CLEVELAND (AP) — Wenceel Pérez and Zach McKinstry homered as the Detroit Tigers extended the Cleveland Guardians' losing streak to eight games, 2-1 on Friday night.
José Ramírez went deep for the Guardians, who are on their longest skid since dropping nine straight in 2021.
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Detroit Tigers' Reese Olson pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez gestures as he runs the bases on a home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Carlos Santana slides safely into third base on a hit by Lane Thomas in the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Detroit Tigers' Wenceel Pérez (46) is congratulated by teammate Riley Greene (31) after hitting a home run in the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Detroit Tigers' Zach McKinstry gestures as he runs to home plate with a home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tyler Holton (4-3) pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball to earn the win. Will Vest went 1 1/3 innings for his 14th save in 17 opportunities.
Steven Kwan gave the Guardians some hope in the ninth with a two-out double down the left-field line, but Kyle Manzardo hit a grounder to Vest for the final out.
Detroit's Reese Olson made his first start since May 17 and allowed only one run on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander was out nearly seven weeks due to right ring finger inflammation.
Pérez tied it at 1 in the third inning with a drive to center field off Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi (3-4). McKinstry then led off the fourth by connecting on a curve ball over the wall in right-center for his second go-ahead homer of the season.
Ramírez snapped an 0-for-21 drought when he put a 94.8 mph fastball from Olson into the right field stands for his 14th homer of the season. It was also the first time he had gone deep since June 14 at Seattle.
Cecconi went six innings and threw a career-high 105 pitches. He gave up six hits and struck out five.
Cleveland had the bases loaded with two out in the eight inning, but Daniel Schneemann grounded out to second baseman Gleyber Torres on the first pitch of the at-bat to end the frame.
The AL Central-leading Tigers are 6-0 this season when McKinstry homers.
RHP Casey Mize (8-2, 2.86 ERA) takes the hill for Detroit against Cleveland LHP Logan Allen (5-6, 4.27).
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Detroit Tigers' Reese Olson pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez gestures as he runs the bases on a home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Carlos Santana slides safely into third base on a hit by Lane Thomas in the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Detroit Tigers' Wenceel Pérez (46) is congratulated by teammate Riley Greene (31) after hitting a home run in the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Detroit Tigers' Zach McKinstry gestures as he runs to home plate with a home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.
The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York.
Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET (0930 GMT) and said he would host a news conference at 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT).
Here's the latest:
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s spokespeople declined to comment on the U.S. operation.
Machado was last seen in public last month, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding and traveled to Norway, where she was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says Maduro and his wife will face criminal charges after an indictment in New York.
Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
Maduro was indicted in 2020 in New York, but it was not previously known that his wife had been.
The Justice Department during Trump’s first term in office charged in the several indictments that Maduro had effectively converted Venezuela into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups as he and his allies stole billions from the South American country.
The coordinated unsealing of indictments against 14 officials and government-connected individuals, and rewards of $55 million for Maduro and four others, attacked all the key planks of what then-Attorney General William Barr called the “corrupt Venezuelan regime,” including the Maduro-dominated judiciary and the powerful armed forces.
One indictment by prosecutors in New York accused Maduro and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello, head of the rubber-stamping constitutional assembly, of conspiring with Colombian rebels and members of the military “to flood the United States with cocaine” and use the drug trade as a “weapon against America.”
Read our news report from 2020 on the charges
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau says the military action and seizure of Maduro marks “a new dawn for Venezuela,” saying that “the tyrant is gone.”
He posted on X hours after the strike. His boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reposted a post from July that said Maduro “is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.”
Utah Sen. Mike Lee said Rubio informed him that “he anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody,” the lawmaker posted on social media.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who briefed him on the strike. Rubio told Lee that Maduro “has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”
The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges in the Southern District of New York.
President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, one of Trump’s fiercest critics, said the Colombian government convened a national security meeting before dawn Saturday and sent security forces to the border in preparation for a potential “massive influx of refugees” from neighboring Venezuela.
He said he’d also call on the U.N. Security Council to consider “the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America.”
“Without sovereignty, there is no nation,” Petro wrote on social media.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a U.S. “act of armed aggression” against Venezuela in a statement posted on its Telegram channel Saturday.
“Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, outside intervention,” the statement said.
The ministry called for dialogue to prevent further escalation and said it reaffirmed its “solidarity” with the Venezuelan people and government, adding that Russia supports calls for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.
The State Department issued a new travel alert early Saturday warning Americans in Venezuela urging them to “shelter in place” due to the situation.
“U.S. Embassy Bogota is aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas, Venezuela,” it said without elaboration.
“The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place.” The embassy in Bogota has been shuttered since March, 2019 but operates remotely.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted Trump’s announcement without comment, but his deputy, Christopher Landau, posted Trump’s statement, adding that it marked “a new dawn for Venezuela!” “The tyrant is gone. He will now—finally—face justice for his crimes,” Landau said.
Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez says, “We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.” He added: “We demand proof of life.”
Trump said Maduro “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow.” He set a news conference for later Saturday morning.
The explosions in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, early on the third day of 2026 — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties. The apparent attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes, but it was unclear if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully.”
Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Supporters display a poster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
National Guard armored vehicles block an avenue leading to Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Smoke rises from Fort Tiuna, the main military garrison in Caracas, Venezuela, after multiple explosions were heard and aircraft swept through the area, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Pedestrians walk past the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
A vehicle drives along a darkened highway next to Fort Tiuna, the main military garrison in Caracas, Venezuela, after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
