Cue the trumpet: Edwin Díaz returns to earn save for the Dodgers after 85-game absence

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cue the trumpet. Edwin Díaz is back to close out games for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 32-year-old right-hander came off the injured list Wednesday after missing 85 games, having had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow in April.

“We just got a lot better,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Fans were on their feet cheering when Díaz entered in the ninth to Timmy Trumpet's “Narcos.” He gave up two hits and one run while earning his fifth save of the season in a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. His four-seam fastball touched 98 mph.

“I feel great,” he said. “I think my pitching was really good, velo-wise, shape-wise, I was throwing strikes. So nothing to worry for me. Just keep grinding, keep getting better."

The same song played in the post-game clubhouse, and Díaz loved hearing it again, especially on his first bobblehead night as a Dodger. The team signed him to a $69 million, three-year deal last offseason.

“My family was really happy,” he said. “They told me to send some bobbleheads back to Puerto Rico.”

Díaz came back against the Mariners, who chose him in the third round of the 2012 draft out of Puerto Rico. He made his big league debut in 2016.

Tanner Scott had been serving as the temporary closer. He had 16 saves with a 2.65 ERA in Díaz’s absence. Scott gave up two hits and a run on 14 pitches in the eighth before Díaz took over.

“I was trying to calm my emotions,” he said. "As soon as I got to the mound, it was, ‘Let’s go. Let’s make pitches. Let’s win the game.’ And that’s what I did.”

Díaz is the latest player to come off the IL. Utility man Kiké Hernández returned Tuesday, while two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell could rejoin the team soon. He tossed four shutout innings, allowing one run, and struck out nine on 60 pitches in a minor league rehab start for Low-A Ontario on Wednesday night.

“I’ve been on the sidelines for a long time and couldn’t wait to be back,” Díaz said. “I want to help this team win.”

He was 1-0 with four saves over seven appearances and six innings before being sidelined. Not what the Dodgers had expected when he came from the New York Mets.

“Taking out those bone chips or whatever they were, they looked like shark teeth,” Roberts said before the game. “It was compromising his extension, the feel and all that stuff. He says he hasn’t felt this good in quite some time.”

Roberts isn't measuring Díaz by velocity.

“I’m looking for more of the command,” he said. “At the end of the day, the hitters will tell how the stuff is.”

Díaz made seven rehab appearances, allowing two runs with 11 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.

“The adrenaline will be there,” he said before the game. “I pitched in seven minor league games, but every stadium, the fans weren’t like they are here. So I’m expecting to be a little more aggressive than I was in the minor leagues.”

To make room on the roster, pitcher Charlie Barnes was designated for assignment.

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Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) delivers the ball against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)

Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) is congratulated by catcher Dalton Rushing (68) after Diaz earned the save against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)

Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) reacts while earning a save against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) in action during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, April 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog has filed legal action against messaging app Telegram, saying the platform failed to remove extremist content including videos of white supremacist mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and the New Zealand city of Christchurch as well as Islamic State group beheadings.

The United Arab Emirates-based app, which reports having 1 billion users worldwide, faces a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars ($38 million) if convicted in the Australian Federal Court for “alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday.

The civil action is a test of Australia's 2021 law requiring tech platforms to work to keep illegal and pro-terrorism material off their networks.

Telegram denied the claims. “We reject these allegations and will contest them in court,” a spokesperson said in a written statement sent on Telegram.

The platform is one of the world's most popular messaging apps. The Australian regulator is taking issue with what's shared in group chats of up to 200 people and channels with unlimited reach.

“This case concerns content linked to some of the most notorious acts of known extremist violence in recent history, including material associated with the Christchurch and Buffalo terror attacks,” Inman Grant said in a statement.

“We allege that this content remained accessible on the service long after Telegram had been put on notice,” she said.

The crimes cited by Inman Grant were ideologically-driven massacres performed for online audiences. Years later, digital artifacts of the massacres are still confounding regulators, who fear the power of videos and so-called manifestos to radicalize others.

In Buffalo in 2022, an American white supremacist livestreamed on Twitch part of a shooting at a supermarket in which he killed 10 Black people. He cited among his motivations the crimes of an Australian white supremacist who in 2019 livestreamed on Facebook a shooting at two Christchurch mosques, where he murdered 51 Muslim worshippers.

Telegram channels established after these and other hate-fueled crimes were populated by users who endorsed the killers and shared videos and other content from the massacres. The Australian watchdog's claim, filed to the federal court Wednesday, said the unlimited broadcast size of Telegram channels meant the app must take responsibility for culling harmful material.

The messaging app's statement said that the platform's “extensive anti-terrorism efforts are well-documented," adding a link to its published figures recording blocked content and channels. More than 150,000 “terrorist-related communities” have been blocked from the platform this year, according to the figures.

Inman Grant said eSafety began urging Telegram to comply with its own policies in March 2024, but the platform had been “non-responsive” for months.

The Australian official said that changed after France arrested Telegram’s Russian billionaire founder and CEO Pavel Durov in August 2024 over allegations that his platform was being used for illegal activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of images of child sexual abuse. He was released after four days of questioning on bail of 5 million euros ($5.7 million).

Telegram had "become more compliant initially with us and with other regulators after France took action against the company,” Inman Grant said.

“They've still kept a permissive hosting environment for terrorist content,” she added.

The Australian court case also related to IS beheadings and other “horrific material used for propaganda and for radicalization,” she said.

“When platforms are alerted to terrorist content, they must act,” Inman Grant said.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Durov of aiding what it called terrorist activities. The service also said it was adding Durov’s name to international wanted lists.

Telegram said in its statement supplied to The Associated Press on Thursday that it is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. It said it had played a prominent role in pro-democracy movements around the world, including in Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and Hong Kong.

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

The app Telegram, a popular messenger app in Russia restricted by authorities, is shown on a smartphone in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo)

Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant addresses the National Press Club in Canberra, on June 24, 2025. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

A phone rests on a computer showing the Australian eSafety web page in Sydney, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)