After an off-day on Monday, the two National League Division Series enter Game 3 at critical, if differing, pivot points on Tuesday.

The Braves knotted their series at one game apiece and grabbed home-field advantage from the Dodgers, who have now lost as many games in the NL playoffs as they did all of last season, and Atlanta now gets to put its well-rested ace, Chris Sale, on the mound (albeit against the reigning World Series MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto). Meanwhile, the Brewers won an all-time great game against the Padres, giving them a chance to sweep San Diego and reach their fourth NLCS and second in the past three years.

Here is one storyline for each NLDS club entering Game 3.

Dodgers at Braves (series tied 1-1)
6 p.m. ET on FS1
SP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD) vs. Chris Sale (ATL)

Will Sale make Weiss’ decision look smarter?

For all the warranted praise being heaped upon Ray Kerr and Atlanta's bullpen, Braves manager Walt Weiss put himself in the crosshairs by not starting Sale in Game 2 of NLDS. His reasoning made some sense: Sale hadn’t started on four days’ rest in months, and tossed 1 1/3 innings to close out the NL Wild Card Series vs. the Phillies on Oct. 1. Nonetheless, if the Braves’ relievers had gone out and gotten shelled, everyone would be pointing to it.

Instead, the Braves now get Sale wholly rested after six days off, heading into a showdown against Yamamoto. Sale’s career postseason ERA is an ugly 5.83, but the 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner is more than capable of producing the dominant performance Weiss has set him up for. If Weiss’ decision to sit Sale for Game 2 pays off, it will burnish his reputation among Braves fans, and could put Atlanta one win away from reaching the NLCS.

Will we get a Shohei moment?

Last postseason, Shohei Ohtani authored maybe the best baseball game in the history of the sport when he struck out 10 against the Brewers and hit three homers in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Brewers. Ten days later, he homered twice and reached base nine times in an 18-inning Game 3 of the World Series. Since then, though, Ohtani has been quiet in the postseason. Over the final four games of the 2025 World Series and the first two games of the 2026 NLDS, he’s 5-for-23 with only one extra-base hit (a double), three walks and a .569 OPS.

This has obviously been a more trying season -- or at least a trying few months -- for Ohtani. He last pitched on July 3, and posted a .772 OPS after struggling with injuries in the second half. But he's still Ohtani. He likely will still finish second in the NL MVP voting, and he may very well leave his mark on this series and postseason. All it takes is one swing to change things, and the Dodgers could use one of those signature Ohtani moments right about now.

Brewers at Padres (MIL leads series 2-0)
9:30 p.m. ET, FS1
SP: Dustin May (MIL) vs. Nick Pivetta (SD)

Is Jackson Chourio the chosen one?

Chourio made his MLB debut on March 29, 2024, just 18 days after his 20th birthday. He joined a franchise that had won only two postseason series in the last 41 years -- their only World Series appearance was 22 years before he was born -- and had won 90 games only nine times in its 55-year history. It has now done so in each of Chourio’s three seasons.

As noted by baseball writer Joe Sheehan, Chourio already has put up more fWAR (per FanGraphs) through his age-22 season than Barry Bonds and Robin Yount. He’s already the franchise’s leader in career postseason home runs with five, and he’s only one behind Ryan Braun (16 RBIs) for the lead in postseason RBIs. His walk-off single against Padres All-Star closer Mason Miller in Game 2 is already one of the most revered October moments in Brewers history, but Chourio has a chance to make that just the start. The Brewers are in the midst of the most successful era of their franchise, but it has been supercharged since Chourio arrived. He had his signature moment, but Chourio has the chance to have a lot more.

Can the Padres pull themselves up off the mat?

If you watched the Padres trounce the Cubs in two games last week to win the NL Wild Card Series, it's fairly shocking that they’re down 2-0 in the NLDS just days later, especially since everything lined up for them in Game 2 of the NLDS. The Brewers made a bunch of uncharacteristic errors, while Padres pitchers Michael King, Yuki Matsui and Bradgley Rodriguez were shutting down Milwaukee's offense. Best of all, San Diego had Miller -- whom it's relied on all season -- set up for his first two-inning save of the year, thanks to him sitting in Game 1.

It’s certainly not like Miller looked tired or anything: His 38th pitch of the night was a 103.5 mph heater to Chourio. But his 40th and final pitch of the game was “only” 101.3 mph, getting too much of the plate, and Chourio sprayed it for a game-winning two-run single. The Padres went from being one strike away from securing home-field advantage with the series heading to San Diego to being down 2-0. We’ve seen teams crumble from less, but this Padres club has already proven resilient, and Pivetta, who had a 1.64 ERA since being reinstated from the IL on Sept. 7, is the guy you want on the mound in an elimination game. Don’t count San Diego out just yet.