LOS ANGELES (AP) — The two biggest offseason acquisitions by the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are paying dividends already.
Edwin Diaz earned his first save in his debut and Kyle Tucker singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
Click to Gallery
Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (4) misses a catch as Los Angeles Dodgers Kyle Tucker (23) slides into second base during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Tatiana Tate plays the trumpet as Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz runs out to field in between the eighth and ninth innings of a baseball game Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz throws to the plate during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Diaz trotted out in the ninth to the sounds of trumpeter Tatiana Tate, who tooted from the stands next to the left field bullpen. Wearing Diaz's No. 3 jersey, she played Timmy Trumpet's “Narcos,” the closer's entrance song that electrified New York Mets fans before the Dodgers lured the fan favorite away on a $69 million, three-year deal.
“It’s really cool because it’s another way to keep the fans involved in the game until the ninth inning because they’re all going to be waiting for that,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “Having Sugar in the ninth is always going to be special.”
However, fans may be hearing a recorded version of Diaz's music next time. Tate, who has played with Stevie Wonder and Doechii, isn't expected to be a regular presence during the season.
Díaz struck out two and walked one. He converted 28 of 31 save chances for the Mets last season.
“I always get a little bit nervous when I come into the game, but at the end of the day I was excited, too,” Diaz said. “I come in a one-run game was really big for me. I want to set it down the second day of the season, help this team to win, get the save and keep going.”
The Dodgers won back-to-back World Series championships without a true closer, although at times it was a rocky road. The last pitcher to fill that role was Kenley Jansen, who twice led the National League in saves during his spell in Los Angeles.
Now, Diaz provides dependability, a track record and a level of trust at the back of the bullpen.
“It’s going to be a lot on Sugar because he’s going to have to be under a lot of pressure," Rojas said, "but he’s done it before. He’s the right guy for the task.”
Manager Dave Roberts initially didn't think the Dodgers had a chance to land Diaz in free agency after the right-hander opted out of the final two years and $38 million of his contract with the Mets.
Roberts got off a 45-minute video call with Diaz and front office executives, and told his wife, “We're going to get him.”
“It was selling ourselves and talking about how much we valued him and the culture of the team and the ownership and how we'll do anything to win,” Roberts recalled. “He talked to his wife and convinced her moving West was a good decision."
Another factor that played in the Dodgers' favor, Roberts believes, is that Diaz's younger brother, Alexis, had joined the Dodgers last May as a reliever. He is currently in the Texas Rangers organization.
“Calling him up from the minors and us treating him like a superstar, I think that kind of helped make that decision and comfort going forward,” Roberts said.
The attraction for Diaz was simple: “A lot of good players here. Everyone stays healthy, this team has a chance to win a three-peat,” he said.
Tucker went 1-for-3 with the game-winning single and a stolen base. In his debut on Thursday, the right fielder notched his first hit and first RBI in an 8-2 comeback victory. He signed a $240 million, four-year deal to leave the Chicago Cubs.
“I’m excited for them to have the opportunity to play in this environment and feel part of the family,” Rojas said. “I'm pretty sure they're looking closely at how fun it's been.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (4) misses a catch as Los Angeles Dodgers Kyle Tucker (23) slides into second base during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Tatiana Tate plays the trumpet as Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz runs out to field in between the eighth and ninth innings of a baseball game Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz throws to the plate during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile launch toward Israel early Saturday, their first since the war in the Middle East started. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile.
The war, now marking its one-month anniversary, erupted after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, which retaliated with strikes against Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states. The conflict has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports and caused fuel prices to soar. Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, has also exacerbated the economic fallout of the war.
Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding more than a dozen U.S. service members and damaging planes.
Before Saturday’s attack, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the strait.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, claimed responsibility in a statement aired Saturday morning on the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television. He said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel. The attack came hours after Saree signaled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war.
Sirens went off around Israel’s southern city of Beer Sheba and the area near Israel’s main nuclear research center as Iran and Hezbollah continued to fire on Israel overnight. Loud explosions also filled the air in Tel Aviv and Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to 11 different impact sites across the metro area.
Saturday's assault calls into question whether the Houthis will again target commercial shipping traveling through the Red Sea corridor, as they did during the Israel-Hamas war, upending shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion worth of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels also fired drones at Israel.
The potential involvement of the Houthis in the war would also complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the aircraft carrier that went to port in Crete on Monday for repairs. Sending the carrier back into the Red Sea could draw it into the same high tempo of attacks seen by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in the 2025 American campaign against the Houthis.
The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, and so far had stayed out of the war as the rebels have had an uneasy ceasefire for years with Saudi Arabia, which launched a war against the group on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government in 2015.
More than two dozen U.S. troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base in the past week, according to two people who have been briefed on the matter. Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base in the Friday attack that injured at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to the sources who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The base, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, came under attack twice earlier in the week, including a strike that wounded 14 U.S. troops, according to the people briefed on the matter. The base is run by the Royal Saudi Air Force but is also used by U.S. troops.
The latest attacks happened after Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going “very well” and that he had given Tehran until April 6 to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran maintains that it has not engaged in any negotiations.
With the economic repercussions from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait.
Pakistan said Saturday Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will send their top diplomats to Islamabad for talks aimed at ending the war.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will arrive Sunday for a two-day visit to “hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has said Washington delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, with a proposal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program and reopen the strait. Tehran rejected the proposal and presented its own five-point proposal that included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the waterway.
Meanwhile, U.S. ships drew closer to the region carrying some 2,500 Marines, and at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne trained to land in hostile territory to secure key positions and airfields have been ordered to the Middle East.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops.”
Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
In Lebanon, where Israel has started an invasion in the south, officials said more than 1,100 people have been killed since the start of the war.
Meanwhile, at least 13 U.S. troops have been reported killed, while in Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.
In the Gulf states, 20 people have been killed and four others in the occupied West Bank.
The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration also said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings in Iran, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people, were damaged.
Israel focused its attacks Friday on sites “in the heart of Tehran” where ballistic missiles and other weapons are produced, the military said. It said it also hit missile launchers and storage sites in Western Iran, while witnesses in eastern Tehran reported a partial power outage following airstrikes.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not cause casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said.
Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.
The Israeli military later said raw materials are processed for enrichment at the Yazd plant and the strike was a major blow to Iran's nuclear program.
Tehran vowed to retaliate.
Iran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following a request from the United Nations.
Ali Bahreini, the country’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, said Iran agreed to “facilitate and expedite” such movement.
The vital waterway usually handles a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer trade. While markets and governments have largely focused on blocked supplies of oil and natural gas, the restriction of fertilizer ingredients and trade threatens farming and food security around the world.
Magdy reported from Cairo, Madhani from Washington and Gambrell from Dubai. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Displaced women reach out to receive an aid package distributed by a volunteer in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Israeli first responders remove the body of a person from the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Residents look on as first responders work at the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
An Israeli first responder walks from the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
