Dodgers Name Skubal vs Misiorowski for NLCS Game 1 Opener

The Los Angeles Dodgers will start two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal against Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski in Sunday’s National League Championship Series Game 1 at American Family Field, CBS Sports and FOX Sports reported ahead of the 8 p.m. ET FOX/FS1 opener.

Manager Dave Roberts framed the assignment as a tone-setter after Skubal’s first Dodgers postseason start. “It starts with Tarik setting the tone,” Roberts said Saturday, according to CBS Sports. “If we can put up a couple zeroes, catch a lead, then we can sort of build on that. I think that’s what we did a really good job of last year.” Skubal allowed one run on two hits over six innings with seven strikeouts in a 5-3 NLDS Game 1 win over Atlanta, FOX Sports noted.

Skubal, acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline while Milwaukee was also pursuing him, went 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 10 regular-season starts for Los Angeles after a 12-7, 2.72 overall mark, both outlets reported. He is 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA in four career starts versus the Brewers and has not allowed a home run against them in 25⅔ innings, CBS Sports said. That no-homer streak gives Los Angeles a concrete edge if Milwaukee’s lineup continues to hunt damage early in counts.

Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts) led the majors in ERA and strikeouts and is the NL Cy Young front-runner. He needed 88 pitches to complete four innings in NLDS Game 1 against San Diego but is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two regular-season starts versus Los Angeles, allowing one run in each six-inning outing with 18 strikeouts, CBS Sports reported. Across 17 innings against the Dodgers including last year’s NLCS relief outing, FOX Sports put his ERA at 1.59 with 27 strikeouts and three walks.

“He’s very impressive,” Skubal said of Misiorowski, per CBS Sports. “His ability to command pitches at that velocity consistently. He consistently gets ahead. He forces teams to beat him. He doesn’t really beat himself too many times when he’s out there.” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy added that facing Misiorowski once does not erase the difficulty: “Everything’s coming at you very fast. It’s big-time extension, big guy on the mound.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, last year’s World Series MVP, is lined up for Monday’s Game 2 after 10 strikeouts over seven innings in NLDS Game 3, FOX Sports added. Roberts said the club was still discussing whether to add a pitcher for the best-of-seven, which would require dropping a position player, with rosters due Sunday morning.

The Brewers host as the 103-win NL Central champions seeking to avenge last year’s NLCS sweep. Milwaukee eliminated San Diego in four NLDS games; the Dodgers beat Atlanta in four. Roberts said recent series history offers little carryover, calling Milwaukee “a really good ballclub” with “no secrets,” CBS Sports reported. Christian Yelich likewise told reporters that previous seasons “don’t really have any impact on the current one.”

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Verification: Game 1 starters Skubal vs Misiorowski, Roberts and Skubal quotes, Muncy and Yelich comments, regular-season and NLDS lines, Misiorowski ERA/K leadership and Dodgers history, Yamamoto Game 2 assignment, roster-deadline note and series context come from CBS Sports (Field Level Media, Oct. 10, 2026) and FOX Sports (Oct. 9, 2026; AP contributed).