Rookie Sal Stewart hits his 8th homer as Reds top Rays 6-1 for 4th straight win

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rookie Sal Stewart homered, doubled, stole a base and scored twice as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Stewart put Cincinnati on the board with a two-run homer in the first inning, ending Jesse Scholtens' scoreless streak to start the season at 9 2/3 innings.

With his eighth homer, Stewart matched Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox for the lead among major league rookies and St. Louis' Jordan Walker for the National League lead. Stewart has the rookie lead in RBIs (21) and extra-base hits (13).

The 23-year-old first baseman also snagged a line drive with the bases loaded for the final out.

Rhett Lowder (3-1) needed 33 pitches to get through the first inning, issuing a bases-loaded walk to Yandy Díaz. He settled in from there, allowing five hits and two walks in six innings.

Three relievers worked an inning apiece for Cincinnati. The Reds entered the game with a bullpen ERA of 2.31, the best in the majors.

Scholtens (1-1) allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

TJ Friedl doubled in the third and scored on Elly De La Cruz’s single. Eugenio Suárez added a two-run double in the sixth for Cincinnati.

In the seventh, Stewart hit a two-out double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch by Trevor Martin.

Cincinnati's Ke’Bryan Hayes ended a career-worst 0-for-33 slump with a single in the sixth, ending the longest active streak in the majors. He went 1 for 4 and is batting .071.

Right-hander Chase Burns (1-1, 2.42 ERA) starts for Cincinnati on Tuesday against Tampa Bay lefty Steven Matz (3-0, 3.80).

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Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jesse Scholtens walks back to the mound as Cincinnati Reds' Sal Stewart runs the bases after his two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, April 20, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart and third baseman Ke'bryan Hayes (3) celebrate after the team defeated the Tampa Bay Rays during a baseball game Monday, April 20, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rhett Lowder delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, April 20, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Cincinnati Reds right fielder Rece Hinds makes a sliging catch on a fly out by Tampa Bay Rays' Richie Palacios during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, April 20, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Cincinnati Reds' Sal Stewart celebrates as he runs the bases following hit two-run home run off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jesse Scholtens during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, April 20, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

TOKYO (AP) — A 7.7 magnitude earthquake Monday off northern Japan sparked a short-lived tsunami alert and an advisory of a slightly higher risk of a possible megaquake for its coastal areas.

The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a megaquake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches.

Officials said the advisory was not a prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged residents to confirm their designated shelters and evacuation routes and to check emergency food and grab bags so they can run immediately when a megaquake hits. “The government will do our utmost in case of an emergency,” she told reporters.

It was the second such advisory for the region in recent months. One was issued following a 7.5-magnitude quake in December but no megaquake occurred.

Still, Monday's earthquake and tsunami were a reminder to the quake-prone area of the March 2011 disaster that ravaged large swaths of the northern coast, triggering a nuclear crisis in Fukushima.

NHK television footage showed hanging objects swaying and people squatting at a shopping center in Aomori, as authorities told people to seek higher ground and avoid coastal areas.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said two people, one in Aomori and another in Iwate, were injured after falling.

Shinkansen bullet trains connecting Tokyo and northern Japan were temporarily suspended, leaving passengers in cars and on platforms waiting for service to resume.

The quake occurred off the coast of Sanriku at around 4:53 p.m. and was about 19 kilometers (11 miles) deep, JMA said. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake's strength as 7.4 magnitude.

A tsunami of about 80 centimeters (2.6 feet) was detected at the Kuji port and a smaller tsunami of 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) was recorded at another port, both in Iwate prefecture, before Japan lifted all tsunami alert and advisories.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said nuclear power plants and related facilities in the region were intact and no abnormalities were detected.

It's been 15 years since a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of northern Japan, causing more than 22,000 deaths and forcing nearly half a million people to flee their homes.

An official of the Japan Meteorological Agency speaks near a monitor showing a tsunami alert during a news conference at the agency in Tokyo, Monday, April 20, 2026, after an earthquake that struck off the northern Japanese coast. (Masanori Kumagai/Kyodo News via AP)