ST. LOUIS (AP) — Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo homered, Brandon Lowe added an RBI single and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Sunday.
Braxton Ashcraft (14-5) held St. Louis without an extra-base hit over five innings to become the first Pirates pitcher since 2018 (Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams) to reach 14 wins. He allowed two runs on six hits, struck out three and walked one.
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St. Louis Cardinals' Nolan Gorman fouls off a pitch during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Brandon Lowe follows through on an RBI single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) scores past St. Louis Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera during the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds singles during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
In the second inning, Valdez hit a two-run home run off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (5-13) that stayed just inside the right-field foul pole. Triolo drilled a 412-foot blast into the left-field stands in the fifth inning to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-0.
Thomas Saggese singled three times and scored twice. He moved into the St. Louis lineup after infielder JJ Wetherholt was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with right wrist tendinitis.
Alec Burleson achieved his first 100 RBI season when he and Iván Herrera had back-to-back run-scoring singles with two outs in the fifth inning.
Herrera also had an RBI double in the seventh to pull St. Louis within 5-4. Yohan Ramirez got Nolan Gorman to fly out to end that threat with runners on second and third.
Mason Montgomery earned his seventh save with a spotless ninth.
Liberatore struck out nine in 5 2-3 innings while throwing a career-high 107 pitches. He gave up four runs on six hits and a pair of walks.
The Pirates got an unearned run in the third when Ramón Urías dropped Lowe's two-out popup, allowing Oneil Cruz to score.
Pittsburgh: RHP Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.79 ERA) starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series at San Diego. The Padres have not announced their starter.
St. Louis: The Cardinals have not announced their rotation for a three-game series against Los Angeles that starts Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. LHP Eric Lauer (8-6, 4.78 ERA) goes for LA in the opener.
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St. Louis Cardinals' Nolan Gorman fouls off a pitch during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Brandon Lowe follows through on an RBI single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) scores past St. Louis Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera during the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds singles during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Hundreds of people crowded into a church near Haiti’s capital on Sunday for the funeral of four of the 47 people killed in a recent gang attack so brutal that it shook a country that has long struggled with violence.
Mourners wiped away tears, raised their hands and cried out as coffins arrived at a church in the farming community of Kenscoff.
“We thank everyone who came in solidarity with the families that died and those who lost their loved ones,” Pastor Jean Robert Dorlus said. “God will open a space to receive them.”
At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked the once-peaceful community of Kenscoff near Haiti’s capital a week ago. T hey later released six children and seven women following an intervention by community leaders and UNICEF.
It was one of the biggest mass kidnappings in Haiti in recent years, and survivors have organized protests and blamed police for not preventing the attack, which pierced the belief that security in the troubled Caribbean country was improving.
Gang violence has displaced a record of nearly 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,050 people were reported killed from January to June, according to U.N. statistics.
Inside the church, people swayed to gospel music. Some wailed as their shoulders shook. The church was so packed that dozens had to stand outside, peering through the windows, as they honored those being laid to rest: a mother, father and their son, and a 70-year-old man whose body had been set on fire by the gang members.
“I’ve known them for a long time,” said Yvon Marleus, a Kenscoff resident who lost a cousin in the attack. “These are people who are respected in the community.”
“They didn’t act in time to stop the carnage,” Marleus alleged, referring to police.
Haiti’s National Police has said that it ordered an investigation to establish the truth about the attack, and whether it was "due to complicity or negligence.”
Outside the church, civilians stood guard with automatic weapons, ready to repel any potential new gang attacks with the help of police officers stationed nearby.
Kenscoff resident Jean Calixte Juste said he and two cousins survived the attack “by luck.”
"I almost died,” he recalled. “I almost fell into a ravine running. This is the worst and most terrible night I’ve ever experienced.”
He didn’t know the four people whose funerals were held Sunday, but he said he wanted to honor their memories.
It wasn't clear when funerals of the other victims might be held.
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV condemned the massacre.
“I express my prayerful closeness to the victims and their families and ask that all the hostages be released without delay,” he said. "I make a heartfelt appeal to all those responsible to make a concrete commitment to ensuring the safety of the population and putting an end to every form of violence.”
Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, said that some 150 heavily armed gang members participated in the Aug. 23 attack. She said they first killed 13 people who tried to flee and then pursued 50 more who had sought refuge inside a church.
“After forcing them out from the premises, they executed 22 of them on the church courtyard and 12 others behind the church,” she said.
Dozens of others were injured, and more than 2,600 people were left homeless.
Armed men control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and swaths of land in Haiti’s central region and beyond, and they are also seeking to seize territory in Kenscoff.
“I’m ready to leave," said Juste, one of the residents. "Because after this, I don’t think we’re going to survive another big attack.”
Coto reported from Havana.
Relatives carry a coffin to the cemetery for burial after the funeral ceremony for four victims killed in a gang attack on the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Relatives attend the funeral ceremony for four victims of a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Relatives lift the coffin of a gang attack victim for burial at the cemetery after the funeral ceremony for four people killed during the attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Relatives attend the funeral of four victims of a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Blood stains the ground left behind by the victim of a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
