Dodgers vs Yankees 2026: Series Matchup Guide
Dodgers vs Yankees 2026 series at Yankee Stadium: pitching matchups, TV channels, records, injury updates, and 2024 World Series rematch context.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball's best team by record, returned to Yankee Stadium on July 17, 2026, to open a three-game series against the New York Yankees the same Bronx venue where they clinched the 2024 World Series less than two years ago.
The Matchup and What Is at Stake
The Dodgers arrived in New York at 61–36, the top record in the National League and the best mark in all of baseball entering the post-All-Star stretch. The Yankees stood at 54–42, second in the AL East behind the Tampa Bay Rays, still hunting a playoff position with half the season behind them.
For Los Angeles, this series carries the weight of defending back-to-back championships. The Dodgers won the 2024 World Series in five games, closing it at Yankee Stadium, then repeated as champions in 2025, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5–4 in eleven innings in Game 7. No club in baseball enters the second half with more to protect.
For New York, hosting the team that beat them on their own field for a championship title is its own kind of test. The Dodgers finished 2024 at 98–64 four wins better than the Yankees' 94–68 and still beat them in October. That gap between regular-season standing and postseason outcome is what makes this rivalry feel unresolved.
Game-by-Game Pitching Schedule
The three-game set follows a clear pitching rotation, all confirmed by MLB's official probable pitchers page:
Game | Date | Time (ET) | Dodgers Starter | Yankees Starter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | July 17 | 7:05 PM | Roki Sasaki (3–5, 5.33 ERA, 80 SO) | Gerrit Cole (3–4, 4.04 ERA, 47 SO) |
2 | July 18 | 8:08 PM | Emmet Sheehan (4–6, 4.81 ERA, 93 SO) | Ryan Weathers (3–7, 4.15 ERA, 110 SO) |
3 | July 19 | 7:20 PM | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9–6, 2.85 ERA, 106 SO) | Cam Schlittler (9–5, 2.05 ERA, 137 SO) |
Game 3 on Sunday is the mouthwatering one. Yamamoto 9–6 with a 2.85 ERA and a strikeout total that ranks among the NL's best faces Schlittler, whose 2.05 ERA places him among the sharpest arms in the American League this season. Two number-one-calibre starters on the same mound, on the same night, at the same venue where the 2024 World Series ended. It would be the marquee game of any series.
Game 1 is harder to read on paper. Sasaki comes in at 3–5 with a 5.33 ERA, a rough season by any standard, though his 80 strikeouts over the same span show the raw ability is present. Cole's 4.04 ERA is steadier, and the Yankees will need his performance to set the tone for the hosts over three nights.
Where to Watch
Game 1 airs on SportsNet LA for Dodgers viewers and YES Network for Yankees fans. Game 2 on July 18 is exclusively on FOX. Game 3 on Sunday, July 19 is on NBC and Peacock. MLB's official schedule page carries the full broadcast listings. Regional restrictions apply depending on zip code and streaming provider. MLB.TV subscribers outside local broadcast markets can stream games not subject to national blackout rules through the app, local viewers in the Dodgers' and Yankees' home markets will need their regional carriers.
Viewers in India can follow Game 1 live at 4:35 AM IST on July 18.
Injury Context: Judge, Ohtani, and the Names That Aren't in the Lineup
The most consequential absence entering this series is Aaron Judge. According to MLB.com's reporting on Judge's status, the Yankees captain has a right-side first-rib stress fracture and has not been cleared to resume baseball activities. Manager Aaron Boone said last week that Judge is still "a couple weeks" from reimaging, an August return appears the most realistic outcome. Losing him the Yankees' most productive hitter through the first two months of the season, with 17 home runs and 38 RBIs before the injury reshapes New York's offensive ceiling for any high-stakes series, and this one qualifies.
The Yankees are also managing updates on Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, and Giancarlo Stanton, all of whom appear on the official MLB injury report.
On the Dodgers' side, Shohei Ohtani had fluid drained from his left knee after the final pre-All-Star game against Arizona and is not listed in the pitching rotation for any of the three games in New York. He is in the lineup as a designated hitter. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed Friday that Ohtani is likely to make his next pitching start Wednesday at Philadelphia, though that timetable remains subject to how he responds in the coming days. Ohtani had been the most dangerous bat in Dodgers baseball, including a 432-foot three-run homer against the Athletics in late June. Will Smith, Blake Snell, Edwin Díaz, and Kiké Hernández also have injury updates, making the Dodgers' bullpen and bench management a genuine storyline through the three games.
The 2024 World Series Connection
This series at Yankee Stadium carries a specific historical echo. On October 30, 2024, the Dodgers came to the Bronx for Game 5 of the World Series and won 7–6 to claim the title on the Yankees' home turf. Gerrit Cole listed as the Game 1 starter in this July series was on the mound for that series, and he knows what it means to face these Dodgers in a game with consequences attached.
The last time these two franchises shared a playoff series before 2024 was 1981 a 43-year gap that underscores how rare these October meetings have been. The matchup now returning in July, at the same park, gives this series a texture that most mid-season games simply do not carry.
Schlittler vs Yamamoto Is the Game of the Series
Everything about the Sunday finale points toward the highest-quality pitching duel of the three nights. Cam Schlittler's 2.05 ERA over a 9–5 season is not a fluke, his 137 strikeouts put him second in the American League behind Toronto's Dylan Cease (148), a tight race that has defined the AL Cy Young conversation all summer. Yamamoto, at 9–6 with a 2.85 ERA, has been the most consistent starter the Dodgers have deployed all year, and his strikeout-per-inning rate makes him credibly dangerous against any lineup in baseball.
Two starters are posting ERA marks below three in a ballpark with a direct line to World Series history, and both teams need the second-half momentum that a series win delivers. That's the game to watch.
What Happens After This Series
The Yankees follow this three-game set with a home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting July 20. The Dodgers head to Philadelphia for a three-game series against the Phillies starting that same day the middle leg of a nine-game road trip that also includes three games at the Mets.
Winning two of three here would mean different things to each side. For New York, it would reframe the narrative around a team playing without its best hitter and still competing against the sport's defending champions. For Los Angeles, holding serve in the Bronx against a hungry Yankees roster is the kind of evidence that accumulates over a full season.
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