NEW YORK (AP) — Tyrone Taylor hit a leadoff double in the ninth inning and scored on Francisco Lindor's sacrifice fly as the New York Mets mounted a late comeback to edge the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
New York managed just two baserunners through the first six innings against Adrian Houser and left the bases loaded in the seventh before Juan Soto delivered a tying sacrifice fly in the eighth.
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Chicago White Sox pitcher Adrian Houser throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets pitcher Edwin Díaz reacts during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor (12) celebrates after hitting a walkoff sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, second from right, is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walkoff sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor (12) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walkoff sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Steven Wilson (1-1) gave up Taylor's double to start the ninth. Jeff McNeil was intentionally walked and Luis Torrens singled to load the bases before Taylor trotted home on Lindor’s fly to deep right field.
Edwin Díaz (2-0) tossed a hitless inning for the win as the Mets won their third straight game since dropping six of eight.
Mets starter Clay Holmes gave up one run and four hits while throwing a career-high 102 pitches over 5 2/3 innings.
Andrew Benintendi had a sacrifice fly in the fourth for the White Sox, who fell to 17-37. Chicago finished 41-121 last season — the most losses by a big league team since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders went 20-134.
Houser gave up three hits and walked one while striking out six in six-plus shutout innings against his former team. He went 1-5 with a 5.84 ERA for the Mets last season before being released on July 31.
The right-hander allowed two hits over six innings in a 1-0 win against Seattle in his White Sox debut last Tuesday — his first major league appearance since his Mets finale on July 24.
Houser is the first White Sox pitcher to throw at least six scoreless innings while permitting three hits or fewer in consecutive starts since Michael Kopech in May 2023.
Lindor’s walk-off RBI was his third of the season.
Chicago went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
White Sox RHP Shane Smith (1-3, 2.26 ERA) faces Mets RHP Tylor Megill (3-4, 3.56) on Tuesday night.
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Chicago White Sox pitcher Adrian Houser throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets pitcher Edwin Díaz reacts during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor (12) celebrates after hitting a walkoff sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, second from right, is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walkoff sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor (12) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walkoff sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, May 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
