Tucker's go-ahead hit lifts Dodgers over Diamondbacks

· Yahoo Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker (23) hits an RBI single against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium.

LOS ANGELES — The rings came first. The reminder came later.

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On a night that began with gold — a World Series ring ceremony glistening under the lights at Dodger Stadium — the Dodgers ended it with grit, execution, and a preview of what their new pieces might mean in October.

A 5–4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday wasn’t clean. It wasn’t dominant. But two games into the season, it was exactly the kind of game good teams stack up anyway.

And this version of the Dodgers, now 2–0 to open the year, looks like it might have a few more ways to do that than last year’s group.


The headline moment belonged to Kyle Tucker.

With the game tied in the eighth, the infield drawn in and tension fully settled over Chavez Ravine, Tucker lined a single to right field to score the go-ahead run. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t towering. But it was decisive — the kind of swing the Dodgers envisioned when they brought him in.

An inning later, Edwin Díaz made sure it held.

Making his Dodger debut in a save situation, Díaz worked a clean ninth inning to lock down his first save with the club, flashing the late-inning presence this bullpen has been missing at times. Two offseason additions, one combined impact: game won.

Fitting, really, on a night built around championship continuity and future ambition.

But the Dodgers don’t win this one without Alex Freeland.

Making his first start of the season at second base, the 24-year-old turned in a performance that forced attention early and often. In the second inning, with the Diamondbacks already leading, Freeland helped cut down Pavin Smith at the plate with a sharp relay from the right field line — a momentum-saving defensive play that kept the deficit manageable.

An inning later, he changed the game entirely.

Freeland jumped on a 96 mph fastball and sent it 413 feet into right field for a solo home run — his first of the season and a continuation of the intriguing power he flashed in a brief call-up last summer. For a player who entered the night with just two career home runs, the swing looked anything but accidental.

Moments later, the ballpark erupted again.

After walks from Shohei Ohtani and Tucker, Mookie Betts stepped in and delivered the loudest swing of the night — a three-run homer to center off Ryne Nelson. Just like that, a 1–0 deficit turned into a 4–2 Dodgers lead, and the stadium that had been celebrating the past was roaring for the present.

It didn’t last easily.


Emmet Sheehan’s night unraveled quickly. The right-hander showed swing-and-miss stuff — six strikeouts in 3⅓ innings — but couldn’t navigate traffic cleanly. By the time Dave Roberts went to the bullpen, the Diamondbacks had life. A two-run double from Alek Thomas tied things up by the fourth, and suddenly the early cushion was gone.

After the third-inning outburst, the Dodgers went quiet — 14 straight hitters retired at one point, the offense stalling just enough to make the late innings feel heavier than they should have.

Freeland broke that stretch with a leadoff double in the eighth, another reminder that his night was far from a one-off highlight. And in the eighth, the Dodgers finally pieced together the sequence they needed.

Freeland in scoring position. Ohtani moved him over. Tucker finished the job.

Textbook — and timely. From there, it belonged to Díaz.

There’s something different about a proven closer taking that walk from the bullpen. Even in March, even in Game 2, it changes the temperature of the moment. Díaz looked every bit the part, shutting the door without drama and giving the Dodgers a clean ending to a game that had very little of it.


So yes, it was ring night. A celebration of what’s already been built. But by the final out, it felt just as much about what’s being added. 

Freeland’s emergence. Tucker’s delivery. Díaz’s finish.

On a night meant to honor a championship past, the Dodgers may have gotten their clearest early glimpse of how the next one might come together.

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