Junior Caminero made his frustration clear as the Rays watched a 4-0 cushion slip away against the Brewers in Game 2 of the World Series.
The outburst came after the bottom of the sixth inning, when Chandler Simpson let a fly ball glance off his glove and hit the left-field turf. Christian Yelich’s fly ball should have ended the inning, but instead it left runners on first and third and pushed Tampa Bay to a pitching change. The play was scored a single and did not directly bring in a run, but it added to a rough defensive night for the Rays.
By then, the damage was already spreading. Tampa Bay’s defense, just as much as its pitching, had helped turn a 4-0 lead into a 4-4 game by the seventh inning.
Jonathan Aranda had already played a part in the unraveling. In the fourth inning, he committed an error on a routine ground ball with a runner on third base, allowing a run to score.
Earlier, in the first inning, Aranda dropped a foul pop-up off the bat of William Contreras. Contreras later lined an opposite-field single in the same at-bat, and Milwaukee picked up its first run.
That sequence fit the Brewers’ larger pattern. They had already won Game 1 of the best-of-seven World Series on Saturday, and Tampa Bay’s early lead was no guarantee of anything.
Milwaukee has been here before, too. The Dodgers led the Brewers in every game of the National League Championship Series, and the Brewers still swept that series in four games.
In Other News...
Rays Let World Series Opener Slip After Ninth-Inning Rally
Milwaukee set the tone early and never quite let Tampa Bay fully settle into the opener, cashing in for two runs in the first inning before adding another in the seventh. Jacob Misiorowski was at the center of it all, working five innings and allowing just one run in a 78-pitch outing that gave the Brewers a sturdy start in their 3-2 win. The Rays answered with a run in the fourth and then mounted a push late, but the early hole left them having to chase the game all night.
Tampa Bay finally made things interesting in the ninth with a rally that brought the pressure right to the doorstep of the series opener. Trevor Megill was the one who closed the door for Milwaukee, and the Rays are left to sort through a missed chance after getting within striking distance in the final inning. Misiorowski, meanwhile, also delivered the kind of headline pitch that can linger in a World Series opener, even before the final frame settled the result. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Rotation Reset Could Depend On One Costly October-Proven Arm
San Diegos rotation issues have already pushed the Padres toward a winter of hard decisions, with the bullpen carrying too much of the load and a chunk of their potential free agents coming from the starting staff. Seven of their 17 possible free agents are starters, which makes the search for innings an obvious part of the conversation as they try to rebuild a group that can hold up over a full season.
One name that has surfaced in that orbit is Freddy Peralta, the Tampa Bay Rays right-hander whose October work only added to his appeal. He was excellent in the postseason, covering 16.2 innings with a 1.08 ERA and taking home ALCS MVP honors, but any run at a pitcher with that kind of rsum would come with a steep price tag, and for now it remains more of a speculative fit than a concrete move. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Got One Last World Series Lifeline Before It Slipped Away
For a brief moment in Game 1 at American Family Field, the Rays found the door cracked open in a game that already felt like it was slipping away. Milwaukee had a potential game-ending double play in hand late, only for Tampa Bay to challenge the call and get a reprieve when replay showed Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt had not quite stayed on the bag.
The extra breath did not turn into a turnaround. Tampa Bay still needed to make the most of one final lifeline, and Milwaukees closer made sure it never became a full-blown rally, finishing the night with a strikeout of Jonny DeLuca to close it out. For the Rays, it was the kind of instant replay swing that can briefly change the mood without changing the result. [Read more 🡒]