Diaz thrills Dodger Stadium with trumpet entrance, first save - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — When Friday's ninth inning arrived and the bass drums kicked in, Teoscar Hernandez waited in the dugout.

He needed to take his position in left field, but first he wanted to watch closer Edwin Diaz make his first walk from Dodger Stadium's bullpen to its mound. Hernandez wanted to take in the strain of Timmy Trumpet, who turned Diaz into an icon 3,000 miles away. Hernandez wanted to watch Dodgers fans experience Diaz's electric entrance for the first time. And he wasn't alone.

Said Hernandez: «Everybody was waiting for that.»

Moments after Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers' big-name offseason acquisition, put his new team ahead with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth, Diaz, their other big offseason addition, closed it out in the top of the ninth, retiring three of the four Arizona Diamondbacks hitters he faced to notch his first save and give the Dodgers a 5-4 victory.

Diaz spent the past seven years in New York and became a star, accumulating 144 saves for the Mets while turning into a fan favorite at Citi Field. Then he opted out, watched as the Mets brought in a potential replacement in Devin Williams and jumped at the opportunity to join the Dodgers, who signed him to a three-year, $69 million contract that was pretty close to what the Mets offered to bring him back.

«I was in New York, but now I'm here,» Diaz said, downplaying the oddity of hearing his entrance music on another coast. «I'm enjoying the time with this team. We have a really good team. I got to keep doing my job. And I'm hearing the trumpets here at Dodger Stadium now.»

Diaz pounded his glove twice as he reached the left-field warning track, just as the lights shut off. He settled into a jog, and the bass drums began. As he got