ATLANTA (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels activated outfielder Jorge Soler from the injured list before Tuesday night's game against the Atlanta Braves.
Soler quickly delivered for the Angels with a two-run double in a four-run eighth inning as Los Angeles beat the Braves 4-0.
“What he does for the lineup, having his presence, lengthening the lineup, the quality at-bat he gave us, it's great,” Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said.
Also Tuesday, the Braves acquired right-hander Hunter Stratton from the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Titus Dumitru and cash. Stratton was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Braves left-hander Chris Sale, on the 15-day injured list since June 21 because of a fractured left ribcage, was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Soler had been out since June 18 with lower-back inflammation. Utility player Scott Kingery was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.
“I feel great,” Soler said before the game through a translator. “I'm ready to play."
Soler was expected to return as the Angels' primary right fielder. His return occurred just in time for a visit to his former team. Los Angeles acquired Soler from the Braves last Oct. 31
Soler is hitting .207 with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 237 at-bats.
Rookie Didier Fuentes, 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in his first two starts, had his start pushed back a day to Wednesday. Right-hander Grant Holmes (4-7, 3.70) moved up one day to start the series opener.
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Atlanta Braves pitcher Didier Fuentes throws to a Miami Marlins batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Atlanta Braves' Didier Fuentes pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Los Angeles Angels' Jo Adell, left, and Jorge Soler, right, react after defeating the New York Yankees during a baseball game Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
