The National League Championship Series could open Sunday with the kind of power-on-power pitching matchup October rarely delivers: Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski against Los Angeles left-hander Tarik Skubal. Neither club had formally named a Game 1 starter after Thursday’s Division Series clinchers, but both aces line up cleanly for the assignment.
The Brewers advanced with a 3-1 victory over San Diego, while the Dodgers finished off Atlanta, 4-1. Game 1 is scheduled for Sunday on FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One, and the likely starters would bring strikingly different paths to the same stage.
Two rested aces at the front of the series
Misiorowski worked only once against the Padres, pitching four innings and giving up two runs in the series opener. Skubal likewise made just one Division Series appearance, holding the Braves to one run over six innings in Game 1. With neither pitcher returning later in the round, both would be fully rested for Sunday.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the main alternative for the Dodgers, but he started Tuesday’s Game 3. Sending him out Sunday would put him on four days of rest, while a Monday Game 2 assignment would offer his usual recovery window.
That leaves Skubal positioned to take the ball for Los Angeles, even though he will not collect a third straight American League Cy Young Award. The Dodgers acquired him in a major trade during the season, and he finished with a 2.72 ERA across 26 starts. After joining Los Angeles, his ERA stood at 2.61.
The left-hander lost 44 days during the summer after surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, yet he showed little fallout once he returned. His first postseason outing for the Dodgers continued a strong October record built in Detroit: six playoff starts in 2024 and 2025, a 2.04 ERA, no outing shorter than six innings, and only one start in which he surrendered more than two runs.
Misiorowski’s breakout season changed the equation
Milwaukee has seen Misiorowski handle postseason pressure before, though his role was different a year ago. After a rough finish to the regular season, the Brewers used an opener ahead of him in his playoff debut. He still delivered three useful appearances, allowing one run in seven innings against the Cubs in the Division Series before fanning nine Dodgers over five innings while permitting one run in the NLCS.
This season, the 24-year-old right-hander has moved beyond promising. He led the Majors with a 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, a 0.80 WHIP and a .157 opponents’ batting average, a four-category dominance that placed his year among the game’s most remarkable pitching campaigns.
His fastball remains the headline weapon. Against San Diego, Misiorowski reached 104.8 mph and averaged 101.2 mph with his four-seamer. A Game 1 atmosphere against the Dodgers could add another layer to an already electric arsenal.
A heavyweight rematch begins at the mound
Milwaukee and Los Angeles are meeting again after their 2025 fight for the National League pennant, and this year’s clubs were the league’s top regular-season teams. The series already carries the weight of a familiar October rivalry.
The postseason has featured several notable pitching pairings, including Cam Schlittler against Payton Tolle, Chris Sale opposite Jesús Luzardo, Max Fried versus Sonny Gray, Gerrit Cole against Drew Rasmussen, and Yamamoto against Sale. But a Skubal-Misiorowski opener would be difficult to top: an established Cy Young-level lefty on one side, and a young flamethrower coming off a historic regular season on the other.
If the rotations fall as expected, the NLCS will not need long to find its first defining moment.
