NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Vientos blooped a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the New York Mets snapped their 12-game losing streak Wednesday night, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 after getting one superstar back only to see another exit with a similar injury.
Juan Soto went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk in his return from a strained right calf, but shortstop Francisco Lindor was removed with left calf tightness after laboring around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez's go-ahead double in the fourth.
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New York Mets' Brett Baty (7) celebrates after scoring on a single by Mark Vientos during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton dives to catch a ball hit by New York Mets' Marcus Semien for an out to end the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets' Juan Sot, left, celebrates with Francisco Alvarez after a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets pitcher Luke Weaver reacts after a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets' Mark Vientos hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Byron Buxton tied it 2-all with a leadoff homer in the sixth against Clay Holmes, his second longball in two nights.
Brett Baty, who came off the bench to replace Lindor in the lineup, drew his second walk of the game with two outs in the eighth against Taylor Rogers (0-1). Alvarez coaxed a nine-pitch walk from Justin Topa before Vientos dumped an RBI single into shallow right field. Vientos had blatantly ran through a stop sign rounding third and was easily thrown out at home plate for the final out of the sixth.
Luke Weaver (2-0) retired Luke Keaschall with the bases loaded to end the top of the eighth and struck out three batters in a one-hit ninth to secure New York's first victory since April 7 at home against Arizona.
The 12-game skid was the team's longest since August 2002.
Connor Prielipp, the Twins' top pitching prospect, needed 82 pitches to get through four innings in his major league debut. But the 25-year-old left-hander showcased a good slider and limited a slumping New York lineup to two runs and four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Holmes allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.
Batting cleanup, Lindor drove in a run by legging out an infield single with two outs in the first and Victor Caratini's sacrifice fly tied the score in the fourth.
All-Star right-hander Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.29 ERA) pitches Thursday night for Minnesota in the series finale against RHP Christian Scott, who will be called up from Triple-A Syracuse to make his first major league start since Tommy John surgery in 2024.
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New York Mets' Brett Baty (7) celebrates after scoring on a single by Mark Vientos during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton dives to catch a ball hit by New York Mets' Marcus Semien for an out to end the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets' Juan Sot, left, celebrates with Francisco Alvarez after a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets pitcher Luke Weaver reacts after a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Mets' Mark Vientos hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
INSTITUTE, W.Va. (AP) — A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, including one in serious condition, authorities said.
The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said.
A chemical gas reaction occurred at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, Sigman said at a news briefing. He added that there was "a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted.”
“Starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times,” Sigman said.
The chemical reaction that was believed to have occurred during a cleaning process produced toxic hydrogen sulfide, Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said.
Among the injured were seven ambulance workers responding to the leak, officials said.
“We know that the first responders, they always run to the fire. They put themselves in harm’s way,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said at an evening news conference. “We’re very grateful to these brave men and women and what they do. And they’re in our prayers, and we’re monitoring the recovery of those transported to our local hospitals.”
Other people were taken to the hospitals in private cars or even in one case a garbage truck, Sigman said.
Morrisey said one person was in serious condition.
Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center, one of several hospitals in the area, was treating multiple patients, some brought by ambulance, while members of the community were arriving Wednesday afternoon asking to be checked, hospital spokesman Dale Witte said.
Witte said patients were experiencing respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and itchy eyes. They were being evaluated in the emergency room.
WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston said in a statement it has cared for a dozen patients, including eight who arrived by personal vehicle and were not at the scene but were in the area at the time. It said those injuries were not considered life-threatening.
A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area and lifted more than five hours later. Officials said all the deaths occurred on the plant site.
“You had to get really close to the facility to smell it,” Sigman said.
The leak required a large-scale decontamination operation in which people had to remove their clothes and be sprayed down, authorities said.
Morrisey said it's believed the local air quality and water supply were unaffected.
Catalyst Refiners works to remove silver from what remains of chemical processes. Ames Goldsmith Corp., the owner of Catalyst Refiners, said it is saddened by the deaths and its thoughts were with all those impacted and their families.
“This is an unfathomably difficult time,” company President Frank Barber said in a statement released at the briefing. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families.”
Ames Goldsmith promised to work with local, state and federal officials as they investigate the leak. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into what happened, a spokesperson said, adding that the agency has six months to complete its examination.
Silver is in a number of items ranging from circuit boards and other electronics, photographic and X-Ray films and jewelry. Nitric acid is used to dissolve materials, leaving behind silver nitrate that can be processed to recover pure silver. Recovery businesses can also crush or sandblast items with silver and use magnets or differences in density to sort out the precious metal.
Sigman said Ames Goldsmith recovers silver from the various plants at the Institute complex "and they'll use it again. When they vacuum their carpets in their office, they recover so many thousands of dollars’ worth of silver out of it just vacuuming their carpets.”
The plant is located near Institute, a community about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Charleston, the state capital. The plant is in a region known as West Virginia’s “chemical valley,” although many plants that lined the area along the Kanawha River and produced hazardous materials have closed or changed ownership in the past several decades.
Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee,.contributed to this report.
Following a chemical spill in the region, a decontamination tent is shown outside of WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in South Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/John Raby)
Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman speaks at a news conference Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/John Raby)
Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman speaks at a news conference Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/John Raby)
Police block a road near a chemical plant where a leak occurred Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Institute, W.Va. (AP Photo/John Raby)
