third base in the fifth inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zack Littell throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Tim Tawa reacts after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fifth inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt throws against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Pavin Smith hits a single against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning during a baseball game, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Transit Authority bolstered security on the public transport system Friday, a day after President Donald Trump's administration repeated its threat to withhold $50 million in federal funding if it didn't deliver a more aggressive crime-cutting plan.

The Chicago Police Department increased its daily presence on the city's transit system by 56%, from 77 to 120 officers. Private security K-9 units will jump 10% to 188.

A day earlier, the Federal Transit Administration delivered a letter to CTA President Nora Leerhsen demanding a more comprehensive plan for reducing crime than the one it submitted last Monday, chiding the CTA for failing to target significant drops in each of the next six months and ordering that a planned security “surge” be implemented immediately.

The administration demanded a crackdown after 26-year-old Bethany MaGee was doused with gasoline and set afire on a city L train in November. Federal prosecutors have charged 50-year-old Lawrence Reed of Chicago with a terrorist attack, which carries a maximum life sentence.

In Thursday's letter, the administration said the CTA's plan failed to meet federal demands that it set targets for fewer assaults of staff and riders for each of the next six months and to increase security. It said CTA monthly goals for limiting assaults on staff and riders were identical for January through March.

“By proposing flat targets for the entire first quarter of the Dec. 15 plan, CTA has failed to set targets showing reductions for ‘each’ month as ordered,” Federal Transit Administration chief Marcus Molinaro wrote.

Molinaro added that the agency “requires full implementation of the security surge” so that “the impact of increased law enforcement presence should be immediate” and evident in crime-cut targets going forward.

The CTA has 90 days to satisfy the federal government's demands or go without funding.

CTA spokesperson Catherine Hosinski would not comment on ongoing discussions with federal officials, but she noted that the transit system's budget approved in early November included $5 million for increased security.

The surge increases the presence of Chicago police officers who volunteer for the duty on their days off. It is in addition to regular police patrol of CTA property.

Chicago police officers “are at the core of CTA’s multilayered security strategy,” Leerhsen said in a statement. “We expect the additional police and K-9 presence on our system to further increase security visibility.”

According to police, the number of violent crimes reported at CTA locations in 2025 through Thursday was 933, down 18 from 2024.

A statewide transit overhaul signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday pumps $1.5 billion more into public transport annually and includes long-range safety and security initiatives.

FILE - A train pulls into the Clark Street and Lake Street Blue Line stop, Nov. 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)