Austin Hays, Nick Lodolo lead Reds to their fifth consecutive victory

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Austin Hays had three hits and two RBIs, and scored the go-ahead run on Monday night as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 for their fifth consecutive victory.

Gavin Lux hit two doubles, his second scoring Hays in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Hays singled with two outs, continued to second on shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s throwing error and then scored on Lux’s line drive to left field.

TJ Friedl also had three of the Reds’ 11 hits and Elly De La Cruz had two hits and two RBIs.

Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo (4-4) allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

Lynn Richardson, Scott Barlow and Brent Suter finished with one scoreless inning each.

Mitch Keller (1-6) also pitched six innings and gave up two runs – one earned – and six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Keller has not won since his season debut on March 28 at Miami and the Pirates have lost his last seven starts.

The Pirates are 3-7 since promoting bench coach Don Kelly to manager on May 8. They have also lost 17 of their last 21 games and not scored more than four runs in 24 straight games.

The Reds added two runs in the eighth innings and three in the ninth both the eighth and ninth innings to extend their lead to 7-1.

MARLINS 8, CUBS 7

MIAMI (AP) — Jesús Sánchez hit a leadoff homer and a game-ending triple, finishing with three hits and four RBIs as Miami came back to beat Chicago.

Rookie catcher Agustín Ramírez also went deep in the first inning for the Marlins, who squandered two leads before Sánchez’s two-run triple won it with two outs in the ninth.

Miami was down to its last strike against reliever Daniel Palencia (0-1) when Derek Hill doubled on an 0-2 count and Javier Sanoja walked. Sánchez then hit a hard smash past first baseman Michael Busch and into the right-field corner, sending both runners home for the Marlins’ sixth walk-off win of the season.

After the Cubs took a 7-6 lead in the sixth, Valente Bellozo (1-2) threw three scoreless innings of relief for the win.

Miguel Amaya homered, doubled and drove in five runs for the NL Central-leading Cubs.

MARINERS 5, WHITE SOX 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Julio Rodríguez hit a grand slam, Luis Castillo pitched seven crisp innings and Seattle beat Chicago for their fourth straight victory.

Castillo allowed three hits, struck out five and walked none in his first win since April 26. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four career starts against Chicago.

The last-place White Sox wasted a sharp performance by Davis Martin in their fifth consecutive loss. The right-hander pitched a career-high 7 1/3 innings of four-hit ball.

Cam Booser replaced Martin (2-5) with one on in the eighth. He walked J.P. Crawford and surrendered Mitch Garver’s pinch-hit single before Rodríguez connected for his second career slam.

Castillo (4-3) retired his last 14 batters. He threw 94 pitches, 64 for strikes.

RED SOX 3, METS 1

BOSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran had a double and a triple as Boston tagged Mets ace Kodai Senga for three runs — the most he has given up all season — and beat New York.

Senga (4-3) fell behind 3-0 after two innings before settling down and retiring the last seven batters he faced. He allowed five hits and three walks in all while striking out five.

Red Sox starter Hunter Dobbins held the Mets to one run on five hits, allowing back-to-back singles before he struck Tyrone Taylor out on a called third strike for the second out in the fifth. Justin Wilson (2-0) fanned Francisco Lindor to end the threat.

Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Duran led off the bottom of the first with a double, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Alex Bregman’s groundout. Trevor Story singled in another run to make it 2-0. Boston made it 3-0 in the second on Duran’s RBI triple, his sixth of the season.

The Mets’ only run came on Taylor’s RBI single in the third.

BREWERS 5, ORIOLES 4

MILWAUKEE (AP) — William Contreras went 4 for 4 and hit a tiebreaking two-out single in the eighth inning as Milwaukee won 5-4 to hand Baltimore their seventh consecutive loss.

The Orioles erased a three-run deficit but still fell to 0-3 since firing manager Brandon Hyde and handing the job to Tony Mansolino on an interim basis. Mansolino had been working as Hyde’s third-base coach.

Baltimore tied the game on Cedric Mullins’ three-run homer off Nick Mears in the seventh inning. Mears hadn’t allowed an earned run in 13 straight appearances before giving up that homer.

Milwaukee responded in the eighth.

Brice Turang drew a two-out walk against Yennier Cano (0-4) and stole second. Contreras then hit a shot that got past shortstop Gunnar Henderson’s diving attempt and went into center field to bring home Turang.

ASTROS 4, RAYS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Meyers hit a go-ahead home run, and Josh Hader stranded a runner on third in the ninth inning to preserve Houston's victory over Tampa Bay.

Chandler Simpson reached on catcher’s interference to begin the ninth against Hader. Simpson advanced on a ground out before stealing third. Hader then got Taylor Wells to pop up a bunt and Isaac Paredes to pop out near third for his 12th save in 12 opportunities.

Meyers went 2 for 3 and hit his third home run on the second pitch from reliever Manuel Rodriguez (0-2) to put the Astros ahead in the seventh.

Meyers walked, stole his eighth base and scored on a double by Cam Smith as part of a three-run first inning against Rays starter Ryan Pepiot. Victor Caratini opened the scoring with his third home run — a two-out solo shot — and Chas McCormick capped it with an RBI single.

Houston’s Colton Gordon — a native of St. Petersburg, Florida, making his second career start — allowed a single to Yandy Díaz leading off the first then retired 12 straight until Brandon Lowe singled in the fifth. Danny Jansen followed with his third homer to make it 3-2. Díaz and José Caballero had back-to-back doubles in the sixth to tie it.

Gordon allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. Bryan King (2-0) got four outs for the win.

CARDINALS 11, TIGERS 4

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sonny Gray struck out 10 and threw six scoreless innings while Brendan Donovan had three hits Monday night, leading St. Louis to a rain-delayed victory over Detroit.

Despite the loss, the Tigers still have the MLB-best record of 31-17.

St. Louis has won 13 of its last 15 games while outscoring opponents 85-36 in that stretch.

Masyn Winn, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Iván Herrera and Victor Scott II each added two hits in the 16-hit St. Louis attack.

There was a 34-minute stoppage for rain in the bottom of the seventh.

Gray (5-1) allowed just three hits and one walk to pick up the win. Gray rebounded from his last start at Philadelphia when he gave up seven runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Sean Guenther (0-1) faced three just batters in his first career major league start in his 38th big league game. Keider Montero relieved after three consecutive hits loaded the bases and led to the Cardinals first run. Montero was charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings.

St. Louis added six runs in the seventh after play resumed. The big hit in the inning came on a two-run homer by Pedro Pagés.

PHILLIES 9, ROCKIES 3

DENVER (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit his 300th career home run, a 466-foot solo blast off the facing of the third deck in right field, Edmundo Sosa had four hits, including his first home run of the season, and Philadelphia rallied to beat scuffling Colorado.

Alec Bohm hit a go-ahead two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning for Philadelphia, which has won four straight.

Joe Ross (2-1) got the win in relief of Cristopher Sánchez, who tossed six strong innings for the Phillies.

Colorado starter Kyle Freeland allowed a run on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings but was denied his first win of the season. Ezequiel Tovar homered, singled and drove in two runs for the Rockies, who fell to 8-39, the worst 47-game start in the modern era.

Tovar hit a solo homer in the first inning but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.

The Phillies got a run in the seventh on Harper’s sacrifice fly and took the lead off of Seth Halvorsen (0-1) in the eighth. Bohm’s third homer of the season gave Philadelphia a 4-3 lead and Turner drove in two more with a double to center.

The Phillies tacked on three more on the homers from Schwarber and Sosa off Scott Alexander.

ROYALS 3, GIANTS 1

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kris Bubic threw seven scoreless innings, losing a no-hit bid in the sixth on an official scoring change, and Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run homer in the eighth as Kansas City got past San Francisco.

Bubic, a left-hander who went to Mitty High School in San Jose and then to Stanford, carried his no-hit bid until there were two outs in the sixth. Wilmer Flores hit a grounder to the right side. Second baseman Michael Massey ranged to his left and slipped as the ball got past him. The play originally was ruled an error on Massey, then was changed to a single.

Casey Schmitt’s clean double down the left-field line with one out in the seventh was the only other hit Bubic (5-2) allowed. His ERA fell to 1.47 as he struck out five and walked three.

Giants left-hander Robbie Ray also worked seven shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 2.67. Ray gave up six hits, struck out seven and walked one.

Tyler Rogers (2-2) replaced Ray to begin the eighth in a scoreless game. Jonathan India’s one-out double preceded Pasquantino’s two-out drive over the right-field wall, the first baseman’s eighth home run of the season.

ANGELS 4, ATHLETICS 3

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer, Nolan Schanuel also went deep and Los Angeles beat the skidding Athletics in the opener of a four-game series.

Kenley Jansen struck out Tyler Soderstrom for the final out with a runner on second. Coming off a surprising three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium, the Angels (21-25) have won four in a row to start a seven-game trip.

The Athletics (22-26) have lost six straight and 10 of 12, falling to 8-14 at Sutter Health Park.

Schanuel, who had three hits and scored twice, connected off J.T. Ginn for his third homer this season to give the Angels the lead two batters into the game. Ginn was activated to make his fourth start of the year and first since April 24, when elbow inflammation landed him on the 10-day injured list.

Lawrence Butler’s double, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first against Angels starter José Soriano. Butler scored when Brent Rooker grounded into a double play, and Shea Langeliers’ infield single made it 2-1.

Zach Neto singled and Schanuel doubled to start the third. Yoán Moncada had an RBI groundout before Ward hit his 13th homer for a 4-2 lead.

DIAMONDBACKS 9, DODGERS 5

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brandon Pfaadt became the first seven-game winner in the majors, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo each hit a two-run homer, and Arizona beat Los Angeles.

Coming off a three-game sweep by the last-place Los Angeles Angels, the NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their fourth in a row at home for the first time since May 2018, when they lost five straight. They’ve allowed six or more runs in five of seven games to begin the homestand.

Fans booed when Landon Knack gave up two-run shots to Gurriel and Moreno that made it 7-0 in the third inning. Dodgers opener Jack Dreyer (2-2) let the D-backs build a 3-0 lead on Eugenio Suárez’s RBI double, Josh Naylor’s RBI groundout and Perdomo’s sacrifice fly.

Dodgers rookie Hyeseong Kim in center signaled too late to right fielder Teoscar Hernández that he couldn’t see the ball hit by Suárez and it dropped instead of being the second out of the first inning.

Pfaadt (7-3) was perfect through three innings until Mookie Betts’ homer with one out in the fourth. The right-hander allowed back-to-back solo shots by Shohei Ohtani and Betts in the sixth, leaving the Dodgers trailing 7-3.

Pfaadt walked one in six innings. Shelby Miller got the final out for his fifth save.

Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz, left, begins his slide, beating the throw to Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart, right, to score on a double by Austin Hays off Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller during the first inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

CREIGHTON, Neb. (AP) — Rick and Jane Saint John chose to live in the small town of Creighton, Nebraska, for one main reason: its hospital.

The couple has a child with nonverbal autism and epilepsy who requires up to three hospital visits a week. And Creighton's critical access hospital has been a lifeline for Jane: not only is she employed there, but three years ago, doctors saved her life when she contracted bacterial pneumonia. If she had waited another day for care, doctors said, her organs would have begun to shut down.

“And if we had had to drive the hour to the Yankton (South Dakota) hospital," Rick Saint John said, his voice breaking with emotion, "it could have cost her her life.”

So the Saint Johns were shocked to hear that Avera Creighton Hospital faces financial peril. A $50 billion government fund meant to transform rural health care will do little to help. It's a problem that millions of Americans in rural areas are awakening to as they realize there's no windfall coming for the vulnerable hospitals near their homes.

Hundreds of rural hospitals across the country are facing closures after years of funding problems. The issue was compounded last summer by the Trump administration's massive cuts to Medicaid, the government's safety net for low-income Americans, whose reimbursements have long helped hospitals meet their bottom lines.

Outcry over the funding cuts prompted Republican lawmakers to create $50 billion in new rural health grants, but critics say that funding is intended for innovative health care delivery solutions — not propping up hospitals buckling under current pressures.

“It won’t pay to keep the lights on. And it won’t turn the lights back on once they’ve been turned off,” said Dr. Ben Young, an infectious disease specialist and policy expert with public health advocacy group Wellness Equity Alliance.

Rural Americans’ health care worries reflect broader national concerns about access and rising prices of care as the cost of living spikes — anxieties that could prove pivotal in this year’s midterm elections.

The $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program included in President Donald Trump's tax-and-spending law last year was billed by Republicans as a way to help hospitals in rural areas. Last summer, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted it as the “biggest infusion in history” for rural hospitals and pledged it will “restore and revitalize these communities.”

Hospitals and health industry experts have warned that while the fund — $10 billion per year allocated across all states for five years — offers some support to struggling rural hospitals, it won’t save them. One reason is that the sum doesn't come close to offsetting the $137 billion that rural hospitals expect to lose over the next decade, according to health research nonprofit KFF. Millions of people are expected to lose Medicaid benefits as a result of new Medicaid work requirements going into effect in 2027 — changes the Trump administration has maintained will crack down on fraudsters rather than cut off eligible enrollees.

Administrators say the new $50 billion fund is not meant to shore up ailing rural hospitals or maintain the status quo, but to transform rural health care through tech, workforce and other innovations. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz in a December video said it “gives states the tools to design solutions that last, not Band-Aids that fail.”

The White House echoed that Wednesday, saying the fund is intended to fund “big ideas” to improve rural health care access long-term.

“Decades of mismanagement by career politicians in Washington have left rural communities with limited care options," White House spokesman Kush Desai said.

State applications show a wide range of proposals. Some pitches sought to improve emergency medical services and modernize rural facilities, while others looked to make school lunches healthier, expand physical fitness programs, beef up telehealth and expand AI-driven technologies to help monitor patients.

Avera Creighton Hospital CEO Theresa Guenther argues her hospital is not in danger of closing. but conceded that Medicaid cuts will be painful — a sentiment shared by most rural hospitals, she said.

“Medicaid cuts will have an impact to us, and we — as well as many others — will have to figure out what that looks like moving forward,” she said. Her hospital hopes to get a piece of the $50 billion fund to help manage patients' chronic diseases — like diabetes — and to help cover workforce costs.

Nebraska, which received $218 million for the rural health grants' first installment, plans to spend some $90 million on healthier food options at schools, recruiting more health care workers and mobile sensors to remotely monitor chronically ill patients in rural areas, among other things. But for rural critical access hospitals at risk of closing, it offers $10 million to “right size” them by getting rid of inpatient care, where bed occupancy is typically low.

Republican state Sen. Barry DeKay said hospitals like Creighton's are vital, despite it's low occupancy rate. The hospital is in his district; even his mother received life-extending care there following a hip replacement. He's worried that the Medicaid cuts could hurt all the state's rural hospitals.

“I'll try to be working as hard as I can to get as much money to rural hospitals — whether it's in my district or any other rural district in the state,” he said.

Rick Saint John acknowledged he knows little about how Nebraska will use the federal funds, but he thinks it should go to helping hospitals like Creighton’s remain intact.

“The hospital is very important to this community, and for more than just medical care,” he said, citing job losses if the hospital loses services or closes.

The fund has seen pushback from hospital groups over an issue that's shaping up as important for 2026 voters.

The Colorado Hospital Association sent a letter in December to state lawmakers accusing them of ignoring input from rural hospitals during the application process.

The Nebraska Hospital Association, which endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer’s 2024 reelection bid based on her advocacy for rural health care, has criticized both the cuts and the $50 billion fund. Fischer voted last summer for the Medicaid cuts.

That and other efforts by the state to limit Medicaid spending sends a message “that access to health care is not a priority," the group said.

Some Republican state lawmakers across the country have expressed unease with parts of the fund and have sought ways to use it to help struggling rural hospitals.

Under pressure, some rural states are making their own moves to help.

Wyoming enacted a law allowing rural hospitals to file Chapter 9 bankruptcy, normally reserved for financially stressed cities to reorganize debts and repay creditors while protecting them from legal action.

In North Dakota, during a special session to allocate the state’s federal rural health funds, the Republican-led Legislature passed an unrelated bill that aims to rescue a rural hospital with a low-interest loan of up to $5 million administered through the state-owned bank.

It's hoped the plan will keep the hospital open in a vast rural area where it employs 5% of the surrounding county's residents, hospital board member Matt Hager said.

Young, the expert with Wellness Equity Alliance, sees dark days ahead for rural hospitals.

“I am not optimistic in the short term,” he said. “Because these hospitals are facing immediate financial shortfalls, are barely financially operating currently, and they need operating support now.”

Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jack Dura contributed to this report from Bismarck, North Dakota.

Avera Creighton Hospital CEO Theresa Guenther is seen in her office, Feb. 24, 2026, in Creighton, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)

Nebraska State Sen. Barry DeKay, R-Niobrara, is seen on the floor of the Nebraska State Capitol, Feb. 5, 2026, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)

Jane and Rick Saint John hold hands on Feb. 24, 2026, as they recall how Jane received life-saving care three years ago at Avera Creighton Hospital, in rural Creighton, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)

Jane and Rick Saint John discuss how important their local hospital, Avera Creighton Hospital, is in their rural community, Feb. 24, 2026, in Creighton, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)

Avera Creighton Hospital is seen on Feb. 24, 2026, in Creighton, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery A. Beck)