Dodgers Need More Than Yoshinobu Yamamoto To Reclaim Control Of NLDS In Game 3
The Dodgers have exactly the pitcher they want taking the mound in a pivotal NLDS Game 3.
Whether their lineup provides him enough support is the more pressing question.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will face Chris Sale at Truist Park on Tuesday with the best-of-five series tied at one game apiece. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. PDT.
The winner will move within one victory of advancing to the National League Championship Series. Historically, teams winning Game 3 after splitting the first two games of a best-of-five series have advanced 48 of 67 times, a success rate of 71.6 percent.
That does not make Tuesday an elimination game.
It does make it the closest thing possible without somebody’s season officially ending.
Dodgers-Braves NLDS Game 3 Information
Matchup: Dodgers at Braves
Series: Tied, 1-1
First pitch: 3:00 p.m. PDT
Location: Truist Park
Television: FS1, Fox Deportes and Fox One
Dodgers starter: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Braves starter: Chris Sale
Yamamoto Gets Another Opportunity Against Sale
Tuesday’s pitching matchup is a rematch of one of the best duels of the Dodgers’ regular season.
Yamamoto and Sale faced one another at Truist Park on August 27, when Atlanta escaped with a 1-0 victory.
Yamamoto allowed four hits and one run across 6⅓ innings while striking out eight and issuing one walk. The only damage came when Drake Baldwin homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the first.
Sale was even better.
The Atlanta left-hander threw a complete-game shutout, allowing five hits while striking out 11 without issuing a walk. He needed 109 pitches to finish the game.
Los Angeles cannot reasonably expect Yamamoto to provide much more than he did that night. He controlled Atlanta’s lineup after the early home run and gave the Dodgers more than enough pitching to win.
The lineup gave him nothing in return.
That history gives Game 3 an interesting dynamic. Yamamoto does not need to prove he can pitch effectively at Truist Park. He already did that six weeks ago.
The Dodgers need to prove they learned something from their first meeting with Sale.
Los Angeles Cannot Keep Waiting For Home Runs
The Dodgers have scored seven runs through the first two games of the series.
All seven have come on five home runs.
Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy went deep in the Game 1 victory. Freddie Freeman and Muncy homered in Game 2.
The power has prevented the offense from disappearing entirely, but it has also covered up a significant problem: Los Angeles is 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position during the series.
The Dodgers went 0-for-8 in those situations during Sunday’s 3-2 loss.
Solo home runs can keep a team close. They are a difficult way to consistently win postseason games against elite pitching.
Los Angeles has generated traffic through walks and scattered hits, but it has not delivered the at-bat that changes an inning. The Dodgers have not brought home a runner from second with a single, punished a mistake with multiple runners aboard or consistently advanced runners without relying on the long ball.
That has to change against Sale.
Waiting for one swing is especially dangerous against a pitcher capable of controlling the strike zone, missing bats and working deep into a game.
Dodgers Must Make Sale Work For Every Out
Sale finished the regular season 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA and 200 strikeouts. He posted a 1.96 ERA across his final 24 starts.
Atlanta also arranged its postseason pitching to make sure he would be fully rested for Tuesday. Sale last pitched October 1, when he recorded the final four outs of the Braves’ Wild Card Series victory over Philadelphia.
The Dodgers helped him during the August shutout by allowing him to record quick outs and settle into a comfortable rhythm.
Their goal Tuesday should be to make every plate appearance exhausting.
That does not mean taking hittable pitches simply to inflate his pitch count. It means refusing to expand the strike zone, fighting off difficult two-strike pitches and forcing Sale to work through the middle of the order multiple times.
Atlanta will have Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez and Dylan Lee available following Monday’s off day. Ray Kerr and Didier Fuentes, however, are not expected to be available after both threw more than 40 pitches Sunday.
Getting Sale out of the game early would force Atlanta to cover more innings without two pitchers who carried a substantial portion of the Game 2 workload.
If Sale is still pitching in the seventh, the Dodgers probably have not executed their offensive plan.
Shohei Ohtani Needs To Reenter The Series
The Dodgers do not necessarily need Shohei Ohtani to hit three home runs and single-handedly win Game 3.
They do need him to become a factor again.
Ohtani has been managing discomfort in his right biceps and left knee, and his timing has not consistently looked right since returning from the injured list.
Dave Roberts has acknowledged that moving Ohtani lower in the order is something he would consider, although the official Game 3 lineup had not been announced at publication.
The exact batting-order position matters less than the quality of Ohtani’s decisions.
Sale will try to move the ball around the strike zone and encourage Ohtani to chase. Roberts said Atlanta will continue expanding the zone against him until he demonstrates enough discipline to force pitchers back over the plate.
Trying to manufacture a home run against Sale may play directly into Atlanta’s plan. An opposite-field single or a walk could be just as valuable if it creates an RBI opportunity for Will Smith or Freeman.
The Dodgers have been waiting for that signature Ohtani postseason moment.
Game 3 would be an ideal time for it to arrive, but he cannot create that moment by trying to force it.
Roberts Plans To Keep Betting On Andy Pages
One position that appears unlikely to change is center field.
Despite Andy Pages going 0-for-7 with four strikeouts through the first two games, Roberts made it clear that he intends to continue giving Pages opportunities.
“I’m going to continue to give Andy leash,” Roberts said. “I believe in him.”
Roberts believes the Dodgers will need Pages to contribute if they hope to win another World Series. He also considers two games too small of a sample to abandon a player who returned from the injured list swinging the bat well.
Pages has drawn two walks in the series, but Atlanta has taken advantage of his tendency to expand the strike zone when he tries to force results. Roberts believes Pages has been pressing and wants to see him produce more controlled at-bats.
Facing Sale will be another difficult test, but Roberts said Tuesday will not be the “end-all, be-all” for Pages because of the quality of the matchup.
The official lineup had not been posted at publication, but Pages is expected to remain in center field for Game 3.
That places the responsibility on Pages to reward Roberts’ confidence. He does not need to carry the lineup, but the Dodgers need him to control the strike zone, compete through difficult at-bats and stop giving Atlanta easy outs near the bottom of the order.
Other Lineup Changes Remain Possible
While Pages is expected to stay in the lineup, Roberts could make changes elsewhere against Sale.
Muncy has homered in both games of the series, including a pinch-hit shot in the ninth inning Sunday. However, he is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts in his career against Sale.
Tommy Edman is 0-for-11 against him.
Those numbers could lead Roberts to start Kiké Hernández at third base and Miguel Rojas at second, loading the bottom of the lineup with right-handed hitters.
Muncy’s power would then become a weapon off the bench once Atlanta turns to one of its right-handed relievers.
It would be understandable if Roberts chose that alignment. Sale has repeatedly neutralized left-handed hitters, and the Dodgers cannot allow favorable regular-season matchups to matter more than the quality of the at-bats they are currently receiving.
At the same time, removing a player who has homered in consecutive games is not an easy decision.
That is where Roberts must separate career history from current form.
Yamamoto Cannot Afford An Early Mistake
Yamamoto enters his first postseason start of 2026 after going 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA, 182 strikeouts and a 0.87 WHIP during the regular season.
He was particularly effective away from Dodger Stadium, producing a 1.77 ERA across 12 road starts.
His previous outing in Atlanta showed how small the margin can become. One poorly located first pitch to Baldwin was enough to decide an otherwise excellent performance.
Atlanta has several hitters capable of punishing mistakes, but Michael Harris II is the most immediate concern. Harris went 3-for-5 with a triple, a double, one RBI and one run scored in Game 2. He is 8-for-20 through Atlanta’s first five postseason games.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson have been quieter, but neither can be treated casually. Yamamoto must avoid allowing Atlanta’s struggling stars to build confidence by giving them pitches over the heart of the plate.
His splitter should be central to the plan. If he establishes his fastball early and gets Atlanta’s hitters reaching below the zone, he can control the game deep enough to hand a lead directly to the Dodgers’ highest-leverage relievers.
Bullpen Usage Could Decide A Close Game
The Dodgers’ bullpen should be nearly fully available after Monday’s off day.
Roki Sasaki may be the exception after throwing 36 pitches across two innings Sunday. His availability could be limited even if Los Angeles does not completely rule him out.
That makes the length Yamamoto provides especially important.
If he can cover six or seven innings, Roberts should be able to build the late innings around favorable matchups instead of asking a middle reliever to protect the season’s most important lead.
Edwin Díaz is also emerging as a legitimate option for the ninth inning after one of his best performances of the season in Game 2.
Roberts said Díaz has put himself in position to close a game, but that does not mean Los Angeles must reserve him exclusively for the ninth.
If Olson, Harris and Baldwin are due in the eighth, that may be the most important inning. October bullpen decisions should be based on the hitters coming to the plate—not simply the number displayed on the scoreboard.
What The Dodgers Must Do To Win Game 3
The path is not complicated, even if executing it against Sale will be.
The Dodgers must:
Make Sale work instead of allowing him to cruise through quick innings.
Produce with runners in scoring position instead of depending entirely on home runs.
Keep Harris from controlling the middle of Atlanta’s lineup.
Avoid giving the Braves additional opportunities through defensive mistakes.
Let Yamamoto attack without making him feel as though one run will decide the game again.
Support Roberts’ confidence in Pages with better at-bats from the entire bottom of the order.
In my view, the decisive factor will be whether Los Angeles can force Sale out before the end of the sixth inning.
If Sale works seven innings on fewer than 100 pitches, Atlanta will control the structure of the game.
If the Dodgers can make him throw 90 pitches through five or six innings, they will create an opportunity to attack a bullpen missing two of Sunday’s most heavily used arms.
Game 3 Prediction
This has every reason to become another low-scoring game.
Yamamoto has consistently delivered in high-pressure postseason situations, and his road numbers suggest the setting should not bother him. Sale is capable of repeating his August dominance, but beating the same lineup twice requires him to survive the adjustments Los Angeles should make.
I expect Yamamoto to limit Atlanta and give the Dodgers at least six strong innings.
The difference must come from an offense that finally delivers with runners on base.
Prediction: Dodgers 3, Braves 2.
The Dodgers do not need Yamamoto to be better than he was during the August duel.
They need to make sure another excellent performance does not go unrewarded.
Who do you think delivers the biggest moment for the Dodgers in Game 3?