World Series: Brewers' Record Rally Puts Rays One Loss From Elimination

Milwaukee fans traveling to Tampa Bay faced a simple reality on Monday night: if history holds, they may have witnessed the final game of a 56-year wait for a title. The Brewers defeated the Rays 10-1, scoring a World Series record eight runs in the fifth inning to take a 3-0 series lead. This puts the team one victory away from its first championship in franchise history.

The path to this lead began with a regular season that saw Milwaukee post an MLB-high 103 wins. The team carried that momentum into the postseason, winning its first 10 playoff games. In this series, the Brewers have outscored Tampa Bay 18-7 while hitting only one home run. This grind-it-out approach established a new postseason record with seven straight two-out hits during Monday's rally.

The decisive inning started against former Brewer Freddy Peralta, who was replaced by lefty Cam Booser with the bases loaded and two outs. Brice Turang grounded a ball past the glove of shortstop Taylor Walls for a two-run single. The Brewers followed with a string of hits, none of them home runs, to close the frame. Jackson Chourio led the offense with four hits, while William Contreras added three, bringing his postseason total to 18, a Milwaukee record.

Rookie left-hander Robert Gasser anchored the pitching staff with six shutout innings. He held the Rays to one hit and allowed the minimum number of batters faced. This performance lowered his postseason ERA to 0.60 over 15 innings and marked the first time a lefty has faced the minimum over at least six World Series innings since Sandy Koufax in 1965.

Brandon Woodruff, 33, made his first game appearance since injuring his shoulder on July 4. The longest-tenured player on the roster closed the ninth inning, getting the final three outs. He credited the team's resilience for reaching this point, noting that he had not played in a playoff game since 2021 until now.

Manager Pat Murphy cautioned that a three-game lead is not four. He noted that Tampa Bay is a capable team that competes hard in every pitch. The Rays, playing their first home World Series game since 2008, conceded that Milwaukee is simply playing better. Third baseman Junior Caminero said through an interpreter that the Brewers are doing what they need to do to win.

Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. If Milwaukee wins, it will join the 1976 Cincinnati Reds as the only teams to sweep both the league championship series and the World Series since the LCS became a best-of-seven format in 1985. All 25 teams to take a 3-0 lead in World Series history have gone on to win the title.