TORONTO (AP) — Sam Antonacci hit a two-run home run, Braden Montgomery matched his career-high with four RBIs, and the Chicago White Sox extended their winning streak to four with a 12-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Braden Montgomery had a three-run triple and Colson Montgomery added a three-run double as Chicago improved to 4-0 against Toronto this season, outscoring the Blue Jays 26-11 in those games.
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Chicago White Sox' Braden Montgomery (24) slides safely into second with a stolen base ahead of a tag by Toronto Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement (22) during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Luis Urias throws to first base to put out Chicago White Sox's Sam Antonacci during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chicago White Sox' Chase Meidroth (10) runs out a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chicago White Sox left fielder Sam Antonacci catches a fly ball off the bat of Toronto Blue Jays' Luis Urias during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chicago White Sox's Chase Meidroth (10) and Munetaka Murakami (5) celebrate after scoring on a three-RBI double by teammate Colson Montgomery during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Tyler Schweitzer (1-0) pitched three shutout innings as the AL Central leaders returned from the All-Star break with a decisive win.
George Springer, Luis Urías and Brandon Valenzuela hit solo home runs but the Blue Jays couldn’t recover after giving up five in the second inning. Toronto is 5-36 when its opponent scores five runs or more.
The Blue Jays fell to 24-26 at home, where they went 54-27 last season.
Toronto’s Spencer Miles (4-2) allowed six runs and six hits in four-plus innings.
Colson Montgomery and Andrew Benintendi singled to begin the second before Kyle Teel hit an RBI double. Braden Montgomery drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single before Antonacci went deep.
Urías homered off Anthony Kay in the fourth.
Springer and Valenzuela both went deep off Trevor Richards. Springer homered in the fifth, his 10th this season. Valenzuela led off the sixth with his eighth home run.
Braden Montgomery cleared the bases with a triple off Braydon Fisher in the seventh, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Tristan Peters.
Hours before the first pitch, the Blue Jays announced on social media that the roof would remain closed Friday because of poor air quality caused by wildfires.
Blue Jays RHP Shane Bieber (0-1, 7.64 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday against Chicago RHP Davis Martin (9-4, 3.41).
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Chicago White Sox' Braden Montgomery (24) slides safely into second with a stolen base ahead of a tag by Toronto Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement (22) during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Luis Urias throws to first base to put out Chicago White Sox's Sam Antonacci during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chicago White Sox' Chase Meidroth (10) runs out a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chicago White Sox left fielder Sam Antonacci catches a fly ball off the bat of Toronto Blue Jays' Luis Urias during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chicago White Sox's Chase Meidroth (10) and Munetaka Murakami (5) celebrate after scoring on a three-RBI double by teammate Colson Montgomery during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
LITOCHORO, Greece (AP) — Snow-capped for much of the year, Mount Olympus, mythological home of ancient Greece’s 12 Olympian gods, has captured the imagination through the millennia. Rising to 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from a base practically at sea level, the ancient Greeks believed the throne of Zeus, king of the gods, stood on the highest of its craggy, often mist-shrouded peaks.
Now, modern-day Greeks hope their tallest mountain will be inducted into UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a mixed cultural and natural site. The nomination is to be discussed when the World Heritage Committee meets in Busan, South Korea from Sunday through July 29.
“Olympus is our life. It is the place we grew up in,” said Evagelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus, based in Litochoro, the mountain’s main town. “It is the place we see every day, but at the same time, it is also a place which carries with it myth, history, biodiversity, extraordinary beauty and a very great cultural weight.”
Few locations are as central to ancient Greek mythology as Mount Olympus. It was here that Zeus was said to have established his court after overthrowing his father, Cronus, in a 10-year war that ended the reign of the Titans.
Interest in Olympus may receive another boost with the theatrical release this week of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a new adaptation of Homer’s epic, in which the mountain serves as the home of Zeus and the Olympian gods who influence Odysseus’ journey.
On one of Olympus’s lower peaks, excavations have uncovered an open-air sanctuary, with the oldest finds dating to the Hellenistic period, which ran from 323 B.C. to 30 B.C. According to Greece’s original UNESCO nomination, the sanctuary is believed to have been one mentioned by the ancient philosopher and historian Plutarch, who in the 2nd century wrote of processions to one of Olympus’s peaks for animal sacrifices to Zeus.
The mountain retained religious significance into the Christian era. Α chapel on the peak of Prophet Elias, at 2,803 meters, is believed to be the highest altitude chapel in the Christian Orthodox world. The mountain’s Enipeas Gorge holds the remains of a monastery founded in 1542, while a roughly 20-minute walk from there leads to the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios, a chapel built into a cave from where a small spring flows, believed to carry holy water.
The mountain’s slopes, which reach practically to the sea, also host a wealth of flora and fauna, including endemic species. It is this blending of culture, myth, natural beauty and biodiversity that locals hope will see their mountain declared a World Heritage site.
“It is a place we love. It is a place that many people from all over the world visit to see, to live, to experience. We want to protect it,” Geroliolios said. Its inclusion on UNESCO’s list would be “something very big that goes beyond not just local boundaries, but national boundaries. It is something that concerns the entire world. It is very important.”
Greece began the process to have Mount Olympus recognized as a World Heritage site in 2014, inscribing it on its Tentative List — the mandatory first step in any nomination. The Tentative List is where countries include sites they can then formally nominate over the next five to 10 years.
The nomination process includes a preliminary assessment followed by submission of a full nomination file, which is then evaluated over 14 months by advisory bodies, including the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Recommendations by the advisory bodies are then discussed during the World Heritage Committee’s annual meeting, where representatives of 21 countries vote on nominated sites.
Greece's Mount Olympus nomination is far from certain. A draft of the Busan meeting's agenda indicates the committee will refer the nomination back to Greece and request further details.
Still, locals hope the mountain’s cultural and natural wonders will secure it a place and will play a role in securing more protection for the mountain.
The mayor, Geroliolios, said inclusion on the World Heritage list “places some greater obligations on our part to protect this environment.”
Environmental protection is also foremost in the mind of mountain guide Babis Marinidis, president of the Alpine Club of Litochoro.
Including Olympus on UNESCO’s World Heritage list would likely attract more people to the mountain and the surrounding area, Marinidis said. “How many people can this mountain, this ecosystem, bear?” he asked. Although much of Olympus was designated a national park decades ago and there are regulations in place, many are openly flouted, with Marinidis saying visitors regularly ignore “no swimming” or “no camping” signs.
The ever-growing number of visitors had led local authorities to consider imposing entrance fees and registering visitor numbers. “I used to be against that,” Marinidis said. “But now with so many people, I believe some limit must be imposed.”
The mythological home of the gods attracts hikers and mountaineers from across the world. While technical climbing experience isn’t mandatory to reach the summit, the mountain is also not to be trifled with.
With its combination of changeable weather and treacherous terrain, it has claimed many lives. The most recent fatality was on July 11, when a 64-year-old Greek hiker died after collapsing on a trail. In May, rescue crews found the body of a 25-year-old Spanish man days after he went missing while attempting to reach the summit in the snow.
“You need to be careful,” and safety measures must always be kept in mind, said 32-year-old hiker Triantafyllos Giannospyros, who was visiting the mountain for the first time. “But with care and with good organization, it isn’t something you should be afraid of.”
Stavroula Vourou, who runs a hotel in Litochoro, the town from where many hikers set off, echoed his sentiment.
“Everyone sets off to go up and conquer a mountain that needs respect,” she said. “You respect this mountain, it respects you too.”
Becatoros contributed from Athens, Greece. Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Litochoro, Greece, contributed to this report.
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.
Theodoris Papaioannou tends his kiwi orchard, backdropped by Mount Olympus, near the village of Dion in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A butterfly stands on a wildflower in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The morning light shines on Mytikas, Greece's highest peak, center left, and Stefani, known as the Throne of Zeus, center right, atop Mount Olympus seen from the outskirts of Litochoro in northern Greece, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A visitor approaches a chapel at the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Candles burn outside a chapel at the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
People swim beneath a waterfall in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A statue of Alexander the Great holding Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stands near Litochoro in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, backdropped by Mount Olympus' highest peaks, Mytikas and Stefani. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Sunflowers bloom in Kalyvia Varikou, near Litochoro in northern Greece, backdropped by Mount Olympus, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
