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.

 

When last the Dodgers and Yankees saw one another, Walker Buehler was snapping off a nasty knuckle curve that Alex Verdugo helplessly whiffed on, setting off a World Series title celebration for L.A.

 

Tonight they meet again, 212 days later, in a rematch as star-studded as it gets at 10:10 p.m. ET/7:10 p.m. PT on Apple TV+.

 

Though there will be many of the same protagonists, a lot has changed in that time. Juan Soto joined the crosstown Mets. Both players featured in that final out – Buehler and Verdugo – are with new teams. The Dodgers signed two of the biggest names on the pitching market, Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, then watched both of them land on the injured list, which for L.A. is starting to rival a CVS receipt in length.

 

What has remained very much the same, though, is that both these teams expect to get back to the Fall Classic. They are on the right path so far, each leading their division, with New York a comfortable 6 1/2 games up in the AL East.

 

That lead has been built largely on shrewd offseason additions following their World Series disappointment. Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have been hitting like the former MVPs they are, and Max Fried – who gets the ball tonight – has gone unbeaten in his first 11 starts in a Yankees uniform, while recording an MLB-best 1.29 ERA. And that’s all before mentioning Aaron Judge, who’s having one of the best starts to a season by any hitter in recent memory and is on his way to shattering a statistical mark held by Babe Ruth.

We just named a trio of former MVP winners in the Yankees’ lineup, and the Dodgers – it’s been well documented – match that with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. If those six players are in the lineup, it’ll be the first game ever with three former MVPs in each batting order, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. On the L.A. side, Ohtani leads all of baseball in homers with 20 and is on pace to surpass his total of 54 from last season’s historic 50/50 bonanza. Seeing Freeman again will give Yankees fans nauseating flashbacks of his Game 1 walk-off grand slam, from which New York never really recovered, and he’s now atop the NL leaderboards in multiple offensive categories, including batting average and OPS.

 

As much as the Yankees will be looking to send a message in this series, the only true revenge can come in October. That’s not lost on a team that recently received AL championship rings and essentially wanted nothing to do with them: “First loser,” “participation trophy,” “I don’t need to see it again,” were just some of the quotes.

 

The Dodgers have the jewelry the Yankees ultimately want. Both teams hope to be gathering ring sizes when November rolls around. But for right now, in what’s sure to be an epic regular-season clash, they’ll be sizing one another up with an eye on the road to come.

 

— Scott Chiusano

On his recent segment on “Last Week Tonight” highlighting his favorite Minor League mascots and promotions, John Oliver singled out the Rocket City Trash Pandas, even donning a cap and proclaiming himself to be “TP for life!”

 

Is that Trash Pandas cap truly the finest the Minor Leagues has to offer? Oliver’s fave is one of four finalists in the inaugural New Era Clash of the Caps, so it very well might be. But Rocket City faces some stiff competition for bragging rights from the other three finalists: the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Hub City Spartanburgers and Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.

 

Fans have through Sunday to cast their ballots – here’s the link to vote – and anyone who participates can enter for a chance to win prizes that include $1,000 to spend at NewEraCap.com, a complete set of 59FIFTY caps from one MiLB team and a 2025 MLB.TV Premium subscription. Every voter gets a 25% off coupon at NewEraCap.com.

 

And who knows? Maybe Oliver will play kingmaker again when this competition comes back around next season.

 

— Bryan Horowitz

We started you off with an obvious one, but there’s much more than Yankees-Dodgers tonight.

 

• Brewers @ Phillies (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Milwaukee heads to Philly riding high off consecutive extra-inning walk-off victories to complete a sweep of the Red Sox, and they are back above .500 after winning eight of their past 11. The Phillies come in with the best record in the NL and Kyle Schwarber absolutely mashing baseballs left and right.

• Angels @ Guardians (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): It probably isn’t talked about enough, but José Ramírez is the type of hitter whose at-bats are worth dropping everything to watch. He’s riding a 21-game hitting streak coming into this series opener and is hitting .393 with a 1.100 OPS in that span. Speaking of must-see at-bats, the Halos have activated Mike Trout off the IL after the slugger missed nearly a month with a bone bruise in his left knee. And he’s in the starting lineup as the DH and hitting fifth.

• Tigers @ Royals (8:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The AL Central-leading Tigers have had the Royals’ number so far this season, winning three of four, but Kansas City gets a key piece back tonight. Seth Lugo returns to the mound for his first start since May 11 after spending time on the injured list with a finger sprain. Last season’s AL Cy Young runner-up is crucial to the Royals’ plans of competing at the top of this tough division.

If you thought Bryce Harper’s best teammate was, say, Trea Turner or Kyle Schwarber, we’d like to introduce you to Toothless. Harper starred with the mythical creature in a promotional video for DreamWorks’ upcoming film “How to Train Your Dragon,” which releases in theaters on June 13. (Ask any kid, they probably have the date circled.)

 

Here’s the best part: The custom bat Bryce uses to unleash some flaming liners is up for grabs, and it’s signed by the Phillies superstar himself. If you’re interested — and who wouldn’t be? — then check out how to win right here.

If you haven’t heard about Tigers prospect Josue Briceño meeting with 13-year-old superfan and cancer patient Theo Price before his incredible three-homer game at High-A on Thursday night, do yourself a favor and click this link before coming back here to read even more heartwarming tater tales.

 

Welcome back! We knew you couldn’t resist a tease like that.

 

While there’s no official record book of such events, our crack staff was able to cobble together some of the best-known cases, the most famous of which occurred when the legendary Bambino himself, Babe Ruth, inscribed on a ball destined for hospitalized 11-year-old Johnny Silvester, “I’ll knock a homer for you in Wednesday’s game.”

 

That Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1926, game also happened to be Game 4 of the World Series, and the Babe delivered on his promise not once, but three times. Ruth visited Sylvester in the hospital a few days later, and the young fan went on to make a full recovery.

 

While no one has been able to quite match Ruth for such a pure Hollywood ending, there have been some other well-publicized homer promises from ballplayers in more recent years.

 

In 2016, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz sent a video message to 5-year-old Maverick Schutte, who was born with a heart defect. “Always stay positive. Keep the faith. You take care, buddy, and I’m going to hit a homer for you tonight,” said Ortiz. “Remember that. For you.”  Best known for his ability to come through in the clutch, Big Papi hit a go-ahead homer that night against the rival Yankees.

 

It’s not just kids who have been guaranteed a homer by a big leaguer. In 2019, Aaron Judge promised the father of then-Yankees bullpen catcher Jason Brown that he’d go deep for him that night, and promptly drilled a Clayton Kershaw offering into the Dodger Stadium seats.

 

And speaking of the Yankees, who can forget the time Kramer promised a kid in the hospital that Paul O’Neill would hit him two home runs in one of the many baseball-related Seinfeld episodes? Sadly, thanks to a call from the official scorer, O’Neill had to settle for a homer and a triple.

 

— Ed Eagle

Can you Beat the Streak? Try to top Joe DiMaggio’s record hitting streak of 56 games by selecting a player each day to record a hit. If you get to 57, you can win $5.6 million. Plus, new for this year, a chance to win unique weekly prizes.

 

As pointed out above, José Ramírez has a 21-game hitting streak, and it’s hard to go wrong riding the hot hand. He’ll get a chance to extend his streak against Angels right-handed starter José Soriano, against whom J-Ram has four hits in 10 at-bats entering tonight.

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