October’s best pitching matchup (so far)

Plus: Was Mason Miller tipping pitches?

Tuesday, October 06 View Online Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know, brought to you by David Adler. Today, we're getting ready for the best pitching matchup of the playoffs, wondering if Mason Miller was tipping his pitches and appreciating a good roof ball.    It's ace vs. ace. No, wait, it's closer vs. closer. It's … both?    Today we have the marquee pitching matchup of the postseason so far: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Chris Sale.  NLDS Game 3, presented by Booking.com: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT on FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One That's two Cy Young-caliber starters taking the ball when the Braves and Dodgers face off in the pivotal Game 3 of the National League Division Series. But the real fun fact of a Yamamoto-Sale playoff duel is this: It's also two CLOSERS taking the ball -- two World Series closers.    Yamamoto and Sale both famously came out of the bullpen to close out a Fall Classic -- Yamamoto just last year for the Dodgers, Sale in 2018 for the Red Sox.   That's already a rare feat for a starting pitcher, since starting pitchers tend to, well, start. Except in October, when it's all-hands-on-deck for a pitching staff.    But a postseason matchup of two aces who've previously gotten the final out of a World Series championship? That's rarer than rare. It's happened only three times in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau -- and this is the first time in 88 years.   The last time it happened was in Game 2 of the 1938 World Series, when the Yankees' Lefty Gomez matched up against the Cubs' Dizzy Dean. Gomez had finished off the 1937 World Series for New York, and Dean had done it in 1934 for the Cardinals.    The only other time was in Game 3 of the 1911 World Series. That one was New York Giants legend Christy Mathewson vs. Jack Coombs of the Philadelphia Athletics. Mathewson sealed the 1905 World Series, and Coombs had just done it the previous year in 1910.   Now here's the thing: Tonight's Yamamoto-Sale matchup is actually one-of-a-kind, in a way. That's because Gomez, Dean, Mathewson and Coombs all got the final outs of those World Series by throwing a complete game as a starter. That's just what pitchers did back then.   So that means Yamamoto and Sale will be the first pitchers in MLB history to face off in the postseason as starters after closing out a World Series as relievers. Pretty cool. WHAT'S ON THE LINE IN NLDS TONIGHT The two NLDS move on to Game 3 tonight. Here's what's on the line, with the biggest storylines for each matchup.   Dodgers at Braves (Series tied 1-1) 6 p.m. ET on FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One  Game 3 FAQ What's at stake: The Braves took home-field away from the Dodgers by splitting the first two games with the reigning World Series champs in L.A. Now they return home to Atlanta with a chance to take control of the series behind their ace.   Pitching matchup: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers) vs. Chris Sale (Braves)   We already talked about this, but again: Yamamoto vs. Sale! Yamamoto is kicking off his World Series MVP defense -- this is his first postseason outing since his historic effort to close out Game 7 of last year's Fall Classic on zero days' rest. Can he join the list of reigning World Series MVPs to have epic encores the following October?    Sale has already pitched twice in these playoffs. He started Atlanta's win against the Phillies in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, and then he closed out the series in relief -- sound familiar? -- in Game 3. But he's well rested for this duel vs. Yamamoto.   Starting lineups:    Dodgers  1. Mookie Betts, SS 2. Freddie Freeman, 1B 3. Teoscar Hernández, LF 4. Will Smith, C 5. Shohei Ohtani, DH 6. Miguel Rojas, 2B 7. Andy Pages, CF 8. Kyle Tucker, RF 9. Kiké Hernández, 3B   Braves 1. Drake Baldwin, C 2. Ronald Acuña Jr., DH 3. Matt Olson, 1B 4. Ozzie Albies, 2B 5. Michael Harris II, CF 6. Mauricio Dubón, LF 7. Lane Thomas, RF 8. Austin Riley, 3B 9. Ha-Seong Kim, SS   Key storyline: Will we get a Shohei moment?    Last postseason, Shohei Ohtani gave us several loud reminders that he was the best baseball player on Earth. We haven't gotten those moments in this NLDS … yet. This is far from the typical Shohei season, and Ohtani still hasn't quite looked like himself in this series. But anytime Ohtani is in the lineup -- even when he's scuffling, and even if he's batting fifth, like he is in Game 3 -- he can change the game in an instant.    ***    Brewers at Padres (Milwaukee leads 2-0)  9:30 p.m. ET on FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One Game 3 FAQ What's at stake: The Brewers pulled off two dramatic victories over the Padres in Milwaukee. Now they head to San Diego with a chance to sweep the Padres and move on to the National League Championship Series for a second straight year.   Pitching matchup: Dustin May (Brewers) vs. Nick Pivetta (Padres)    May is making his first playoff start for the Brewers, who traded for him at the Deadline. He had an up-and-down stretch run, but he's shut down the Padres this season, with a 1.23 ERA in three starts. Those Padres are turning to the reliable Nick Pivetta to keep their season alive. And they think they have what it takes to pull off the unlikely comeback from down 0-2 and win this series.    Key storyline: Is Jackson Chourio the chosen one?    Chourio is only 22 years old, but he's already come up with big postseason moment after big postseason moment in his first three seasons in the big leagues. None was bigger than his walk-off hit off Mason Miller in Game 2. What will this budding superstar do next? WAS MILLER TIPPING? HE SAYS ... It seems like every postseason a new pitch-tipping story makes headlines. A star pitcher gets knocked around, the hitters look a little too comfortable against him, and people start wondering: Was he giving his pitches away?    This year, Mason Miller is the guy we're asking about. The Padres closer was the most unhittable reliever in baseball all year -- only for the Brewers to get the best of him in NLDS Game 2.    There were two main signals that sent the pitch-tipping theories flying around:   Sal Frelick touching his neck while leading off from second base, just before Jackson Chourio confidently took a filthy slider from Miller for a ball. (Was it a signal to Chourio?) Images circulating on social media showing Miller positioning his hand differently in his glove when throwing his fastball vs. throwing his slider. (Did the Brewers see it from second base?) So was Miller tipping his pitches? If he was, did the Brewers pick up on it? And if they did, did it help them beat Miller? Both sides were asked about it before Game 3 … but you can be the judge.    Our two beat reporters, AJ Cassavell and Adam McCalvy, break down the whole situation here -- including everything the Padres and Brewers had to say. ROOF ONE DAY, CATWALK THE NEXT Ballpark quirks are a beautiful thing, and somehow, we've already had TWO roof balls in these playoffs.    First it was Ty France smashing a potential go-ahead home run for the Padres in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the NLDS -- only for the ball to bounce off a cable on the roof of Milwaukee's American Family Field and fall harmlessly into Jackson Chourio's glove for a flyout.    Then it was Yankees slugger Spencer Jones hitting a sky-high fly ball to center field at The Trop in Game 2 of the ALDS -- only for it to clang off one of the Rays stadium's famous catwalks and bounce around for 10 seconds. Much confusion ensued among the Tampa Bay outfielders, but finally the baseball finally came loose and was caught off the roof by right fielder Victor Mesa Jr., also for an out.     What are the odds of a crazy roof shot happening not once, but twice in the same postseason? We don't know, but we do know we love to see weird baseball.    Now if only Tal's Hill were still around …   © 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Please review our Privacy Policy. You (gahleexholly.hdhask@blogger.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com. Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe  or log in and manage your email subscriptions. Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.