CINCINNATI (AP) — Noelvi Marté robbed Bryan Reynolds of a tying home run in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Thursday to remain one game behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild card.
Nick Lodolo tied his career high with 12 strikeouts before leaving with a right groin injury in the seventh.
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Cincinnati Reds' Noelvi Marte, center, is interviewed following a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo (19) looks on as Cincinnati Reds' Noelvi Marte rounds third base and scores on a single hit by Gavin Lux during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte (16) celebrates with teammate TJ Friedl (29) after catching a fly ball hit by Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte (16) celebrates with teammate TJ Friedl (29) after catching a fly ball hit by Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Marté and Gavin Lux drove in runs, and the Reds (81-78) stayed just behind the Mets (82-77) and one game ahead of Arizona (80-79).
Marté used his 6-foot-2 height when he jumped at the 8-foot right-field wall and reached back above the first-row of seats to catch Reynolds’ 348-foot drive for the second out of the ninth. Marté had all three putouts as Emilio Pagán got three straight outs for his career-high 30th save in 36 chances.
Lodolo (9-8) got 27 swings and misses, including 15 on curveballs. He allowed two hits and walked one, leaving due to the injury after 6 1/3 innings and 81 pitches. Lodolo also struck out 12 at Philadelphia on April 8, 2023.
Braxton Ashcraft (4-4) gave up two runs and a career-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Nick Yorke had an RBI grounder in the eighth.
Cincinnati salvaged the three-game series finale, which started after a 1-hour, 22-minute rain delay.
After making the catch on Reynolds, Marté sprinted toward the right-field line to grab Andrew McCutchen's liner for the final out.
Cincinnati was six games out of a wild-card spot in early September after losing 10 of 13 games but has won 10 of its last 17..
Pirates: RHP Mitch Keller (6-15, 4.22) and Braves LHP Joey Wentz (5-6, 5.46) start Friday's opener of a season-ending series at Atlanta.
Reds:: RHP Zack Littell (10-8, 3.86) faces Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25) on Friday in Milwaukee.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Cincinnati Reds' Noelvi Marte, center, is interviewed following a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo (19) looks on as Cincinnati Reds' Noelvi Marte rounds third base and scores on a single hit by Gavin Lux during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte (16) celebrates with teammate TJ Friedl (29) after catching a fly ball hit by Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte (16) celebrates with teammate TJ Friedl (29) after catching a fly ball hit by Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities warned civilians to leave a contested area in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday and opened a corridor for them to evacuate for a second day as clashes continued between government and Kurdish forces.
The government of Aleppo province gave residents until 1 p.m. local time to evacuate in coordination with the army. State news agency SANA, citing the army, said the military would begin “targeted operations” against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid half an hour after that deadline.
The military later issued a series of maps with the areas under evacuation order.
An Associated Press journalist at the scene heard sporadic sounds of shelling as civilians streamed out of the area Thursday morning. As of Wednesday, more than 46,000 people had been displaced across the province, according to Aleppo’s Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor.
Mohammad Ali, operations director with the Syrian Civil Defense in Aleppo, said some 11,000 more fled Thursday.
“There’s a large percentage of them with difficult medical issues, elderly people, women, and children,” he said.
The SDF has said that at least eight civilians were killed in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, while government officials reported at least five civilians and one soldier have been killed in the surrounding government-controlled areas in the fighting that broke out Tuesday. Dozens more on both sides have been wounded.
Each side has accused the other of deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods and infrastructure.
St. Ephrem Syrian Orthodox Church in Aleppo city was hosting about 100 people who had fled the fighting. Parishioners had donated mattresses, blankets and food, priest Adai Maher said.
“As soon as the problems started and we heard the sounds (of clashes), we opened our church as a shelter for people who are fleeing their homes," he said.
Among them was Georgette Lulu, who said her family is planning to travel to the city of Hasakeh in SDF-controlled northeast Syria when the security situation allows.
“There was a lot of bombing and loud noises and a shell landed next to our house,” she said. “I’ve been through these circumstances a lot so I don’t get frightened, but my niece was really afraid so we had to come to the church.”
Hassan Nader, a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Aleppo said about 4,000 were staying in shelters in the city while tens of thousands had gone to other areas of the province, and the ministry was working with NGOs to supply them with food, medicine and other necessities.
The clashes come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.
The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen. In April, scores of SDF fighters left Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh as part of the deal.
Officials from the central government and SDF met again on Sunday in Damascus, but government officials said that no tangible progress had been made.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
In the city of Qamishli in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, thousands of protesters gathered Thursday, chanting in support of the SDF and against the government offensive.
The SDF has for years been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.
Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the U.S. has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
A U.S. State Department official said in a statement Thursday that the U.S. “is closely monitoring the situation” and urged “restraint on all sides.” It said U.S. envoy Tom Barrack is trying to facilitate dialogue between the two sides.
“All parties should focus on how to build a peaceful, stable Syria that protects and serves the interests of all Syrians, rather than pushing the country back into a cycle of violence,” the statement said.
Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that the “operation is being carried out entirely by the Syrian Army” while Turkey is “closely monitoring.”
“Syria’s security is our security,” the statement said, adding that “Turkey will provide the necessary support should Syria request it.”
The United Nations has expressed concern at the violence.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres “is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries following hostilities in Aleppo.”
“We call on all actors to immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint, and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians” and to “promptly resume negotiations in order to fully implement the 10 March agreement,” he said.
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report. Sewell reported from Beirut.
Demonstrators chant slogans in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during a protest in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Hogir Al Abdo)
Residents flee the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods after clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Syrian government soldiers sit on their armoured personnel carrier (APC) following clashes with Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A car burns during clashes between Kurdish fighters and Syrian government forces in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
An aerial view shows Syrian residents in vehicles, queueing to flee from Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods after clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
