It’s do-or-die for the Cincinnati Reds tonight. After dropping game one, the Reds face elimination tonight with a loss in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 9:08pm ET. The game will be on ESPN.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds |
Los Angeles Dodgers |
| TJ Friedl – CF | Shohei Ohtani – DH |
| Spencer Steer – LF | Mookie Betts – SS |
| Gavin Lux – DH | Freddie Freeman – 1B |
| Austin Hays – RF | Teoscar Hernandez – RF |
| Sal Stewart – 1B | Max Muncy – 3B |
| Elly De La Cruz – SS | Andy Pages – CF |
| Tyler Stephenson – C | Enrique Hernandez – LF |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B | Miguel Rojas – 2B |
| Matt McLain – 2B | Ben Rortvedt – C |
| Zack Littell – RHP | Yoshinobu Yamamoto – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Zack Littell | 186.2 | 3.81 | 1.10 | 32 | 130 |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 173.2 | 2.49 | 0.99 | 59 | 201 |
| Links: Zack Littell’s Stats | Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Stats |
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Zack Littell
Consistency has been an issue for Zack Littell since being acquired at the trade deadline by the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds are going to need him to have one of his good days today or their season is likely going to come to an end. One of the few Reds to have playoff experience, Littell pitched in the playoffs in 2019, 2021, and 2023. All of his game came out of the bullpen and he allowed five runs in five innings, though in 2023 he threw two perfect innings for Tampa Bay.
The splits this season against Littell aren’t that big, with righties having small advantages across the board. He’s pitched a little better against lefties since joining the Reds than he had when he was with the Rays.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 405 | 95 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 15 | 67 | .250 | .287 | .455 |
| LHH | 354 | 79 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 63 | .238 | .276 | .434 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Slider | Split | |
| Velo | 92.0 | 91.3 | 85.9 | 83.3 |
| Usage | 24% | 16% | 33% | 27% |
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
After missing a lot of time in 2024, Yoshinobu Yamamoto made 30 starts for the Dodgers in 2025 and was dominant as he posted a 2.49 ERA to go along with 201 strikeouts. He closed out the year on a brilliant run where he struck out 44 batters and allowed three earned runs in 34.0 innings. At the end of July he allowed one run in 7.0 innings and struck out nine against the Reds. Last year in the playoffs with Los Angeles he threw 18.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA across four starts.
The splits against Yamamota are sizeable and right-handed hitters have an advantage across the board. The problem is that righties still can’t hit him at all, he’s just a lot better against left-handed hitters. Not shown below is that he is worse at home in 2025 where his ERA is 3.04 and hitters have a .603 OPS (it’s just .496 on the road).
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 353 | 60 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 36 | 105 | .191 | .276 | .315 |
| LHH | 331 | 53 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 96 | .174 | .236 | .249 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-sm | 2-sm | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Split | |
| Velo | 95.4 | 94.7 | 91.1 | 76.7 | 86.2 | 90.9 |
| Usage | 35% | 8% | 11% | 18% | 3% | 25% |
When and Where
- Game time: 9:08pm ET
- Where: Dodger Stadium
- Watch: ESPN
- Listen: 700WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 72°, sunny, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Breaking Trend
Entering the day 10 of the 12 series in this wild card format had been swept. That didn’t hold true in Cleveland or Chicago earlier today. No team has won the first game of a series in this format and lost the series.
Ending a different streak
Cincinnati has lost seven consecutive playoff games, dating back to 2012.
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