CHICAGO (AP) — Munetaka Murakami hit a three-run homer in a big seventh-inning rally, and the Chicago White Sox held off the slumping Los Angeles Angels for an 8-7 win Monday night.
Andrew Benintendi had three RBIs as Chicago improved to 6-4 in its last 10 games. Miguel Vargas hit a solo drive, and Tristan Peters had two hits and scored two runs.
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A tarp covers the infield as fans wait during a rain delay before a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Los Angeles Angels' Jorge Soler hits a sacrifice fly to Chicago White Sox right fielder Everson Pereira during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout celebrates with teammates after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Soler during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Andrew Benintendi (23) walks to the dugout after being called out on strikes during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, hits a single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Jorge Soler hit a solo homer for Los Angeles in the rain-delayed opener of a three-game series. Mike Trout had two hits and scored twice.
The Angels blew a 5-1 lead in their fourth consecutive loss and eighth in nine games overall. They had a 6-0 lead Sunday at Kansas City and lost 11-9 when Lane Thomas hit a three-run homer for the Royals in the 10th inning.
The White Sox sent 10 batters to the plate while scoring seven times in the seventh. It was their biggest inning of the season.
Benintendi's two-run double off Nick Sandlin (0-1) trimmed the Angels' lead to one. Murakami then greeted Drew Pomeranz with a drive to right-center for his major league-best 12th homer. Vargas followed Murakami with another homer for an 8-5 lead.
The 26-year-old Murakami, a rookie slugger from Japan, is batting .349 (15 for 43) with seven homers and 14 RBIs in his last 10 games.
Osvaldo Bido (2-0) pitched three innings of one-run ball for the win.
Soler and Nolan Schanuel each drove in a run in the ninth against Grant Taylor before Bryan Hudson retired Adam Frazier on a bouncer to second, stranding runners at second and third. It was Hudson's first career save.
The start was delayed three hours as rain and thunderstorms rolled over Rate Field.
José Soriano (5-0, 0.24 ERA) starts for the Angels on Tuesday night, and fellow right-hander Davis Martin (3-1, 2.01 ERA) pitches for the White Sox.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
A tarp covers the infield as fans wait during a rain delay before a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Los Angeles Angels' Jorge Soler hits a sacrifice fly to Chicago White Sox right fielder Everson Pereira during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout celebrates with teammates after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Soler during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Andrew Benintendi (23) walks to the dugout after being called out on strikes during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, hits a single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Civil society organizations in South Africa said Wednesday that adolescent girls and women are among the first vulnerable groups to feel the pinch of U.S. foreign aid cuts as the Trump administration phases out its more than $400 million support annually for the country’s HIV programs.
The U.S. State Department has said that it would “begin a phased drawdown” of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a program that has supported South Africa’s battle against HIV and AIDS for the last 20 years and is widely credited with saving more than 20 million lives over that period.
The phasing out of most programs is expected to be completed by the end of September, with critical personnel support continuing through March next year, according to the U.S. State Department.
South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV, with approximately 8 million people, or about 12.7 % of its 63 million population.
The country was singled out for the halting of financial aid in addition to broader foreign aid cuts announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in an executive order issued in January 2025.
Trump announced a halt to all financial aid to the country the following month, citing political issues which included South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment policies and widely disputed allegations of a genocide against the white minority Afrikaner community in the country.
He also cited South Africa's land expropriation laws as targeting white Afrikaners and condemned the country’s actions against Israel at the International Court of Justice, where it has accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegation and has said that the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people, was itself a genocidal act.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press this week that the South African government had been informed that PEPFAR would be withdrawn if these issues weren't addressed, which included a requirement for senior government officials to “unequivocally condemn all race-based incitement to violence, including the ‘Kill the Boer’ song, more frequently.”
The anti-apartheid liberation song has been interpreted by some as calling for violence against Afrikaners.
According to the South African government, the PEPFAR funding for South Africa was equivalent to about 17% of its budget for HIV programs, but this didn't include the purchase of antiretroviral drugs, since 90% of this was self-funded and the other 10% funded by the Global Fund.
However, other HIV related programs in 27 districts around the country had been adversely affected, with some support facilities shutting down and front-line workers and volunteers losing their jobs.
“The department has long been working on a self-reliance plan to minimize the impact of funding withdrawal since the initial freeze on foreign assistance and a cancellation of USAID grants in January 2025,” South Africa health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said.
Last year, the country announced a $45 million emergency fund to address some of the gaps created by the withdrawal of PEPFAR.
According to civil society group Section27, which has assessed the impact of the funding withdrawals in three districts that have high HIV prevalence in South Africa, prevention services were hardly hit.
“As the health system started to feel the pressure, the response was to prioritize treatment continuity versus prevention,” Section27 senior legal researcher Tendai Mafuma said.
The Anova Health Institute said that it had discontinued its PEPFAR-funded programs and laid off about 3,000 health workers since last year.
“Community delivery of PrEP (preexposure prophylaxis) and prevention services has been heavily impacted,” said Dr. Kate Rees, public health medicine specialist at Anova. “Community delivery of prevention is important to reach the people that need it most.”
She said that priority populations which include children, adolescents and young people were among the most affected, along with key population which include men who have sex with men and people who use drugs, among others.
For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse
The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
FILE - Women walk past a closed clinic run by WITS Reproductive Health Institute (RHI) as a sign on the gate reads "USAID has served the WITS RHI Key Populations Programme a notice to pause programme implementation. As of Tuesday, 28 January, we are unable to provide services until further notice." in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
