In the wake of receiving the news that he was most likely going to have to undergo elbow surgery, Pablo López went through a list of those he felt he had let down: himself, the Twins, his family. If all that wasn’t enough, he added his country to the list.

López was committed to pitch for Venezuela in the upcoming World Baseball Classic before he injured his right elbow early during spring training. Among the many things that suddenly had been ripped away from him, there was that, too.

“It just adds another element that I’m just navigating internally, of feeling disappointed, frustrated and powerless at the time,” López said in the days before undergoing Tommy John surgery on Wednesday.

While many of the Twins who had originally planned to compete in the World Baseball Classic have pulled out — López, Taj Bradley (Mexico) and Liam Hendriks (Australia) — there are still four, and potentially five, in the Twins clubhouse who will be departing Fort Myers, Fla., soon to compete in the tournament.

For center fielder Byron Buxton, when the call came from Team USA manager Mark DeRosa in November, there wasn’t much convincing needed.

“He’s like ‘You in?’ and I was like ‘Let’s go,’ ” Buxton said.

Buxton said he had a chance to go to the tournament when he was younger but “stuff didn’t line up.” The tournament takes place every three years, and this time around, Buxton is fully healthy — and coming off the most productive year of his career.

He wasn’t going to miss out again.

“(It) means a lot to be able to put your country’s jersey on and represent,” Buxton said. “That’s an honor. … To be able to have an opportunity, to be able to put that jersey on, finally, is something special.”

Buxton is supposed to be joined by teammate Joe Ryan, who also represented the United States at the Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo, but as of Friday morning, the Twins still had not said whether that would happen. Ryan has some lower back inflammation that flared up before he was supposed to pitch in his first spring training game.

The tournament is set for March 5-17 and Team USA is meeting to train in Arizona first before starting pool play in Houston.

The U.S. will compete in the same pool as Italy, for which Twins non-roster invite Dan Alvatilla will compete. Altavilla said he tried to play in the tournament in 2017 but the restrictions for who could play were tighter at that point. He was hurt the last time around, but this time he was eager for the opportunity.

Altavilla has eligibility through his great-grandfather, who was born in Italy. Proving his eligibility meant hunting through family history, and he enjoyed getting to see his great-grandfather’s birth certificate and paperwork from Ellis Island.

“This is my chance to represent my family, my great-grandfather being born over there,” Altavilla said. “I think it was just a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Fellow non-roster invite Matt Bowman is competing for Team Israel. He gained his eligibility through his wife, Eve. Bowman spent parts of the last two seasons in Baltimore, where he was teammates with Dean Kremer, who was born in the United States to Israeli parents. Kremer was the one who realized Bowman qualified and that got the ball rolling.

“The WBC is an interesting tournament,” Bowman said. “The opportunities to play in the WBC are somewhat limited, so I jumped at the opportunity to try a new baseball experience.”

The last Twin going, Gio Urshela, is a WBC veteran, having played for Colombia in both 2017 and 2023. Though he’s in camp as a non-roster invite competing for a spot on the major league team, Urshela wasn’t going to pass up the chance to go to the tournament.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “Representing my country is always something that makes me proud.”

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Today is Saturday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2026. There are 306 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 28, 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign, ending an eight-year pontificate. (Benedict was succeeded the following month by Pope Francis.)

Also on this date:

In 1844, a massive 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded as the ship was sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others; President John Tyler, who also was aboard the ship, was uninjured.

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Los Angeles school superintendent placed on paid leave amid federal probe

Injured mother manatee and calf are rescued in Florida and taken to SeaWorld

Federal prosecutors won’t appeal ruling barring death penalty in Luigi Mangione case

In 1953, Francis H.C. Crick announced that he and fellow scientist James D. Watson had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

In 1975, 43 people were killed in London’s Underground when a train failed to stop at Moorgate station, smashing into the end of a tunnel.

In 1983, the final episode of the television series “M*A*S*H” aired; nearly 106 million viewers saw the finale, which remains the most-watched episode of any U.S. television series to date.

In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated while walking on a Stockholm street with his wife; his assailant was never captured and remains unidentified.

In 1993, a gun battle erupted at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh for stockpiling illegal weapons; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began. (On April 19 of that year, FBI agents stormed the compound with tear gas and armored vehicles, with dozens dead before the standoff was over).

In 2014, President Barack Obama delivered a blunt warning to Moscow about reports of military activity inside Ukraine by Russia and said “there will be costs” for any intervention.

In 2023, a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train more than 200 miles north of Athens, Greece, killing 57 people in that country’s deadliest rail disaster.

In 2024, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longest-serving U.S. Senate leader in history, announced he would step down from the leadership role the following November. (Twelve months later, the octogenarian senator said his term ending in January 2027 would be his last).

Today’s birthdays:

Rock singer Sam the Sham (aka Domingo Samudio) is 89.
Actor-director-choreographer Tommy Tune is 87.
Hall of Fame auto racer Mario Andretti is 86.
Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 79.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is 73.
Basketball Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley is 71.
Actor John Turturro is 69.
Actor Robert Sean Leonard is 57.
Musician Pat Monahan (Train) is 57.
Actor Tasha Smith is 55.
Hockey Hall of Famer Eric Lindros is 53.
Actor Ali Larter is 50.
Country musician Jason Aldean is 49.
NBA guard Luka Dončić is 27.

By JON GAMBRELL and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Explosions rocked northern Israel on Saturday as the country worked to intercept incoming Iranian missiles after launching a nationwide attack with the U.S. on Iran.

The blasts echoed just after the Israeli military said it would be using its air defense systems to bring down the Iranian fire.

There was no immediate word on any damage or casualties from the ongoing attack.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. and Israel launched an attack Saturday on Iran, with the first apparent strike happening near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian media reported strikes nationwide, and smoke could be seen rising from the capital.

President Donald Trump said in a video posted on social media that the U.S. had begun “major combat operations in Iran.” He claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach U.S. and appealed to the Iranian people to “take over your government — it will be yours to take.”

Trump acknowledged that there could be American casualties following Iran strikes, saying “that often happens in war.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old Khamenei was in his offices at the time of the strike. He hasn’t been seen publicly in days as tensions with the United States have grown. The attack comes as the United States has assembled a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear program.

Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed during a 12-day war then. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.

Iran currently has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile program, limiting their range to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles). That puts all the Mideast and some of eastern Europe in their range. There is no public evidence of Iran seeking to have intercontinental ballistic missiles, though Washington has criticized its space program as potentially allowing it to one day.

Roads to Khamenei’s compound in downtown Tehran had been shut down by authorities as other blasts rang out across the capital. Neighboring Iraq closed its airspace, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the attack as being done “to remove threats.” He did not immediately elaborate.

Trump wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests. Iran had hoped to avert a war, but maintains it has the right to enrich uranium and does not want to discuss other issues, like its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israel issued a nationwide warning after Iran reportedly launches missiles. Iran had warned that American military personnel and bases spread across the region would be targets for any retaliation.

Several hospitals in Israel launched their emergency protocols, including moving patients and surgeries to underground facilities.

In Tehran, witnesses heard the first blast by Khamenei’s office. Iranian state television later reported on the explosion, without offering a cause.

Sirens sounded across Israel at the same time as it closed its airspace. The Israeli military said that it had issued a “proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the state of Israel.”

More explosions struck Iran’s capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes.

Meanwhile, Iran shut down its airspace and mobile phone services were cut.

The warning to pilots came out as explosions rang out across Tehran.

___

Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

The mountains that dominate the skyline of Salt Lake City were formed from constant and relentless pressure. So was the Utah Mammoth’s 5-2 home win over the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Delta Center.

Playing the second night of back-to-back road games at high altitude, and coming off a hard-fought emotional win at Colorado, the Wild faced a young and relentless Mammoth team determined to wear them down.

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scored, and Jesper Wallstedt finished with 32 saves on a night where highlights were hard to come by for the visitors.

“I thought in the first period we had a good start and played the way we wanted to for, I’d say, the first half. Then I thought we got away from it a little bit and we never got it back,” Wild coach John Hynes said to reporters in Utah. “… After about the first 12 minutes of the first (period), I just thought our puck play, we just fed their transition and their offense like that. I thought that was the biggest difference in the game.”

While Utah made rush after rush, and tested Wallstedt again and again, they also pounced on every one of Minnesota’s mistakes, getting an early shorthanded goal and building a three-score lead before the game was half over.

“They’re a great hockey team,” Wild defensemen Brock Faber said of the Mammoth, in the hunt to make their first playoff trip since relocating from Arizona two years ago. “They’re really skilled. Obviously, we’ve got to find a way to play them better. Tonight we didn’t have our best, and you can talk about the back-to-back all you want, but we just weren’t good enough.”

It could have been worse.

After a fruitless second-period rush into the offensive zone by the Wild, the Mammoth transitioned quickly, and on an odd-man rush slipped a puck past Wallstedt that looked to make it a 4-0 lead. But for the fifth time this season, the Wild successfully challenged the play for offside and the point came off the scoreboard.

Minutes later, with the Wild on a power play, Kaprizov scored on a tap-in at the side of the crease after a cross-ice feed from Matt Boldy. It was the 218th career goal for Kaprizov, leaving him one short of tying Marian Gaborik’s franchise record.

When Joel Eriksson Ek took a high stick to the face and left the game, the ensuing Wild power play provided a window to make it a one-goal game. But the Mammoth penalty kill held firm, and then the Wild took a penalty of their own late in the middle frame, switching the momentum back to the home team.

Eriksson Ek did not return, and Hynes did not have a postgame update on the second line center’s health.

Utah scored early in the third on the man advantage, capitalizing on a scramble in front of the net where Wallstedt had lost his stick, making it 4-1 for the Mammoth.

Minnesota didn’t lack opportunities to get back into the game, with Boldy springing for a pair of shorthanded breakaway. Both were thwarted by Karel Vejmelka. The Mammoth goalie finished with 21 saves as Utah improved to 2-0 versus the Wild this season.

“Not our best, obviously. I think these guys have kind of been our Kryptonite the last couple years,” Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said. “They play real good against us, and it’s a tough team to play against. … We don’t play our best, but they prevent us from playing our best, too. So, you’ve got to give them credit.”

After the Mammoth opened up a 5-1 lead, Boldy scored for the third time in the past two games to pull Minnesota back within three. It was Boldy’s team-leading 35th goal of the season.

By missing the score sheet on Friday, defenseman Quinn Hughes’ franchise-record assist streak was halted at 11 games. Minnesota returns home to open March with a 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon game versus St. Louis at Grand Casino Arena.

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