Tucker, Muncy not starting against Chris Sale

Merrill is hitting second for the first time since late July as San Diego attempts to stave off elimination and begin climbing out of an 0-2 deficit as the best-of-five series shifts to Petco Park. It’ll be Ethan Salas handling the catching duties for the third time in five postseason contests with Gavin Sheets getting the nod at DH. Here’s the full lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Merrill (CF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Salas (C), Sheets (DH), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Dustin Harris (LF) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).

Espino gets the ball as Cleveland’s opener ahead of lefty Foster Griffin. The hard-throwing 25-year-old rookie posted a pedestrian 4.11 ERA across 15 1/3 regular-season innings. He was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball roughly a half-decade ago before shoulder issues derailed his career. He’ll be tasked with helping the Guardians stave off elimination at the hands of their upstart division rivals.

Acuña appeared to suffer the injury when he slid feet-first into second on a stolen base attempt during Game 2 in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old franchise cornerstone remains in Atlanta’s lineup at DH to face Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 3 at Truist Park on Wednesday evening. It’ll be Lane Thomas heading out to take his spot in right field. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern, but the Braves clearly aren’t going to take any chances by exposing him to additional wear and tear from a defensive standpoint that would jeopardize his availability moving forward in the postseason.

Ronald Acuña Jr. is dealing with right knee soreness following a pair of contests in Los Angeles to open the best-of-five series, which is why he’s been moved to DH with Murphy coming out of the lineup. It’ll be Lane Thomas heading out to patrol right field in his place. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern, but the Braves can’t really afford to take any chances with one of their key lineup cogs.

Newcomb will get the nod and likely go the first two innings or one time through the lineup, whichever comes first. The White Sox will likely go with a pure bullpen game as they look to clinch a trip to the ALCS for the first time since 2005

Ohtani has not looked great since coming off the injured list, as he has just one extra-base hit since his return and whiffed twice in the Game 2 loss. The 32-year-old superstar will still get a chance to hit in the middle of the lineup against Chris Sale, but this placement does remind that Ohtani is nowhere close to 100 percent right now.

With left-hander Chris Sale on the mound, the Dodgers will sit both Tommy Edman and Max Muncy and go with a right-heavy lineup. The Dodgers will also move Shohei Ohtani down to fifth in the lineup, as the reigning MVP has struggled in the first two games of action after returning from injury. The full lineup with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for Los Angeles: SS Mookie Betts, 1B Freddie Freeman, RF Teoscar Hernandez, C Will Smith, DH Ohtani, 2B Rojas, CF Andy Pages, RF Kyle Tucker and 3B Enrique Hernandez.

Kim was out of the lineup for Game 2 against the Dodgers, as they went with a left-handed heavy group against Blake Snell for that contest. Mauricio
Dubón moves to left field, and Lane Thomas will open the game on the bench. The full lineup for the pivotal third game against Yoshinobu Yamamoto: C Drake Baldwin, RF Ronald Acuña Jr. 1B Matt Olson, 2B Ozzie Albies, CF Michael Harris II, LF

Dubón, DH Sean Murphy, 3B Austin Riley and Kim at short with Chris Sale on the mound. It’s a small sample, but Kim has hit Yamamoto well; going 3-for-7 with a homer off him thus far.

Martinez was designated for assignment by the Red Sox in August. The 32-year-old has a 4.03 ERA in 145 MLB innings in his career, mostly spent with the Astros.

Miller played in just one game for the Cubs this season and had no plate appearances. He did hit .295/.345/.443 with seven home runs and 12 steals in 113 Triple-A games and will get a camp invite somewhere.