Reds @ Dodgers – NLWCS Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto looks to send the Dodgers to the NLDS amidst bullpen woes

The Dodgers (1-0) won the opening game of their Wild Card series against the Cincinnati Reds (0-1) convincingly last night, by a final score of 10-5. The bullpen imploded rather predictably, but they had an eight run lead with only six outs to attain, so despite trying their best, they were unable to squander the game delivered by Blake Snell and the offense. Chad’s recap detailed the entirety of the game, most notably featuring big games from the top of the order, as well as Snell’s seven strong innings. I’ll copy Alex’s intro from the opening game yesterday, as it set the stage for this matchup and the form that both teams were in while entering the postseason.

The Dodgers play host to the six-seed in the Wild Card round, which surprisingly ended up being the Reds. Cincinnati (83-79) took advantage of a huge Mets’ing and won eight of the final 11 games to secure the final spot in the playoffs. They did lose the finale on Sunday, but the Mets were blanked by the Marlins (which is the funniest possible way to end a collapse like that) clinching a spot for the Reds.
Sam wrote a nice series preview yesterday, so I’ll just add that the Dodgers took five of six games against the Reds this season. The series in Cincinnati was close (and humid as hell), as the Dodgers took two of three but had a +1 run differential in the three games. They met in LA a month later and the Dodgers swept and scored more runs in each game (7, 6 and 5) than the Reds scored in the series (4).

Tonight, the Dodgers will be looking to sweep this opening series against the Reds, and begin preparations for the Philadelphia Phillies who await the winner of this series in the NLDS. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the mound tonight, up against the right-handed Zack Littell, who will look to keep Cincinnati’s hope alive.

	6:08 P.M.		Los Angeles
CF	Friedl (L)	DH	Ohtani (L)
LF	Steer	SS	Betts
DH	Lux (L)	1B	Freeman (L)
RF	Hays	RF	T. Hernández
1B	Stewart	3B	Muncy (L)
SS	De La Cruz (S)	CF	Pages
C	Stephenson	LF	K. Hernández
3B	Hayes	2B	Rojas
2B	McLain	C	Rortvedt (L)
P	Littell (R)	P	Yamamoto (R)

The Reds will run out a similar lineup against the right-handed Yamamoto, albeit with a couple tweaks. Both of Noelvi Marte and Miguel Andujar will be on the bench, with Gavin Lux starting as the designated hitter, while Sal Stewart gets the nod at first base with Austin Hays moving to right field. While the Reds weren’t able to do much against Snell, they all took the walks and batting practice the bullpen offered them, and ended up with five runs in a game that was never really all that close. Still, the Reds have seen right-handed pitching better than lefties this year, so Yamamoto will need to be sharp if he wants to get deep into the game.

The Dodgers will send out a similar starting lineup as last night, with the most notable change being Miguel Rojas starting at second base over Tommy Edman. Edman was 1-for-3 with a solo homer off of Hunter Greene last night, so while it’s surprising to see him out of the lineup, he’s been nursing an ankle injury and Rojas has had a very solid year after a slow start. Rojas will bat eighth, so everyone slides up a spot, while Max Muncy and Teoscar swap spots in the order, with the latter back in the cleanup spot after his big game.

Ohtani had two homers last night (in addition to three strikeouts), but set the tone with a leadoff solo shot to start the game. Mookie Betts added two hits and a walk, as did Freddie Freeman, but the main damage came from Teoscar, who was 3-for-5 with two homers and four runs batted in. Muncy and Andy Pages were the only two batters held hitless, although Muncy reached once and scored via a walk. Those two will have plenty of opportunities tonight to log their first hits of the postseason against Littell, who should be an easier matchup than Greene.

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Here’s how Yamamoto and Littell have fared.

The Reds traded for Littell at the deadline in the three-team deal that actually sent Ben Rortvedt to the Dodgers and Hunter Feduccia to the Rays. Littell was solid for the Reds in the second half, with a 4.39 ERA, a 4.77 FIP, and a 1.07 WHIP. He had a 2-0 record in ten starts for Cincinnati, so while he wasn’t some incredible deadline addition, he definitiely helped the Reds secure a postseason spot for the first time since 2020. He wasn’t particularly effective toward the end of the regular season, with a 4.91 ERA in five September starts across 25.2 innings, but he’ll look to keep the game close before Terry Francona likely goes to the left-handed Nick Lodolo.

The last time Yamamoto took the mound in the postseason was Game 2 of the World Series, where he walked away with the win in a very impressive 6.1 inning outing where he allowed just one earned run while out-dueling Gerrit Cole. He had a 3.86 ERA in 18.2 innings last postseason, but the majority of the damage came in his first start of the postseason against the Padres, where he allowed five runs across three innings. He allowed just three earned runs over his next three starts, good for a 1.72 ERA, in addition to two wins, with the Dodgers winning all three starts.

Ohtani was clearly the most valuable player on the Dodgers this year, as he’s likely to unanimously win his fourth MVP award, but it’s very possible that Yamamoto was nearly as valuable to this team in particular, due to his performance amidst injuries in the rotation. He’s going to finish in the top-five for the National League Cy Young Award, deservedly so, providing 173.2 innings of 2.49 ERA ball, the fourth-lowest mark among all qualified starting pitchers. He was particularly sharp down the stretch, as he’s allowed just three earned runs over his final five starts, with a 0.79 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP over 34.0 innings, with batters hitting just .099 during that stretch. He’s been lights out at exactly the right time for the Dodgers, and he’ll look to keep that going tonight as the team looks to advance to the NLDS.

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First pitch is at 6:08 PT on ESPN.