As the series shifts to the Bronx, the Dodgers get good health news, and the Yankees are desperate.
All of the pressure is on the Yankees in this one. Technically, it’s not a “must win,” but it is as close as it gets. They do not want to be facing a scenario in which they have to pull off four straight victories against this Dodgers team.
New York skipper Aaron Boone makes just tweaks to a lineup that has scuffled in the first two games of the series. The first five hitters, including the struggling Aaron Judge, stay right where they have been. Many in the Bronx were clamoring for Boone to do something to get Judge out of his funk by moving him somewhere else in the order. Instead, he shows confidence in his star and leaves him in the three hole, where he will either figure it out or continue to kill innings.
With a right-handed starter on the mound, the Dodgers flip Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández in the lineup, bring Gavin Lux into the fold, and push Tommy Edman to the nine spot. But the big news is in the lead-off spot, where Shohei Ohtani remains despite leaving Game 2 with a serious-looking arm/shoulder injury. Turns out it was a partial dislocation of the shoulder, and he won’t miss any time at all. What a boost to a team looking to wrap this thing up over the next two days.
Let’s play some ball.
Dodgers @ Yankees, 8:08 pm, FOX – Dodgers lead 2-0
Starting pitchers: RHP Walker Buehler (1-6, 5.38 ERA) vs. RHP Clarke Schmidt (5-5, 2.85 ERA in regular season)
Dodgers lineup
- Shohei Ohtani, DH
- Mookie Betts, RF
- Freddie Freeman, 1B
- Teoscar Hernández, LF
- Max Muncy, 3B
- Will Smith, C
- Gavin Lux, 2B
- Kiké Hernández, CF
- Tommy Edman, SS
Yankees lineup
- Gleyber Torres, 2B
- Juan Soto, RF
- Aaron Judge, CF
- Giancarlo Stanton, DH
- Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B
- Anthony Volpe, SS
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- José Trevino, C
- Alex Verdugo, LF