Game 3 of the NLDS between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday will feature a marquee starting pitching matchup of 2024 NL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale versus 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Sale-Yamamoto duel will be historic and the first of its kind in 88 years, as noted by MLB.com's Sarah Langs on Bluesky. https://bsky.app/profile/slangsonsports.bsky.social/post/3mx7wm2zj3c2x The Braves controversially decided not to start Sale in Game 2 on Sunday after the southpaw pitched twice during Atlanta's NL Wild Card series triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves instead had 32-year-old left-hander Ray Kerr on the mound and defeated Los Angeles, 3-2, to even the NLDS at 1-1.
Sale had another huge 2026 campaign and is looking for his second World Series ring. The 10-time All-Star helped the Boston Red Sox win their most recent championship in 2018 and closed out the series-clinching Game 5 of the Fall Classic against the Dodgers that year. Yamamoto was also somewhat surprisingly passed over for Sunday's contest, as Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts instead opted to have Blake Snell take the bump.
The 28-year-old Japanese right-hander is seeking his third consecutive World Series title since making his MLB debut in 2024. Yamamoto matched Sale's 14-9 record during the 2026 regular season, while also posting a 2.53 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 182 strikeouts in 185 innings pitched covering 28 starts. He was sensational during the Dodgers' 2025 World Series defeat of the Toronto Blue Jays as well, going 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 15 strikeouts over 17 2/3 innings.
Yamamoto started and won Games 2 and 6 against the Blue Jays, before closing Game 7 with 2 2/3 shutout innings the day after Game 6.
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