Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here.

Watching two almost certain Hall of Famers face off on the mound is a rare thing, and tonight may well be the last chance we get to witness this particular clash of legends.

Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw go toe to toe at Dodger Stadium (10:10 p.m. ET on MLB.TV), a 41-year-old righty and a 37-year-old lefty each in the twilight of his illustrious career yet still pitching meaningful innings for legitimate World Series contenders. 

So you won’t see the kind of upper-90s velocity that’s become almost commonplace for starters in today’s game; instead you’ll get two crafty veterans -- one who can strike fear in a hitter merely with his staredown over the tip of his glove, the other whose perfectly parabolic curveball would make your high school geometry teacher gush.  

Kershaw is coming off one of his better starts of the season, a six-inning scoreless effort against the Rays, and Scherzer struck out a season-high 11 on July 27. These are two of the three active pitchers (alongside Justin Verlander) with 3,000 strikeouts, a combined 6,461 K’s between them, and there’s no doubt they still have something left in the tank.

The two all-time greats have only started against one another three previous times in the regular season, most recently in 2021. The first of those came 17 years ago when they were both rookies, on Sept. 7, 2008, making tonight’s reunion the first game between two starting pitchers who faced each other as rookies, and went on to strike out 3,000-plus batters in their careers, per Elias. Regular readers of this newsletter may remember that we chronicled that rookie year matchup back in April for a very specific reason: It’s quite possible, according to some exhaustive research from our own Steve Gilbert, that the starters for that game were originally supposed to be … Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. 

Almost two decades later, we’ll get something like the equivalent of the Hall of Fame Johnson-Maddux matchup that might have been. That 2008 season ended up being Maddux’s last, and Johnson hung on for one more mostly forgettable year with the Giants.

What the road beyond the 2025 season looks like for Kershaw and Scherzer -- both pitching on one-year deals -- is unclear, all the more reason why tonight’s meeting is special. What’s more obvious, though, is that all roads ultimately lead to Cooperstown for both of them. 

-- Scott Chiusano

• Phillies at Rangers (8:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Cristopher Sánchez isn't even the ace on his own team, but he's the best pitcher no one's talking about (he did get love in our recent Cy Young poll, placing third). Tied with Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal with a 5.7 bWAR, Sánchez is one of the key reasons the first-place Phils are vying for back-to-back NL East titles.
  
  

• Mets at Brewers (8:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): This weekend, Brewers fans will be on the lookout for flapjacks (more on this below) instead of Pete Alonso jacks. A homer shy of tying the Mets all-time homer record, Alonso returns to the scene of his greatest triumph: a three-run go-ahead blast against Milwaukee in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series clincher last year. 

• Red Sox at Padres (9:40 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV): It's two second-place teams trying to win their respective divisions. Since the Deadline, the Red Sox have gone 6-1 to overtake the Yanks for first in the AL Wild Card (they're four back of the Blue Jays for the AL East lead), while the Padres have posted a 4-2 mark during that same timeframe to move within two back of the Dodgers for first.

Let’s cut to the chase: In Jen Pawol, we are watching a trailblazer in real time.

When she takes the field Saturday during the first game of a doubleheader between the Marlins and Braves, Pawol will become the first woman to umpire a Major League game, smashing through a glass ceiling for generations to follow.

After umpiring more than 1,200 games at every level of the Minors for the past decade, she’ll be part of a big league crew for three games this weekend, including calling balls and strikes behind the plate on Sunday (FREE on MLB.TV, 1:35 p.m. ET).

“I'm aware of the gravity. I'm aware of the magnitude,” Pawol said. “I believe that I'm going to be a very good steward and representative for young girls and women, and boys and men, that this is possible.”

For more on Pawol’s journey and the support she’s received along the way, check out Elizabeth Muratore’s outstanding feature.

-- Ed Eagle

How many current Major Leaguers would you describe as “legends”? 

We probably throw that descriptor around too loosely in sports, but every team has players whose contributions are unmatched. Jeffrey Lutz found 20 active big leaguers who could carry the “legend” tag as the best player in their franchise’s history at a certain position. 

Perhaps the most interesting player on Lutz’s list is Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña. Entering Friday, he has the second-most bWAR of any primary Astros shortstop (17.6) while the leader is at 34.2. About a week ago, it would have seemed likely that the 27-year-old Peña, on his current track, would surpass that No. 1 guy at some point in his early 30s (assuming he remains with Houston beyond his 2027 free-agent year). 

But that No. 1 guy is Carlos Correa, who, you may have heard, is back on the Astros. Although Correa is now playing third base, any WAR he accumulates during his second go-round with Houston will add to his total because he will still be considered a primary shortstop after playing that position exclusively for the Astros from 2015-21. 

That makes Peña a special case: The only player on the list who is chasing a moving target.

-- Brian Murphy

Much ink has been spilled about the Brewers lately, and for good reason. They have an MLB-best 70 wins and are on the type of extended heater that every team dreams about. It’s like a bizarro Murphy’s Law: Everything that could go right, is going right. 

And it is Murphy, actually -- Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy -- we’d like to discuss here. More specifically, his recently revealed proclivity for pocket snacks. We’re not talking about sunflower seeds or gum or maybe some hard candies. The Crew skipper has been known to pull a folded-up pancake out of his pocket (and not to worry, he’s quick to share if you dare).

“I put it in my pocket, it tastes better,” Murphy said. Well that settles that.

When further prodded, Murphy said he’ll also keep waffles or folded-up cold pizza in the front pocket of his hoodie, in case he needs some carbs during a game. 

Inspired by Murphy's gameday snack, the Brewers will sell Murph’s Pocket Pancakes in Sunday home games at American Family Field. Brewers reporter Adam McCalvy has the inside scoop.

The brand-new treat includes four pancakes and a choice of maple syrup or strawberry compote. For meat lovers, there's also a Double Chicken 'n' Pancakes Pocket Pack.

And if you decide to eat these out of your own pocket at the game, well, nobody would bat an eye.

-- Scott Chiusano

Can you guess today’s mystery player using clues like age, league, division, position and place of birth? You’ll have nine tries to get it right. Good luck! Play here >>

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