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)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Farmers in tractors blocked roads and set off fireworks in Brussels on Wednesday outside a European Union leaders’ summit, prompting police to respond with tear gas and water cannons as protesters rallied against a major free-trade deal with South American nations.

Farmers fear that the deal will undercut their livelihoods, and there are broader political concerns that it could also help drive support for the far right.

Thousands of farmers are also expected at twin rallies planned by farmers' unions that are set to converge on Place Luxembourg, a stone's throw from the European Parliament and the Europa Building where leaders of the 27 EU nations are meeting. They are to discuss amending the trade pact or delaying its signing.

Also on the agenda of the EU summit is a proposal to seize Russian assets for use in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Italy signaled it had reservations too, joining the French-led opposition to signing the massive transatlantic free-trade deal between the EU and the five active Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The deal would progressively remove duties on almost all goods traded between the two blocs over the next 15 years.

Worried by a surging far right that rallies support by criticizing the deal, the French have demanded safeguards to monitor and stop large economic disruption in the EU, increased regulations in the Mercosur nations like pesticide restrictions, and more inspections of imports at EU ports.

Premier Giorgia Meloni told the Italian Parliament on Wednesday that signing the agreement in the coming days “would be premature."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is determined to sign the agreement, but she needs the backing of at least two-thirds of EU nations.

Italy’s opposition would give France enough votes to veto von der Leyen’s signature.

“This doesn’t mean that Italy intends to block or oppose (the deal), but that it intends to approve the agreement only when it includes adequate reciprocal guarantees for our agricultural sector,” Meloni said.

The accord has been under negotiation for 25 years. Once ratified, it would cover a market of 780 million people and a quarter of the globe’s gross domestic product. Supporters say it would offer a clear alternative to Beijing's export-controls and Washington's tariff blitzkrieg, while detractors say it will undermine both environmental regulations and the EU's iconic agricultural sector.

Despite the likelihood of a delay, von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa are still scheduled to sign the deal in Brazil on Saturday.

The political tensions that have marked Mercosur in recent years — especially between Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei and Brazil’s center-left Lula da Silva, the bloc’s two main partners — have not altered the willingness of South American leaders to seal an alliance with Europe that will result in benefits for their agricultural production.

“We remain optimistic that next Saturday we will have approval from the European Union and, therefore, that we can proceed with the signing of the treaty,” said Uruguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Gabriel Oddone.

Lula has been one of the most fervent promoters of the agreement from South America’s largest economy. As host of the upcoming summit, the Brazilian president is betting on closing the deal on Saturday and scoring a major diplomatic achievement ahead of next year’s general elections, in which he will seek reelection.

At a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Lula was clearly irked by Italy and France's positions. He said that Saturday would be a make-or-break moment for the deal.

“If we don't do it now, Brazil won't make any more agreements while I'm president,” Lula said, adding that the agreement would “defend multilateralism” as Trump pursues unilateralism.

Milei, a close ideological ally of Trump, also supports the deal.

“We must stop thinking of Mercosur as a shield that protects us from the world and start thinking of it as a spear that allows us to effectively penetrate global markets,” he said some time ago.

Associated Press writers Debora Rey in Buenos Aires and Mark Carlson in Brussels contributed to this report.

A farmer puts wood in a fire during a demonstration outside the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Protestors and farmers stand next to a wood fire during a demonstration outside the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Farmers use their tractors to block a main road during a demonstration outside a gathering of European leaders at the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)