SEATTLE (AP) — Max Fried permitted only three singles in seven sparkling innings, Giancarlo Stanton drove in two runs and the New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Tuesday night.
Stanton became the fourth player in Yankees history with multiple hits in each of the team’s first five games of a season, joining Alfonso Soriano (2003), Bill Skowron (1956) and Bob Meusel (1928).
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New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried reacts after a center fielder Trent Grisham caught a long line drive from Seattle Mariners' Randy Arozarena for an out during the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert throws against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh walks to the dugout after striking out against the New York Yankees during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton reacts after hitting an RBI single against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The 36-year-old slugger put New York up 2-0 in the first with an RBI single after Ben Rice’s run-scoring double off starter Logan Gilbert (1-1).
In the sixth, Stanton ripped an RBI double to make it 4-0. It was part of a three-run inning, as Trent Grisham scored on a throwing error by catcher Cal Raleigh, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added an RBI single.
Fried (2-0) was brilliant in winning his career-high eighth straight regular-season start dating to Aug. 27, 2025. The left-hander has not given up a run in 13 1/3 innings this season. He tossed 6 1/3 innings of two-hit ball in a win at San Francisco on opening night last Wednesday.
Josh Naylor snapped an 0-for-20 skid to start the season with a single for Seattle in the fourth. Julio Rodríguez and Brendan Donovan both singled in the seventh off Fried, who threw 60 of his 90 pitches for strikes.
Brent Headrick and Tim Hill each worked an inning to finish the four-hitter as the Mariners were held without an extra-base hit.
In their first day game this season, the Mariners will start RHP George Kirby (1-0) against RHP Cam Schlittler (1-0) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried reacts after a center fielder Trent Grisham caught a long line drive from Seattle Mariners' Randy Arozarena for an out during the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert throws against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh walks to the dugout after striking out against the New York Yankees during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton reacts after hitting an RBI single against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV announced Sunday he will undergo surgery “in the coming days” to remove a nodule on his lung, in the first major health event of his 17-month pontificate.
The 71-year-old Leo said the nodule was found at an early stage and was “circumscribed” or well-localized. The Vatican said Leo's expected recovery time from surgery would be a week.
The American pope made the announcement during his Sunday noon blessing. He thanked the crowd for their closeness and entrusted himself to their prayers.
The Vatican didn’t say exactly when the surgery would take place, other than in the early days of this week. Leo has one upcoming main event: the closing Mass on Wednesday of a weeklong conference on family ministry, but Vatican officials suggested he might miss it.
A lung nodule is a small abnormal area measuring less than 3 centimeters (1 inch) that sometimes appears on a CT scan of the chest or abdomen, according to the American Cancer Society. Often, the scans are done to investigate trauma or a lung infection, unrelated to a lung cancer screening.
“Lung nodules are fairly common and are often benign, but benign and cancerous nodules can have a similar appearance on imaging," said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"When there is sufficient concern, and when it is safe to do so based on the location of the nodule and the overall health of the patient, surgical removal can provide a definitive diagnosis,” he said.
If the nodule turns out to be cancerous, the prognosis is “excellent” since it will have been removed at an early stage and surgery alone might be all Leo needs in terms of treatment, he said in an interview.
"It often can be a blessing in disguise to remove that cancer before it has a chance to grow or to spread,” he said.
Leo has no previously known health problems and is physically active, with weekly tennis matches and swimming at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo.
The pope has a major trip planned Nov. 6-17 to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. It's unclear how or whether the planned surgery and recovery might affect the itinerary, but Leo said earlier in his remarks Sunday that he still planned to go.
In his remarks, delivered in Italian, Leo said that during a recent medical check, “doctors found a small, localized nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is circumscribed. The doctors believe it’s best to take action, so, following their advice, I have decided to have surgery to remove it."
He thanked the faithful "for your spiritual support, and I entrust myself to your prayers.”
Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, died April 21, 2025, of a stroke following a long hospitalization brought on by a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. Francis suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man.
Leo is expected to undergo surgery at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where Francis and popes before him were treated and where there is a special apartment for pontiffs. On Sunday, there was no obvious sign that the pope had already been admitted.
Dr. Dionysis Papadatos-Pastos, an oncologist and lung cancer specialist at The London Clinic, stressed that an incidental finding of a lung nodule doesn't mean lung cancer. And in fact “a well-circumscribed nodule does suggest that this is less likely to be cancer."
But he said cancer was possible and the main imperative is to investigate. "The worst thing you can do is ignore a lung nodule,” he said in an interview.
Liu, the Georgetown oncologist, said surgical removal in such a case was standard, especially for someone in otherwise good health and if the nodule is in an easily accessible location. A needle biopsy on a lung nodule can be difficult and may not provide doctors with enough information, he said.
"In these cases, surgery itself, while it may seem dramatic, is often very safe, very straightforward with a rapid recovery,” he said, adding that Leo should be in good shape to travel to Latin America barring any complications.
Dr. Massimo Di Maio, president of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology, said it will be important to determine if the nodule is benign or malignant, and if it is malignant, whether it has spread. When the disease is detected at an early stage “the aim … is curative,” he added.
Depending on what is found, possible treatments can include chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Di Maio told Italy’s private Sky TG24.
“When we talk about something being localized, that can also refer to the need to establish whether the disease is confined to that one site or whether scans show signs of disease elsewhere,” he said, adding that he has not treated the pope and was speaking about the disease in general.
“Being physically fit and healthy is certainly an important starting point for coping as well as possible with treatment, including surgery,” he added.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, among the few outsiders to visit Francis during his long final hospitalization, expressed her support, and that of the Italian government, for Leo “as he faces this challenge in the coming days.” In a statement, she added that “the serenity and calm with which he spoke about it” were reassuring.
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Barry reported from Milan; AP reporter Danica Kirka contributed from London.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The statue of late Pope John Paul II, center, is pictured at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV leaves at the end the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
