The Tampa Bay Rays are four wins from something the organization has never had before, but the road runs straight through a Milwaukee Brewers team that has been winning all year.
This World Series brings together two clubs chasing the same first title. Milwaukee won 103 games in the regular season and then swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The Brewers enter as the favorite, but Tampa Bay has built a path here that gives it a real shot.
A lot of that starts on the mound. The Rays have leaned on their starters all postseason, and the results have been there.
Drew Rasmussen has given up just three earned runs in 21 postseason innings. Freddy Peralta was named ALCS MVP after allowing one earned run in 12 innings against Cleveland.
Now Nick Martinez gets the ball in Game 1 after posting a 3.10 ERA in the regular season.
That kind of work from the rotation matters even more because Milwaukee has made a habit of getting to the bullpen quickly and then making life miserable from there. If Tampa Bay can keep stacking six- and seven-inning outings, Kevin Cash gets more room to manage the late innings instead of patching them together early.
But the Rays can’t afford to waste chances against a Brewers bullpen that has been one of the best in baseball this October. Their best openings may come early, before Milwaukee can settle in and let its relievers take over.
Tampa Bay showed in the ALCS that it can make opposing pitchers labor, especially in Game 6 against Cleveland when it drew six walks and struck out only three times. That kind of approach will matter again, especially against Game 1 starter Jacob Misiorowski, who has been tough to hit but has not consistently gone deep into games.
If the Rays put runners in scoring position, they have to cash them in.
The offense also needs its biggest names to show up at the right time. Yandy Díaz finally delivered a huge swing in Game 6 against Cleveland, blasting a two-run homer in the eighth. Junior Caminero followed with his first postseason home run, a welcome sign for a player who hit 42 homers during the regular season.
Díaz has already earned a reputation as one of Tampa Bay’s most reliable postseason bats. If Caminero starts producing alongside him, the Rays’ lineup gets a lot harder to navigate. That’s the kind of one-two punch that can change how Milwaukee attacks the middle of the order.
Still, Tampa Bay cannot turn this into a two-man act. Richie Palacios came through with an important two-run double in Game 6 against Cleveland.
Victor Mesa Jr. has chipped in on both sides of the ball, and Chandler Simpson keeps creating chances with his speed. The Rays need that kind of support across the board if they want to keep pressure on Milwaukee.
Cash will have his own pressure points to sort through, too. The bullpen has been important all October, even with the starters carrying so much of the load.
Kevin Kelly got out of a bases-loaded jam with a key strikeout, and Bryan Baker closed things out in the ninth. Cam Booser, Kelly and Baker have all had big moments, and Cash has to choose carefully when to lean on them in high-stress spots against a dangerous Brewers lineup.
Tampa Bay has already shown it can win in different ways. If the rotation keeps dealing, the bats keep coming through in spots, and the bullpen choices hold up, the Rays have a legitimate chance to finish the job and celebrate their first World Series championship.
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 🡒]