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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff WriterOct 26, 2024, 05:34 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Walker Buehler will start Game 3 for the Los Angeles Dodgers from Yankee Stadium on Monday night, keeping the rotation in line and setting up a bullpen day for Game 4.
Starting Buehler in Game 3 — rather than utilizing the off day to run the bullpen game that night — lines him up as an option for a potential winner-take-all Game 7 from Dodger Stadium.
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Buehler, who will oppose New York Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt, has generated less swing-and-miss with his fastball coming off a second Tommy John surgery, forcing him to reinvent himself in a high-stakes environment.
In Game 3 of the National League Championship Series from Citi Field in New York last week, Buehler leaned on his curveball to escape jams, holding the New York Mets scoreless through four innings to set up an 8-0 victory. He pitched differently, but in some instances, he resembled the frontline starter who powered the Dodgers’ rotation in Octobers past.
“We love Walker in big games,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The road isn’t going to faze him.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Luis Gil will start Game 4 in New York on Tuesday. The assignment was expected; Gil was the club’s Game 4 starter in the American League Championship Series, surrendering two runs over four innings against the Cleveland Guardians.
The hard-throwing rookie right-hander, who was slated to begin the season in Triple A until Gerrit Cole was sidelined with an elbow injury, solidified his place in the rotation with a stellar first half. He finished the regular season with a 3.50 ERA in 151⅔ innings across 29 starts.
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo contributed to this report.
