Trying to patch together a rotation for the stretch drive, the Los Angeles Dodgers will bring right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto back from his injury rehab in order to face the visiting Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Yamamoto is set to square off against fellow Japan native Shota Imanaga in the middle contest of a three-game series. In addition, each team has an offensive star from Japan, the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and the Cubs' Seiya Suzuki.
"Certainly in Japan, people are going to be tuned in and excited," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who also is of Japanese descent. "It should be a good crowd again and we expect a good performance."
Yamamoto (6-2, 2.92 ERA) has been out for just shy of three months due to a right rotator cuff strain. He made 14 starts to begin his historic 12-year, $325 million contract before going on the injured list.
Yamamoto threw 53 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sept. 3 but lasted just two innings, in part due to a 17-pitch at-bat against Omar Narvaez that ended with a walk. A more efficient outing Tuesday could take him through at least four innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.
"Obviously I'm not going to pitch 100 (pitches on Tuesday), but even if the last was a very short outing, I am ready," Yamamoto said through an interpreter.
In his third start for the Dodgers on April 6, Yamamoto faced the Cubs and gave up three hits while striking out eight over five scoreless innings to earn his first major league win.
The Cubs (74-70) were in complete control in the series opener on Monday, earning a 10-4 victory. The Dodgers (86-58) did get the 47th stolen base of the season from Ohtani, who also has 46 home runs. He has 18 games to complete the first 50-50 season in MLB history.
The Cubs are trying to keep their faint playoff hopes alive but have won just three of their past seven games.
Imanaga (12-3, 2.99 ERA) is coming off his best outing of the season, when the left-hander delivered seven no-hit innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday in a 12-0 victory. Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge followed with one inning apiece to close out the fourth no-hitter of the season in the majors.
The Cubs went 9-1 through Sept. 1 to get back into playoff contention, but they followed that run by losing four of five. The lone victory in that stretch was the no-no.
Chicago rode the performance of a pair of former Dodgers in the Monday victory, as Cody Bellinger and Michael Busch each had a home run and three RBIs. Busch finished the game with four hits to match a career high, which he first achieved on July 9 against the Baltimore Orioles.
"It always feels good coming back. I have a lot of good memories here," Bellinger said on the Marquee Sports Network.
The Cubs have averaged 4.0 runs per game in 71 home games and 5.1 runs in 73 road games.
"We're raking on the road," Belling said. "We have two more here and we go off to Colorado. Hopefully we can keep it going."
Three runs in the first inning for Chicago on Monday were one more than the team scored in a three-game home series against the New York Yankees over the weekend.
