CHICAGO (AP) — Thirty months after his last appearance, Lance McCullers Jr. finally made it back to the mound in a major league game.
The 31-year-old McCullers started Sunday for the Houston Astros and threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his first outing since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series in Philadelphia. McCullers had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and to remove a bone spur. Then he was shut down after a setback last year.
He kept the Chicago White Sox off the scoreboard in his first game back, allowing three hits and three walks with four strikeouts. The Astros lost 5-4 in a game shortened to seven innings by rain.
“I was happy with the overall stuff. Physically, I felt strong through the game,” McCullers told reporters. “Very grateful to just be back out with the team and be an active member.”
McCullers stranded runners on second and third in the first inning and pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the second. After a 1-2-3 third, he got two outs in the fourth but also allowed a double and a walk. He was taken out after 87 pitches.
“A lot of foul balls, a lot of high-stress moments there, but I think he pitched out of them," Espada said. "So he'll get ready for the next one.”
McCullers is 49-32 with a 3.46 ERA in his career, which has been entirely with Houston. He went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 2021, the last time he pitched anything resembling a full season.
If he can regain that level, the right-hander can obviously help the Astros.
“It has been a very long road for me. It's been a grind to get back to this point,” McCullers said. “I know that I have to do a better job of controlling the pitch count and getting quick outs and things like that, but from where I've come from over the last couple years, especially where I was early this offseason, I would lie to you guys if I didn't say I was pretty proud of myself.”
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Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.
On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.
It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.
Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.
Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.
Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.
The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.
Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.
Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.
President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
