MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chris Paddack had warned himself to watch his back if he ever pitched deep enough to be chosen for the postgame on-field interview, well aware of the widespread practice of soaking the unsuspecting player in some type of liquid.
When his time finally came with the Minnesota Twins, Paddack forgot his own advice.
After taking a three-hitter into the eighth inning in a 3-1 win for the Twins over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, Paddack was the natural pick for the postgame interview with Apple TV+ following the nationally streamed broadcast.
As the lanky, long-haired right-hander spoke, some of his teammates sneaked up behind him and dumped a couple of buckets of ice water over his head.
“I kind of got locked in, blacked out,” the 29-year-old Paddack said later, once he'd dried off inside the clubhouse. “It's a little chilly, but it's an honor.”
After he picked up his first win since last June 10, having allowed just one run with six strikeouts and no walks, the Twins were eager to see where Paddack can progress from here.
Acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres the day before the 2022 season opener, Paddack made five starts before being sidelined and learning he needed Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his elbow for the second time in his career. He made it back for a bullpen role in the 2023 playoffs, but last year a forearm injury kept him from pitching after the All-Star break.
Paddack had a perfect game going until a two-out single in the sixth inning by Christian Koss. The bid for his first career shutout was spoiled with a home run by Matt Chapman with two outs in the seventh.
“He should be pretty pleased with what he was able to do out there, and it gives him something to do next outing and the outing after that, too,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s as good of an outing as you could ever ask your starting pitcher to give you.”
Paddack's 7 1/3 innings were the fourth-most of his seven-year major league career, and he only needed 83 pitches to make it that far.
“The bullpen needed a break," he said. "Those guys have been busting their tail.”
The Twins (19-20) stretched their winning streak to six games, the longest since last June 12-18. The starting pitching that has been the most consistent area of the team during this frustrating start to the season has finally begun to impact winning. Twins starters have a collective 3.34 ERA, the fifth-best in the majors.
“We expect our starters to be not just good at what they do but to be an enormous strength for us this season,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to lean on them. We’re going to let them go out there and lead the way in many different ways. We’re getting those types of outings from them all the time. That’s what you want.”
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Minnesota Twins' Ty France, left, celebrates in the dugout after scoring during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) and Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, right, celebrate after winning a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Friday, May 9, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Twins pitcher Chris Paddack (20) throws to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 9, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of Mukalla on Tuesday after a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates arrived for separatist forces in the war-torn country, and warned that it viewed Emirati actions as “extremely dangerous.”
The bombing followed tensions over the advance of Emirates-backed separatist forces known as the Southern Transitional Council. The council and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE's presence, even as others allied with Saudi Arabia demanded that Emirati forces withdraw from Yemen in 24 hours' time.
The UAE called for “restraint and wisdom” and disputed Riyadh’s allegations. But shortly after that, it said it would withdraw its remaining troops in Yemen. It remained unclear whether the separatists it backs will give up the territory they recently took.
The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen's decade-long war, with forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels possibly turning their sights on each other in the Arab world's poorest nation.
It also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. Tuesday’s airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be their most serious confrontation in decades.
“I expect a calibrated escalation from both sides. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council is likely to respond by consolidating control,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the Basha Report, a risk advisory firm.
“At the same time, the flow of weapons from the UAE to the STC is set to be curtailed following the port attack, particularly as Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.”
A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes on Mukalla, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah in the UAE.
“The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” the statement said.
“Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla,” it added.
It wasn't clear if there were any casualties.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry hours later denied it shipped weapons but acknowledged it sent the vehicles “for use by the UAE forces operating in Yemen.” It also claimed Saudi Arabia knew about the shipment ahead of time.
The ministry called for “the highest levels of coordination, restraint and wisdom, taking into account the existing security challenges and threats.”
The Emirati Defense Ministry later said it would withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen over “recent developments and their potential repercussions on the safety and effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations.” It gave no timeline for the withdrawal. The UAE broadly withdrew its forces from Yemen years earlier.
Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces not aligned with the separatists declared a state of emergency Tuesday and ended their cooperation with the UAE. They issued a 72-hour ban on border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia. It remained unclear whether that coalition, governed under the umbrella of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, would remain intact.
The Southern Transitional Council’s AIC satellite news channel aired footage of the strike's aftermath but avoided showing damage to the armored vehicles.
“This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will only strengthen popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a South Arabian state,” the channel said.
The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, urged combatants to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, like the port, saying any disruption to its operations “risks affecting the already dire humanitarian situation and humanitarian supply chains.”
Mukalla is in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, which the council seized in recent days. The port city is some 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula off East Africa, borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The war there has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.
The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, disrupting regional shipping. The U.S., which earlier praised Saudi-Emirati efforts to end the crisis over the separatists, has launched airstrikes against the rebels under both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Tuesday's strike in Mukalla comes after Saudi Arabia targeted the council in airstrikes Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra.
The council had pushed out forces there affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the anti-Houthi coalition.
Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators have been rallying to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede again.
A statement Tuesday from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry directly linked the council's advance to the Emiratis for the first time.
“The kingdom notes that the steps taken by the sisterly United Arab Emirates are extremely dangerous,” it said.
Allies of the council later issued a statement in which they showed no sign of backing down.
Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
This frame grab from video broadcast by Saudi state television on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, shows what the kingdom describes as a shipment of weapons and armored vehicles coming from the United Arab Emirates, at Mukalla, Yemen. (Saudi state television via AP)
