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. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.

It's phenom vs. phenom. Postseason sensation vs. postseason sensation. Schlittler vs. Yesavage.

We've got a marquee matchup tonight at Yankee Stadium, as the Yankees and Blue Jays square off in their 2025 American League Division Series rematch. 

Cam Schlittler and Trey Yesavage are going toe to toe.

It's one of the most exciting pitching matchups of the season. The duel is set for 7:05 p.m. ET on MLB Network.

"Hopefully we're facing each other for the next X amount of years," Schlittler said yesterday. That's the situation you want to be in."

We have a full preview of the Schlittler vs. Yesavage showdown, but these are the three big parallels between the two young stars:

1) Brilliant postseason debuts

As rookies, both Schlittler and Yesavage shone bright on the big stage in the 2025 playoffs. Schlittler dominated the rival Red Sox in a winner-take-all Wild Card Series game in his postseason debut. But then Yesavage dominated the Yankees in his own postseason debut in the ALDS -- and became one of the biggest stars of October during the Jays' pennant run.  

2) Dominant starts to 2026 

Both pitchers have kept their momentum going into 2026. Schlittler might be the AL Cy Young favorite right now, as he's 6-1 with an MLB-best 1.35 ERA and 68 strikeouts in his 10 starts. And while Yesavage was delayed by a right shoulder impingement at the start of the year, he's now picked up right where he left off with a 1.40 ERA and 21 strikeouts through four starts. 

3) Overpowering pitch arsenals 

Schlittler and Yesavage get it done on the mound in different ways … but they both get it done. Schlittler's high-powered fastball troika -- a 98 mph four-seamer, 97 mph sinker and 94 mph cutter -- lets him overwhelm hitters despite throwing heaters over 90% the time, the most often of any starter. And Yesavage's extreme over-the-top delivery -- the highest in the Majors by both arm angle (64 degrees) and release point (7.15 feet) -- lets him wipe out hitters with a splitter that falls from the sky and a funky slider that moves the opposite direction you would expect.

Read more on Schlittler vs. Yesavage here >>

Besides Schlittler vs. Yesavage, there are plenty of other good games tonight, including Two-Way Ohtani Day. 

Mets at Nationals (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)  

The Mets are calling up their No. 13 prospect, Zach Thornton, to make his MLB debut tonight. The 24-year-old lefty just got to Triple-A two weeks ago … but what's really cool about his debut is: Thornton's dad will be there. Paul Thornton is still re-learning how to walk after complications from spinal surgery, and he just got out of the hospital. But he'll be there to see his son pitch. The Athletic has a nice feature on the Thornton family out today (subscription required).

Brewers at Cubs (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)

The Brewers took over first place in the NL Central from the Cubs yesterday. They're going for the sweep of their rivals today behind Kyle Harrison, who's having a breakout season in Milwaukee (2.09 ERA in eight starts) after arriving in a trade from the Red Sox in February. The Cubs, who rarely lose at Wrigley Field, are trying to avoid being swept at home as they trail in the division for the first time since April.

Dodgers at Padres (8:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

Shohei Ohtani and his 0.82 ERA are back on the mound tonight -- but this time, the two-way superstar is going to hit. The rubber game against the rival Padres will be Ohtani's first time hitting and pitching in the same game since April 22, after three straight pitching-only outings. 

Yesterday, Konnor Griffin played his first of what will likely be many games in St. Louis over the course of his career. 

And that created this fun bit of trivia about the 20-year-old Pirates phenom: Griffin is the first player to play at the current Busch Stadium who is younger than the ballpark. 

The new Busch Stadium opened on April 4, 2006. Griffin was born a few weeks later on April 24, 2006. 

The Cardinals posted the fun fact about Griffin on their video board during yesterday's game, as noticed by St. Louis KMOV sports anchor Tamar Sher.  

There are already plenty of fun facts related to Griffin's youth, so just add this one to the list.

Beating an unbeatable closer, an inside-the-park slam and The Miz headline the action around the league. 

• If you haven't watched Andy Pages' epic at-bat against Mason Miller … go watch it. The Dodgers beat the Padres' seemingly unbeatable closer thanks to a nine-pitch at-bat from Pages, who fouled off multiple 100-plus mph fastballs and wipeout sliders from Miller before lifting the tiebreaking sac fly in the ninth inning. Miller took his first loss as a Padre, which was also his first loss in over a year (since May 17, 2025).

• Inside-the-park home runs are always electric. But James Wood took it to another level with an inside-the-park grand slam against the Mets yesterday. That was the first inside-the-park grand slam in the Majors in nearly four years (Raimel Tapia had the last one on July 22, 2022). Who else has hit an inside-the-park slam? See the list -- and watch them for yourselves -- here.

• The Miz is just untouchable. Jacob Misiorowski has now thrown 24 1/3 scoreless innings with 37 strikeouts over his last four starts, lowering his season ERA to 1.89. He's the first pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900) to have a four-start span with at least 30 strikeouts, zero runs allowed and zero extra-base hits allowed. Even though Misiorowski topped out at "only" 101.5 mph yesterday on his way to beating the Cubs, he still collected five K's on triple-digit heaters to bring his season total to 38. That's more than three times as many as Mason Miller, who's the only other player with more than 10 strikeouts on 100-plus mph fastballs. 

• MLB Pipeline's newest No. 1 overall prospect, 19-year-old Jesús Made, knocked his first walk-off hit of 2026 yesterday at Double-A. The Brewers' shortstop of the future now has two walk-off hits in his Minor League career, one last season and one this season.

It's a rowdy fan tradition as old as time: Go to a game, take your shirt off. 

But now it's taking over the Major Leagues. Everywhere you look, it's "Tarps Off."  

The phenomenon started on Friday night, when an ever-growing section of shirtless fans at the Cardinals game energized St. Louis in its walk-off win. The ringleaders turned out to be the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team -- and now they've sparked a whole Tarps Off craze. 

It's not just that something special -- and shirtless -- is happening in St. Louis … fans at MLB ballparks across the country are now hopping on the Tarps Off bandwagon. 

Fans at Rays, Mariners, Tigers and Phillies games have all gotten in on the fun. Tarps Off has become a movement.

International baseball expert Michael Clair writes about MLB's new partnership with RISE Worldwide (Reliance Initiative for Sports and Entertainment) to help accelerate the growth of baseball in India. 

As the World Baseball Classic has shown, baseball is fast becoming a truly global sport. And India is one of the countries that could one day lead the way.

Since MLB first opened an office in India in 2019, they’ve introduced the MLB Cup -- an under-11 competition -- brought MLB’s First Pitch program to schools in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, the three biggest cities in India, and more.

With initiatives like those, the sport is growing fast. At India’s first MLB Cup in 2021, only 12 teams took part. Just a few years later and the tournament has exploded. At last year’s MLB Cup, 150 teams took part, and there are hopes for an additional 30-plus clubs to enter the competition this year. 

That grassroots growth and commitment to baseball across the country helped lead to today's announcement that MLB has partnered with RISE Worldwide to deliver fan experiences, digital content, and a live event in Mumbai this October.

Read more here >>

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