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Are we about to see an all-time duel?

Friday, October 09

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Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know around baseball, brought to you by David Adler. Today we have a poll for you on Skubal vs. the Miz, a look ahead to tomorrow's winner-take-all game in Cleveland and more.

Turns out Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Chris Sale the other day was just the appetizer. This weekend we're ready for the main course: Skubal vs. the Miz.

All signs are pointing to a dream pitching matchup to kick off the National League Championship Series. Reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and 2026 Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski are lined up to be the Game 1 starters for the Dodgers and Brewers.

NLCS Game 1: Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/7 CT/5 PT on FOX/FOX Deportes/FOX One

That'd be the best duel of the entire playoffs. The starters aren't official yet, but it sure looks like two of the most dominant aces on the planet are on a collision course for the opener of this NLCS rematch.

So all those other marquee showdowns we've seen so far this postseason -- Yamamoto-Sale … Cam Schlittler-Payton Tolle … Gerrit Cole-Drew Rasmussen -- forget 'em. It doesn't get any better than Skubal-Misiorowski.

Game 1 of the NLCS is set for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET at American Family Field in Milwaukee. And this one's an absolute must-watch. A rematch of last year's NLCS, a matchup of the two best teams in baseball this season and a matchup of two of the best pitchers in the league? That's what October baseball is all about.

Absolute fire: A Q&A with Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski

Now we're just trying to figure out who we'd rather have on the mound -- Misiorowski blowing away hitters with his triple-digit heater, or Skubal wiping them out with his lethal changeup.

Why don't you decide? Here's a poll for the weekend.

TODAY'S POLL

Who would you rather have on the mound for your team in Game 1 of a playoff series?

JACOB MISIOROWSKI

TARIK SKUBAL

We'll get back to you with the results on Monday.

WHITE SOX-GUARDIANS, WINNER TAKE ALL

Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the White Sox and Guardians are going to a winner-take-all Game 5 in the American League Division Series tomorrow night.

ALDS Game 5 presented by Booking.com: Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

The way these two teams have battled it out all year, maybe this is where we were headed all along. But after the White Sox took the first two games of the ALDS on the road in Cleveland, it was looking like it'd be a short series.

But now here we are. One game, winner goes on to face the Rays in the ALCS, loser goes home.

Here's what you need to know for Game 5.

White Sox at Guardians

Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

Game 5 FAQ

The series so far:

The road team has won every game in this series -- the White Sox took Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland, then the Guardians stormed back to win Games 3 and 4 in Chicago and deny the Sox their first postseason clinch at home in 120 years.

The last team to rally from an 0-2 hole to win a best-of-five series was the 2017 Yankees … against Cleveland. The Guards could also join the 2001 Yankees, 2012 Giants and 2015 Blue Jays as the only teams to come back in the Division Series after losing the first two at home.

And this is only the sixth time in Division Series history that the road team has won the first four games. So what happens in the winner-take-all Game 5? Twice, the road team has won Game 5 and the series (the 2010 Rangers and 2012 Giants). The other three times, the home team bounced back to win the final contest (the 1981 Yankees, 2001 Yankees and 2015 Blue Jays). In other words: This is anyone's game.

Pitching matchup:

Sean Burke will start for the White Sox after pitching 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball as the bulk guy behind an opener in Game 2. American League strikeout king Gavin Williams gets the ball for the Guardians -- even after he closed out Game 4 in relief.

Hitters to watch:

José Ramírez has gotten hot at just the right time for the Guardians -- the star third baseman is 4-for-9 with a double, a triple, a homer and five RBIs over the last two games of the series.

For the White Sox to advance, they might need a couple more big swings from All-Stars Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas, who've each homered once in this series.

VENABLE KNOWS

He was the Bo Jackson of the Ivy League. And now he's … managing the White Sox?

True story. Will Venable, the Sox skipper who's about to lead his team into the winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS, was a two-sport athlete at Princeton.

Venable played baseball and basketball for the Tigers back in the early 2000s. Yep, it turns out the best all-around athlete on this young, fun White Sox team is their 43-year-old manager.

And even though Venable made it to the big leagues as a player, his first love was hoops, even when he was in college.

Anthony Castrovince dug up some fun nuggets (and old photos) from Venable's time at Princeton -- like how he dropped 21 points on the basketball court against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium as a senior.

Check out that story here.

NEXT MURAKAMI COMING?

Yordan Alvarez couldn't quite pull off a Triple Crown this season, but you know who did? Teruaki Sato over in Japan.

And his next stop could be the Majors.

Sato, the star slugger for Nippon Professional Baseball's Hanshin Tigers, batted .306 with 39 homers and 106 RBIs this season, leading the NPB Central League in all three categories.

He's the first Triple Crown winner in Japan since -- guess who? -- Munetaka Murakami, who won one in 2022 for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows when he batted .318 with 56 home runs and 134 RBIs.

If Sato were posted to MLB, he'd be one of the prize free agents on the market -- especially after Murakami became an instant sensation with the White Sox this year.

So will Sato follow in Murakami's footsteps and make the jump to MLB? It sure looks like the 27-year-old might be coming this offseason. Aiden Stepansky has more here.

DITKA'S LEGENDARY 7TH-INNING STRETCH

Football legend Mike Ditka, who died today at 86 years old, was a Chicago sports icon, period -- including at Cubs games.

On July 5, 1998, Ditka delivered a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field that was worthy of his larger-than-life status -- fiery, off-tune and full of dramatics, including a last-second entrance, his unique booming voice and a pace so quick the stadium organist could barely keep up.

Relive Ditka's memorable entry into the long-running Cubs tradition here.

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