Okamoto homers for second straight game, drives in two as Blue Jays beat Guardians 5-3

TORONTO (AP) — Kazuma Okamoto homered for the second straight game, Andrés Giménez hit a two-run single and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-3 on Saturday.

Daulton Varsho had the tiebreaking hit in Toronto’s three-run sixth inning as the Blue Jays won for just the second time in eight games against AL Central opponents.

Kevin Gausman (2-1) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings to win his second straight start as the Blue Jays bounced back from Friday’s 8-6 loss.

Mason Fluharty got one out, Tyler Rogers worked the eighth and Louis Varland survived a rocky ninth inning for his second save in two chances despite allowing pinch hitter Kyle Manzardo's RBI double. Varland struck out Brayan Rocchio for the final out, leaving the bases loaded.

Okamoto went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and scored twice. He homered in the fourth, singled and scored in the sixth and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the seventh.

David Fry hit a solo home run, his first, but Cleveland couldn’t manage to win back-to-back games for the fourth time. The Guardians have yet to win three straight in 2026.

Cleveland opened the scoring in the third on Rocchio’s RBI grounder.

Okamoto tied it with a 425-foot drive to center off Joey Cantillo to begin the fourth, his fifth.

Cantillo (1-1) allowed three runs and six hits in five-plus innings, leaving after back-to-back singles by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Okamoto to begin the sixth.

Matt Festa came on and struck out pinch hitter Jesús Sánchez but Varsho grounded an RBI single past second baseman Brito.

One out later, Giménez blooped a two-run double that landed on the left field foul line and skipped past a sliding George Valera.

LHP Patrick Corbin (0-0, 3.68 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Blue Jays on Sunday against Guardians RHP Slade Cecconi (0-3, 6.20).

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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Joey Cantillo (54) works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Cleveland Guardians second baseman Juan Brito (34) relays to first for a double play hit into Toronto Blue Jay's Myles Straw after forcing out Blue Jays' Tyler Heineman (55) at second during the third inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Cleveland Guardians' Juan Brito hits a double off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman during the third inning during the third inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto (7) singles off Cleveland Guardians pitcher Matt Festa (52) during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (34) works against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Islamic militants and separatists said they attacked several locations in Mali 's capital, Bamako, and other cities on Saturday in one of the largest coordinated attacks in the West African country in recent years. The government gave no death toll but said that 16 people were wounded in the attacks.

Mali has previously faced insurgencies fought by militants affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the country's north.

Most of the details of the unfolding attacks on Saturday came from local residents, who spoke to The Associated Press over the phone.

The al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM claimed responsibility for the attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities in central and northern Mali. The claim, posted on its website Azallaq, said the attacks were carried out jointly with the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led separatist group.

The Malian army said in a statement that “unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain locations and barracks” in Bamako and that soldiers were “engaged in eliminating the attackers.”

Another statement later said the situation was under control.

An Associated Press journalist in Bamako heard sustained heavy and automatic weapons gunfire from the direction of Modibo Keïta International Airport, around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center. A helicopter flew over nearby neighborhoods. The airport is adjacent to an air base used by Mali's air force. A resident living near the airport also reported gunfire and three helicopters overhead.

The U.S. Embassy in Bamako issued a security alert citing reports of explosions and gunfire near Kati and the international airport, and urged U.S. citizens to shelter in place and avoid travel there.

Mali’s government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly, said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.

The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

A resident of Kati, a town near Bamako that is home to Mali’s main military base, said he was woken by the sound of gunfire and explosions.

Gen. Assimi Goita, the leader of Mali’s military junta, resides in Kati. The residence of Mali’s defense minister, Sadio Camara, was heavily damaged by an explosion during the attack, a nearby shopkeeper told the AP.

The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Videos on social media showed militant convoys in trucks and motorcycles moving through Kati's deserted streets, while residents looked on fearfully. Residents of Sevare and Mopti, two towns in central Mali, also reported attacks by gunmen.

Other videos — from the northern towns of Kidal and Gao — showed gunfire exchanges in the streets, with dead bodies lying on the ground.

Insurgents entered Kidal, taking control of some neighborhoods and leading to exchanges of fire with the army, a former mayor of the town told the AP by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the separatist Azawad movement, said in a post on Facebook that its forces had taken control of Kidal as well as some areas in Gao, another northeastern city.

The AP could not independently verify the claim. Azawad separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.

Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the separatist rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.

A resident of Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, said gunfire and explosions started in the early hours of Saturday and were still heard later in the morning.

“The force of the explosions is making the doors and windows of my house shake. I’m scared out of my wits,” the resident said by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety. The resident said the gunfire came from the army camp and the airport, which are right next to each other.

Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said the assault seems to be the largest coordinated attack in years in Mali.

“It’s especially concerning that JNIM apparently has been coordinating today’s attacks with Tuareg rebels, “Laessing said. Jihadis and Tuareg rebels teamed up before, in 2012, he added.

At the time they jointly overran northern Mali, ”sparking the region's security crisis,” Laessing said.

Along with Mali, neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso have also been battling al-Qaida and ID affiliates.

Following military coups, the juntas in the three countries turned from Western allies to Russia for help combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, analysts say, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.

In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako’s airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.

An ariel view of Bamako, Mali, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo)