The biggest rivalry in baseball is back

The Lineup: Pregame Edition

Tuesday, April 21

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Aaron Judge and Ben Rice lead the Yankees against Roman Anthony, Willson Contreras and the Red Sox.

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.

Baseball’s No. 1 rivalry is back tonight. 

The Yankees and Red Sox face off in a three-game series at Fenway Park, their first meeting since the 2025 American League Wild Card Series.

The Yanks got the best of Boston in that playoff matchup, taking down the Sox in a winner-take-all Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers are also off to the better start this season — the Yankees enter this week’s showdown in first place in the AL East at 13-9, while the Red Sox are tied for last with the Blue Jays at 9-13.

Tonight’s series opener in Boston starts at 6:45 p.m. ET (TBS/MLB.TV), and you can find all the info on the rest of the series here.

But these are three big things we’ll be watching for: 

1) Will New York’s 1-2 punch keep it going? 

The Yankees have the top slugging duo in the Majors right now. One half of that duo is obviously Aaron Judge, whose nine home runs are one behind Yordan Alvarez for the MLB lead. The other half is Ben Rice, who’s building on his breakout 2025 with eight homers already in ’26 and an MLB-best 1.276 OPS. Judge and Rice have the most home runs of any pair of MLB teammates.

Rice has four home runs in 18 career regular-season games against the Red Sox (plus one in last year’s playoffs), while Judge has 34 home runs in 117 games against Boston (plus a pair in the 2018 postseason), easily the most of any active player against the Red Sox. 

2) Can Roman Anthony get hot?  

Anthony looked like a budding star as a rookie last season and in the World Baseball Classic this year for Team USA. But he hasn’t been at his best yet in 2026 — the 21-year-old is off to a .234 start at the plate with just one home run through his first 21 games. This would be a big series for Anthony to get going. 

3) How will Cam Schlittler do in his first start at Fenway? 

Speaking of young guns: Schlittler, who starts Thursday’s series finale for New York, has looked dominant to start the season (1.95 ERA, 36 strikeouts in five starts). And there’s going to be a lot of hoopla surrounding the 25-year-old flamethrower’s first career start at Fenway. Schlittler grew up a Red Sox fan in Massachusetts, and he’s embraced the Yanks-Sox rivalry — including stepping up in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series last October and eliminating the Red Sox with an eight-inning, 12-strikeout scoreless gem. 

 

GAMES OF THE NIGHT

Besides Yankees-Red Sox, here are three games to watch tonight. For info on how to watch every game this season, go to MLB.com/Watch. 

Reds at Rays (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

The NL Central has been the best division in baseball so far this season. All five teams have a winning record — and leading the pack are the Reds in first place at 15-8. Cincinnati is on a four-game winning streak and sends breakout 23-year-old Chase Burns to the mound today. 

Twins at Mets (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)

The Mets are on an 11-game losing streak, their worst since the 2004 season. If anyone can put a stop to it, it’s the team’s young ace, Nolan McLean, who gets the ball for the opener at Citi Field. The electric rookie has a 2.28 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings through four starts and just went pitch-for-pitch with Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto his last time out.

If McLean can play stopper, a huge reinforcement is coming for the Mets after that: Juan Soto should be back from the injured list tomorrow, a source told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

Dodgers at Giants (9:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

Yankees-Red Sox isn’t the only rivalry series this week. The Dodgers and Giants, who form another one of MLB’s classic rivalries, also meet for the first time this season starting tonight. The player to watch for L.A. in this one is Yamamoto, who’s pitching like a Cy Young contender.  

J-ROD VS. A 108 MPH KNUCKLEBALL

Julio Rodríguez pulled off one of the craziest catches of the year in center field in Seattle yesterday. Just watch: 

An animated GIF of Julio Rodríguez's catch vs. a knuckleball line drive

No, you’re not seeing things. It’s not an optical illusion. That line drive off the bat of Nick Kurtz really was a knuckleball. A 108 mph knuckleball.  

It started off as a frozen rope to Rodríguez’s left, only to tail back at the last second to his right. But the Mariners star made an incredible recovery to make the grab.

Here’s what the trajectory of the ball looked like, using Statcast’s 3D tracking: 

An animated GIF with Statcast 3D tracking of Julio Rodríguez's catch

Luckily for Seattle, nothing escapes J-Rod’s No Fly Zone. Not even that witchcraft. 

WHO SHOULD CLOSE FOR DÍAZ-LESS DODGERS?

Edwin Díaz

The Dodgers might have MLB’s best record at 16-6, but the defending champs just took a big blow: closer Edwin Díaz, one of the team’s marquee free-agent signings this offseason, is having surgery to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow and won’t be back until after the All-Star break. 

So who should close for the Dodgers in Díaz’s absence? They haven’t named a replacement closer, but here are the big three arms who could combine to fill the role. (Spoiler: It’s not going to be Roki Sasaki.) 

1) LHP Tanner Scott 

Scott was supposed to be the Dodgers’ closer last year, but he struggled in his first season in L.A. and couldn’t hold onto the job. But Scott’s been much better in 2026, with a 1.04 ERA through 10 outings and eight strikeouts with zero walks. He could get another crack at the ninth.

2) LHP Alex Vesia

One of the Dodgers’ most reliable arms out of the ‘pen, Vesia has yet to allow a run this season in 10 appearances and has 10 K’s in 8 2/3 innings. The veteran southpaw has one of the best rising fastballs in baseball and L.A. often looks to him to get the biggest outs of a game.

3) RHP Blake Treinen

Treinen was Old Reliable for the Dodgers for so long. Now 37 years old, he’s still a strong late-inning option with his vintage sinker-sweeper combo, and had started the season with eight straight scoreless outings before a rocky one against the Rockies on Sunday. 

STREAK TRACKER

Shohei Ohtani and Mason Miller

There are two big streaks going around the Majors right now. We’re keeping track of them here. 

Shohei Ohtani’s on-base streak 

Currently at: 52 games 

AL/NL record: Ted Williams, 84 games (1949)

Ohtani extended his streak to 52 consecutive games yesterday with a third-inning single off the Rockies’ Jose Quintana. With one more game, Ohtani will tie Shawn Green (2000) for the second-longest streak in Dodgers history. (Duke Snider has the longest at 58 games in 1954.) 

Fun fact: Shohei has now passed Babe Ruth’s career-best 51-game on-base streak from 1923. 

Mason Miller’s scoreless innings streak

Currently at: 32 2/3 innings 

AL/NL record: Orel Hershiser, 59 innings (1988)

Reliever record (Expansion Era): Gregg Olson, 41 innings (1989-90)


The Padres were off yesterday, so Miller’s streak stays one inning shy of Cla Meredith’s franchise record. San Diego faces the Rockies tonight at 8:40 p.m. ET (MLB.TV).  

THE DODGERS x CONVERSE: LA EDITION

Yoshinobu Yamamoto holding the LA Dodgers Chuck 70 shoe

Last week, the Dodgers dropped a collab with Converse and UNDEFEATED, introducing the Brooklyn Dodgers Chuck 70 — a new version of the classic Chuck Taylor All-Star shoe in honor of the back-to-back World Series champs. 

Today, Part 2 of the collab dropped: A Los Angeles Dodgers edition, featuring the Dodgers’ iconic “LA” logo instead of the Brooklyn “B.” (The drop also features Yoshinobu Yamamoto introducing the shoe.) 

The LA variation launches this Saturday at UNDEFEATED physical stores and Undefeated.com. The shoe will then be available at converse.com, MLBShop.com, the MLB Flagship Store in NYC and the Dodgers Team Store next Monday.


Bryan Horowitz has the story on Converse and UNDEFEATED’s love letter to Dodgers culture.  

 

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Published by RJ Hamster

I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis. I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God. I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree. Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons. I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA. While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon.. In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987). From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting. Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982. I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects. In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston. In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018. Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia. In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey. As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova. Love and God Bless, Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi

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