After cheating death, Dodgers pitcher Dustin May makes his way back to the mound a changed man

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dustin May took the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers a changed man.

Making his first major league start since May 17, 2023, he allowed just one hit and an unearned run over five innings in the Dodgers' 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. He struck out six and walked three.

“Even if it would have went bad I still would have been having a good time just being back on a big league mound,” May said. “It literally meant the world to me just to be back on the mound because eight months ago I didn’t know if I would be.”

May spent all of last season rehabbing from a torn flexor tendon in his right arm and a life-threatening esophageal tear after eating a salad at dinner with his wife in Arizona. A piece of lettuce got caught in his throat and May sipped some water trying to clear it.

He felt a painful sensation in his throat and stomach, and later learned the lettuce had perforated his esophageal tube.

“It’s kind of one of those stories you just make up but it was actually true,” teammate Mookie Betts said. “God was just working his magic.”

May underwent emergency surgery that same night, with doctors later telling him he had sought medical attention just in time.

“After the esophagus thing happened it was like a total reset,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do at the moment, so playing baseball was at the very back of my mind. I was just trying to get healthy, get home and be able to see the next morning.”

The 6-foot-6 right-hander nicknamed Big Red closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the darkening sky before warming up Tuesday.

“I was thanking the Lord for the opportunity to be back,” he said. “There’s been a lot of praying and a lot of devotion to him in the last two years of my life and I attribute all of my success to him.”

May's first pitch was a 96 mph sinker to Braves leadoff hitter Michael Harris II for a strike. He again leaned his head back and looked skyward. Harris struck out looking.

Up came Austin Riley, who went down swinging on five pitches. Matt Olson was next and he took a called third strike. May skipped off the mound and was greeted with high-fives from his teammates in the dugout.

“It means the world knowing that my stuff still plays,” he said. “It was good to actually get big league hitters out in a big league game.”

The noisy crowd of 50,182 welcomed him back.

“That felt great,” he said.

May appeared to induce an inning-ending double play with two on in the second, but Betts bobbled the ball and threw it away at first to let a run score. It was Betts’ first error at shortstop this season.

“I didn't get a good grip on it,” Betts said. “Just a dumb play.”

May’s emotions used to run as hot as his flowing red hair when he first came up to the majors.

“Every pitch everything would be super high or super low,” he said.

Cheating death calmed him down.

“Just being able to stay a little bit more level-headed throughout life in general has been one of my biggest things probably in the last six months,” he said.

In 2023, May was 4-1 in nine starts with a 2.63 ERA, 34 strikeouts and 16 walks before having Tommy John revision surgery.

Little did he know that would be the least of his troubles. And never did he think eating a salad would threaten his life.

“There wasn't really a very bright light at the end of the tunnel at the time,” he said. “I had to scratch and claw my way out and find my way back.”

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Los Angeles Dodgers' Dustin May jumps in the air after striking out the side against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Dustin May hangs his head in the dugout after striking out the side against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Dustin May jumps in the air after striking out the side against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Dustin May is congratulated in the dugout after striking out the side against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Dustin May throws against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, as negotiators continue to search for a breakthrough in peace talks to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Troops held a brief ceremony to mark the occasion in neighboring Belarus where the missiles have been deployed, the ministry said. It did not say how many missiles had been deployed or give any other details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in December that the Oreshnik would enter combat duty this month. He made the statement at a meeting with top Russian military officers, where he warned that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.

The announcement comes at a critical time for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Zelenskyy at his Florida resort Sunday and insisted that Kyiv and Moscow were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.

However, negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 biggest in the world. Trump noted that the monthslong U.S.-led negotiations could still collapse.

Putin has sought to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces strain to keep back the bigger Russian army.

At a meeting with senior military officers Monday, Putin emphasized the need to create military buffer zones along the Russian border. He also claimed that Russian troops were advancing in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine and pressing their offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Moscow first used the Oreshnik, which is Russian for “hazelnut tree,” against Ukraine in November 2024, when it fired the experimental weapon at a factory in Dnipro that built missiles when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

Putin has praised the Oreshnik’s capabilities, saying that its multiple warheads, which plunge toward a target at speeds up to Mach 10, are immune to being intercepted.

He warned the West that Moscow could use it against Ukraine’s NATO allies who've allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

Russia’s missile forces chief has also declared that the Oreshnik, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range allowing it to reach all of Europe.

Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, Russian troops line up at a base in Belarus where the Oreshnik missile system was deployed in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, Russian solders camouflage one of the trucks of the Russia's Oreshnik missile system with a net during training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, A Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, A Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, A Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)