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)

WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria (AP) — The trial against a man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago has begun in Austria.

The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift's three performances in August 2024. The singer's fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs.

The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, faces charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

He is facing trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not been made public. They along, with a third man, planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group. Beran A. and Arda K. never carried out their attacks.

Beran A.'s defense attorney, Anna Mair, on Monday told The Associated Press that her client plans to plead guilty to most of the charges but she did not specify which ones. Only Beran A. is charged in connection with the Taylor Swift plot.

He allegedly planned to target onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,” authorities said in 2024. The U.S. provided intelligence that fed into the decision to cancel the concerts.

Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors say they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance. In addition, he swore allegiance to the militant group.

Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024 and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” Swift wrote in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”

The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna. The proceedings are set to continue May 12.

Prosecutors have also filed terrorism-related charges against Arda K. in the trial in connection with the plan for simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The third man in that plot, Hasan E., allegedly stabbed a security guard with a knife at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on March 11, 2024. He was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, Austrian prosecutors said.

Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their plans in Turkey and the UAE. Beran A. returned to Vienna and then allegedly began plotting to attack a Swift concert there.

The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.

Dazio reported from Berlin.

The defendants hide their faces behind file folders on their way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The defendants hide their faces behind file folders on their way to the courtroom in the District Court in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where two terror suspects will stand trial Tuesday, one for plotting to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna in August 2024 and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

FILE - Fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties trade bracelets in the city centre in Vienna, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

FILE - Fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties sing and dance in Vienna, Aug.9, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

FILE - A person wears a purple head as fans of Taylor Swift also known as Swifties gather in the city centre in Vienna, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

FILE - A police officer is decorated with Taylor Swift bracelets while guarding the city center in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

FILE - Austrian police officers watch a gathering of Taylor Swift fans in the city centre in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)