ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tommy Pham hit a two-run single in the sixth inning to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
The highly-touted Bubba Chandler (1-0) pitched four scoreless innings of relief of starter Carmen Mlodzinski for his first win in his second major league game. The 6-foot-3 right-hander allowed one hit, struck out three and walked one.
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Pittsburgh Pirates' Spencer Horwitz, right, reaches base on a throwing error by St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, left, as Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) watches during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa (7) is forced out at home by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Tommy Pham (28) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa celebrate a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals following a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Tommy Pham hits a two-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled leading off the sixth against Sonny Gray (12-7). Jared Triolo walked and Spencer Horwitz reached on a throwing error by first baseman Willson Contreras to load the bases. Gray retired Bryan Reynolds on a forceout at home before Pham hit the next pitch up the middle.
Masyn Winn had a two-out single off Mlodzinski in the second and Thomas Saggese walked before Pedro Pagés singled to put the Cardinals up 1-0.
Isaac Mattson pitched a scoreless eighth for Pittsburgh and Dennis Santana finished for his 10th save in 12 opportunities.
Gray allowed two runs — one earned — on three hits and three walks in seven innings. Matt Svanson issued two walks over two scoreless innings.
The Pirates won two straight games on the road for the first time since a three-game sweep over the Giants to close out July.
Mlodzinski had runners at the corners with one out in the third but struck out Alec Burleson and Contreras to keep it 1-0.
Pittsburgh won the season series with the Cardinals for the second time in the last 12 seasons.
Pirates RHP Braxton Ashcraft (4-2, 2.70 ERA) starts Thursday's series finale opposite Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (6-10, 5.17).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates' Spencer Horwitz, right, reaches base on a throwing error by St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, left, as Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) watches during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa (7) is forced out at home by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Tommy Pham (28) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa celebrate a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals following a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Tommy Pham hits a two-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez is set Thursday to deliver her first state of the union speech, addressing an anxious country as she navigates competing pressures from the United States – which toppled her predecessor less than two weeks ago – and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
The speech comes one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster by the United States earlier this month.
In her address to the National Assembly, which is controlled by the country's ruling party, Rodríguez is expected to explain her vision for her government, including potential changes to the state-owned oil industry that U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to reinvigorate since Maduro’s seizure.
On Thursday, Trump was set to meet at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.
After acknowledging a Tuesday call with Trump, Rodríguez said on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.
The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.
American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.
For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.
Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”
Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.
Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
