ATLANTA — The National League Division Series takes center stage Tuesday with a pair of key Game 3 matchups, as the Atlanta Braves host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1-1 series and the Milwaukee Brewers visit the San Diego Padres leading 2-0, both games airing on FS1.
The NL slate follows a low-key day in the American League Division Series, where the Chicago White Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays each followed Game 1 victories with another win in Game 2 to take commanding 2-0 leads. Chicago now has two chances at home to clinch, with a third game if needed back in Cleveland. The surge is notable for a White Sox team that had last won a playoff series in 2005 and is coming just two years after a 121-loss season, a turnaround so far reproducing what the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks did. Tampa Bay has looked very competent against the New York Yankees.
In the NL, Atlanta will try to build on its success rolling the dice with a bullpen game to even the series, sending Chris Sale to the mound this afternoon. The matchup is tough, as Sale faces Dodgers staff ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, their only pitcher to pass 140 innings this season. In San Diego, the Padres will try to stave off a sweep after a hammer-blow loss in Milwaukee, where the attempt to use closer Mason Miller for two innings spectacularly backfired.
First pitch for Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves is set for 3:00 p.m. with the series tied 1-1, followed by Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres at 6:30 p.m. with Milwaukee up 2-0. San Diego faces elimination at home while Atlanta looks to take control behind its ace, with Milwaukee one win from advancing. The Braves' pitching plan comes as the club continues to manage its roster for the series, following the move to shift Ronald Acuña Jr. to DH for NLDS Game 3 with a sore right knee.