NEW YORK (AP) — Hits haven't come easy for Juan Soto during his first season with the New York Mets.
The $765 million slugger lost one Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox because of some chaos on the basepaths.
With teammate Brandon Nimmo on first in the opening inning, Soto sent a drive toward right-center, where a diving Michael A. Taylor trapped the ball in his glove off a short bounce.
Hearing disappointment from Citi Field fans, however, Nimmo thought the ball had been caught on a fly. So he scrambled back around second base and retreated quickly to first.
Soto saw Nimmo coming right at him between first and second and peeled off onto the infield grass as the White Sox threw the ball to first base.
When umpires sorted it all out, Nimmo was safe at first but Soto was called out for passing him on the basepaths. Chicago first baseman Miguel Vargas was credited with a putout.
“When Soto hit it, I thought, that’s down for sure. It’s a double or better. And so, went to go around the bag, had my back to the play, and then I heard the crowd act like the ball was caught. And so I turned around and went to go get back when I saw him on the ground, and tried to get back to first base,” Nimmo said. “It’s just one of those plays that’s kind of unfortunate.”
The safe signal indicating the ball hit the ground came from first base umpire Tom Hanahan — which Nimmo was in no position to see.
And he acknowledged he wasn't really looking around for an umpire's call anyway.
“I went with my first instinct as soon as I heard the crowd,” Nimmo said. “And I totally get it. I mean, it short-hopped into his glove. Honestly, if I was watching it I probably wouldn’t have even been sure what exactly to do.”
It was the latest bizarre sequence on the bases at Citi Field over the past five days.
Fortunately for the Mets, though, Pete Alonso followed with a two-run homer — the first of five straight hits off starter Jonathan Cannon.
It would have been seven in a row if not for the mixup on the basepaths.
“As baserunners, like, that can be really confusing,” Alonso said. “I mean, I couldn't tell from the on-deck circle and I probably would have done the same thing. Again, weird play, and when you're in the heat of the moment, you're not really looking at the umpire. You're trying to just see the ball, and from my vantage point I thought he caught it.”
Two batters later, Jared Young launched another two-run homer that gave New York a 4-2 lead in a 6-4 victory.
“Glad that our offense came through and it ended up not being too big of a deal there at the end,” Nimmo said.
Soto could have used the base hit, however.
The four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner finished 0 for 4 and is batting .228, which is 54 points below his career average heading into Tuesday night.
“Screwy play. Probably not going to see another one like that this year,” Alonso said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets' Juan Soto (22) bats during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo (9) runs back to first base after Juan Soto's hit was caught during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranians could call abroad on mobile phones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which activists said at least 646 people have been killed.
Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist there. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.
The witnesses gave a brief glimpse into life on the streets of the Iranian capital over the four and a half days of being cut off from the world. They described seeing a heavy security presence in central Tehran.
Anti-riot police officers, wearing helmets and body armor, carried batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers. They stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces as well.
Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, they said. ATMs had been smashed and banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.
However, shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began Dec. 28, was to open Tuesday. However, a witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Many remain concerned about a possible military strike by the U.S., even as President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington.
“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave just his first name out of concerns for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”
Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests also remain front of mind for many.
“People — particularly young ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests," he said.
Meanwhile, it appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in their homes and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.
On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.
State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the Qatar-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired Monday night, said he continued to communicate with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
The communication “continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing," Araghchi said. However, “Washington’s proposed ideas and threats against our country are incompatible.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran’s public rhetoric diverges from the private messaging the administration has received from Tehran in recent days.
“I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”
Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets Monday 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, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran will face 25% tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”
It was action against Iran for the protest crackdown from Trump, who believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.
Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do business with Tehran.
Trump said Sunday 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.”
Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,700 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 latest death toll early Tuesday. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 512 of the dead were protesters and 134 were security force members.
With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn’t offered overall casualty figures.
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take 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)
FILE - Protesters march on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)
