Kyle Tucker’s quiet night turns loud with a walk-off hit for the Dodgers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kyle Tucker got his first walk-off hit since signing a blockbuster deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The right fielder's game-ending single scored the tying and winning runs in a 5-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday night after he was hitless in his first four at-bats, including a strikeout. It was his first walk-off hit since May 15, 2023, with Houston.

“It was great. He needed it,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s been grinding and trying to find some success and some good fortune. Big spot right there, walk-off at home, so that was great.”

Last week, Tucker was dropped to the cleanup spot from the No. 2 hole in an effort to get the slugger going.

“I’ve had some good contact with not a whole lot to show,” he said. “It’s tough sometimes just because you don’t see the results right away, but you've got to stick to it and just try to make as much quality contact as you can.”

The change in the order will be the plan going forward.

“Moving him down allowed the game to come to him a little bit slower and I think that has been a benefit,” Roberts said.

Tucker signed a $240 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers in January. He had yet to break out at the plate despite batting behind leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani until swapping places with Freddie Freeman in the order.

Joining a star-laden clubhouse as a big-time free agent can unsettle some players.

“The transition certainly is unpredictable,” Roberts said. “He’s very consistent in how he approaches each day. He is traditionally a slow starter as I understand. He’s a pro and he wants to be out there and still plays good defense. I do think that a moment like this, even for a player that’s been around a long time, can kind of inspire more confidence in him.”

Tucker prefers to let his performance speak for itself. Playing alongside Ohtani, Freeman and Mookie Betts, he no longer has to carry a team or be its face the way he did with the Chicago Cubs.

Roberts said he's given up trying to read Tucker's poker face.

“That’s just who he is. It’s not personal to anybody,” the manager said. “Just doesn’t give anyone a whole lot.”

Instead of shaking Tucker's hand after his game-winning hit, Roberts pushed him in the chest, which provoked a smile.

Tucker barely reacted as Ohtani and Dalton Rushing scored the tying and winning runs.

“I hit it and started going to first and it wasn’t quite loud yet until we actually ended up winning the game,” Tucker said, “so it was like, did I get the score wrong? But afterwards I saw everyone running out and it got loud, so I was like, ‘Sweet, this is sick.’”

That qualified as a big reaction from Tucker.

“Guys are working on him. I think he’ll loosen up," Roberts said. “I think even Shohei when he first got here was a little bit more reserved compared to where he is now.”

Tucker said the players and coaching staff have made him feel at home.

“Anytime I can contribute to the win I’m happy,” he said. “It's been nice being over here.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Monday, April 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker, left, celebrates with first base coach Chris Woodward after hitting a walk off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Monday, April 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker, center, celebrates with Freddie Freeman, left, after hitting a walk off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Monday, April 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker hits a walk off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Monday, April 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Kyle Tucker is showered with water during an interview after hitting a walk off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Monday, April 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

A Houthi official said Tuesday that Saudi warplanes struck Yemen, killing three people, including two children, while Human Rights Watch accused the Houthi rebels of possible war crimes with its attacks on commercial vessels.

The renewed fighting in Yemen is endangering civilians and threatening shipping through the Red Sea, a route that has become more important due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. launched its war against Iran.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the Houthi official's claim. The official did not say what the Saudi warplanes had targeted.

Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

Anees al Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said in a post on X on Tuesday that Saudi airstrikes killed three people, including two children, in Yemen's Taiz province. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Al-Asbahi said another two other people were injured in the strikes.

The escalation comes as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, bolstering their ability to control a key maritime shipping route.

Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transits in peacetime — in the opening days of the war. The Saudis have since used the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which leads out of the Red Sea, for crude oil exports.

The Houthis’ latest seizures, which follow their capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island last week, puts more pressure on Saudi shipments and, in turn, global oil supplies and prices.

This could give Iran additional leverage in its war with the United States.

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that at least three attacks by Houthi rebels against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden between Jul. 20 and Aug. 24 could amount to war crimes.

The Houthi attacks against Saudi-linked shipping started in mid-July in the latest flare-up of violence in the Yemen civil war.

Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that irrespective of any politics involved, “attacks on civilian crews carried out deliberately or recklessly are war crimes.”

The Houthis say their attacks on Saudi-linked shipping are retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition blockade on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen, a measure related to Yemen's decade-old civil war.

The human rights organization said the Houthis claimed to have attacked at least nine vessels over the span of a month, including two Saudi-flagged vessels, a Tanzania-flagged vessel, and a Dominica-flagged vessel.

The rights group urged the Houthis to “immediately and unconditionally end all unlawful attacks on civilian ships.”

China's Foreign Ministry said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit the country on Wednesday and meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

In this photo provided by the Egyptian Presidential Press Office, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, shake hands at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Egyptian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Egyptian Presidential Press Office, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, center right, greets Egyptian officials at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Egyptian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A fisherman carries his catch, including hammerhead sharks, ashore at the Sirah fish market in Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

A man counts Yemeni currency at a gas station in Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Displaced Yemenis are seen at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Displaced Yemenis sit at their tent at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

A displaced Yemeni carries a carpet at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Displaced Yemenis chat at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

A doctor examines a displaced child at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)