Yamamoto Faces Yankee Stadium as Dodgers, Yankees Collide Sunday
The best record in baseball walks into the Bronx, and Yankee Stadium has a way of making those credentials feel negotiable. This one has genuine star power on both sides — and no clean lean heading into first pitch.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (62-36) arrive at Yankee Stadium as one of the most dominant teams in baseball, but the New York Yankees (54-43) are no soft landing spot, especially at home. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to start for Los Angeles, squaring off against Cam Schlittler, who is set to take the mound for New York. That pitching matchup alone makes this worth watching — a proven arm against a younger option, with a packed Sunday afternoon crowd at 12:35 PM ET ready to make things uncomfortable for the visitors.
On the offensive side, the names that matter most are obvious. Shohei Ohtani is hitting .289 with 22 home runs for the Dodgers — a constant threat who forces pitchers to make decisions they'd rather avoid. Andy Pages has been the run-producer in Los Angeles's lineup, sitting at 66 RBI on the season. For New York, the story is Ben Rice, who has quietly put together one of the more compelling offensive profiles in the American League. Rice is batting .282 with 29 home runs and 68 RBI — leading the Yankees in all three major offensive categories. If Yamamoto isn't sharp, Rice is exactly the kind of hitter who can make a marquee starter pay in a hurry. The Yankee Stadium short porch doesn't hurt his cause either.
Our model doesn't have a validated read on this one, and honestly, that feels appropriate. This is a game where the gap in records suggests Dodger superiority, but Yankee Stadium, a live young arm in Schlittler, and a legitimate middle-of-the-order threat in Rice make a clean projection difficult. Watch how Yamamoto handles the early innings and whether Ohtani can do damage against a pitcher with far less of a track record against him. The absence of a model lean isn't a cop-out — it's a signal that this one is genuinely open. Tune in on MLB.TV, Sportsnet LA, or YES.