The turning point in Monday night’s Game 3 came with two outs in the fifth, and it started with a decision Junior Caminero had already made before William Contreras even put the ball in play.
With the Tampa Bay Rays trailing 2-0 and runners on first and second, Contreras rolled a grounder to Caminero’s left. The third baseman handled it cleanly, then tried to get Christian Yelich at second for what looked like an inning-ending force out. Yelich was originally ruled out, but the call was later overturned, and Milwaukee stayed alive with the bases loaded.
After review, Junior Caminero's throw doesn't make it to second in time and the Brewers have the bases loaded with two outs pic.twitter.com/QZWy3k9GPG
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 27, 2026
Brice Turang made the Rays pay right away, following with a two-RBI single. From there, the inning blew open. The Brewers ended up scoring eight runs in the fifth and pushed the game to a 10-0 lead on the way to a 10-1 win.
After the game, Caminero explained the thinking behind his throw, according to Mark Skol Jr. of FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
“Yeah, I already had in mind going to second base,” Caminero told reporters. “I knew the speed at first base wasn't necessarily the best in that situation, so going into the moment I was, you know, once I got the ground ball I was going to second base all the way.”
It’s not a hard choice to understand. The ball was carrying him toward second, and the play was there. Still, that one sequence will linger for Rays fans, because it opened the door to the kind of inning that can wreck a game - and, in this case, put Tampa Bay in a 3-0 hole in the World Series.
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