Category: Baseball

Is there going to be any meat left in the Great Lakes region when Payton Tolle leaves? After tailgating with Brewers fans yesterday, Tolle joined Miguel Rojas in eating what appears to be a giant beef short rib. The Midwest, ladies and gentlemen.

In on-field news, the Rays will attempt to even the series behind Drew Rasmussen, who has basically been an automatic win for Tampa for the past few months. But Logan Henderson and his sub-3 2026 ERA will be leading the Brew Crew.

Coverage begins at 8 PM on FOX, with first pitch shortly thereafter.

Game one of the World Series was fun to watch (though I watched at a bar, so anything would have been fun). Close games are more fun.

I’m out most of the night, so I’m missing this one.

I’d like a seven series.

Game one of the 2026 World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers was great baseball. Aside from the fact that it features new blood with two teams searching for their first title, the first showdown was neck and neck.

Milwaukee jumped out to an early two-run lead in the first, but the Rays wouldn’t back down, cutting into the lead in the fourth inning. The Brewers added an insurance run in the seventh and needed to withstand a ninth inning rally attempt to secure the first win.

On paper, tonight’s matchup should be a great one, too. It’s shaping up to be another close, low-scoring battle behind a stellar pitching matchup.

Tampa Bay will look to even the series behind Drew Rasmussen. The pitcher carries a perfect 2-0 record across three starts this Fall. He posted a masterclass against the New York Yankees in the ALDS, going eight scoreless innings with just one hit surrendered, alongside 10 strikeouts. He looked sharp in his two ALCS outings against the Cleveland Guardians, as well, giving up three total runs across two games, with plenty of strikeouts in each.

Taking the mound for Milwaukee is righty Logan Henderson. Henderson posted a very strong regular season, going 11-3 in 18 starts with a 2.47 ERA and a 0.844 WHIP, tossing 110 strikeouts in 98.1 innings. He hasn’t logged a win yet this postseason, but posted two solid games nonetheless. He held the San Diego Padres offense to just two hits and two runs in five innings of work in the NLDS and allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers three hits and four runs (only two earned) in the NLCS.

The Rays are making a few tweaks to the lineup today, swapping out Ben Williamson for Richie Palacios at second base and shuffling around the bottom of the batting order. The Brewers are rolling out the same batting order they used in game one. Despite a low-scoring affair, the team logged eight hits with strong performances from Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, and Christian Yelich.

We’ve got all the makings of another classic in the Fall Classic. Enjoy!

Tampa Bay Rays (0-1) at Milwaukee Brewers (1-0) – 6:00 PM MDT

Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Rasmussen (2-0, 1.29 postseason ERA) vs. RHP Logan Henderson (0-0, 3.00 postseason ERA)

SB Nation sites:DRaysBay | Brew Crew Ball

Radio: ESPN Radio

TV: FOX

Lineups:

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Tampa Bay Rays (0-1) at Milwaukee Brewers (1-0)

Time/Place: 8:00 p.m. ET, American Family Field, Milwaukee WI

Broadcast: FOX

SB Nation Sites: DRaysBay/Brew Crew Ball

Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Rasmussen vs. RHP Logan Henderson

Losing the Nick Martinez vs. Jacob Misiorowski matchup in Game 1 isn’t the end of the world for the Rays. With their ace on the mound, Game 2 is a lot closer to a crucial game to win, but Logan Henderson is a tough opponent. The difference in Game 1 was partly the Rays running into several outs on the basepaths with runners in scoring position. This still feels like a very evenly matched series. We’ll see if the Rays can get back into to even in the series before it moves to Tampa Bay for games 3-5.

Last night, the Milwaukee Brewers began their first World Series appearance in 44 years with a highly-dramatic 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the best-of-seven championship series.

Trailing by two runs entering the top of the ninth inning, the Rays pulled within a run against Brewers closer Trevor Megill after Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt failed to keep his foot on second base on what would have been a game-ending double play. Megill rebounded to strike out the next hitter with the tying run 90 feet away.

These two small-market powerhouses will meet again tonight in Game 2 of the Fall Classic. The Brewers will look to take a 2-0 series lead, while the Rays aim to even the series before heading home.

Rays at Brewers (5:00 PST)

After their late-game rally fell just short yesterday, the Rays will turn to their ace to start Game 2. 31-year-old right-hander Drew Rasmussen (16-5, 2.67 ERA) will face the team that drafted him and gave him his major league debut.

Rasmussen spent 2020 and the beginning of 2021 with Milwaukee before being traded to Tampa Bay in exchange for shortstop Willy Adames. Facing his former team, Rasmussen could have extra motivation this evening. The right-hander enters his fourth start of the postseason with a 2-0 record, a 1.29 ERA, a 0.76 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 21 innings. He will look to deliver another quality start in a game where runs could be at a premium.

Here’s how the Rays are lining up for this one:

Right-hander Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) will start for the Brew Crew. The 24-year-old’s excellent first full major league season largely flew under the radar due to fellow starter Jacob Misiorowski’s stellar campaign.

Pitching in his first postseason, Henderson has handled the bright lights and national spotlight well. However, in his lone NLCS start, he struggled to make accurate throws to first base, giving the Rays an incentive to lay down some bunts to test his fielding ability. The Brewers have won every game he’s started at American Family Field. Will that streak continue tonight, or will he falter in the biggest start of his young career?

And the Brewers’ starting nine:

One of these teams is going to be a game closer to their first championship. Who takes Game 2 of the World Series tonight?

The Brewers put their ace on the mound to start Game 1 and still had to survive a replay review in the ninth inning going against them to hold on to a one-run win.

I still look for this to be a competitive series, especially with the Rays throwing their ace this evening.

7 p.m. CT: Rays at Brewers (Brewers lead series 1-0)

TV: Fox-TV, Fox One (streaming). Announcers: Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci.

Drew Rasmussen, RHP vs. Logan Henderson, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

Tonight is Game 2 of the World Series.

It will be played in Milwaukee. The Brewers won the first game.

Drew Rasmussen of the Rays goes up against Logan Henderson of the Brew Crew.

It is a 7:00 p.m. Central start time on Fox. Talk about it here.

Former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez turned in an excellent outing for the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night at American Family Field against the juggernaut Milwaukee Brewers and fireballer Jacob Misiorowski. It’s just that the Brewers got to him a little too much right off the bat and the rest of the elite Brewers relief corps was good enough to hold on for a 3-2 win in a Game 1 that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

On Saturday night, the Beers will roll out righty Logan Henderson in an attempt at seizing a commanding 2-0 lead while Tampa will counter with veteran righty Drew Rasmussen, who has been virtually unhittable so far in the postseason (21.0 IP, 1.76 ERA, 0.76 WHIP).

Gametime is slated for just after 8:00 PM ET once again in the confines formerly known as Miller Park, and FOX once again has their C- broadcast crew on-scene.

Here’s how both clubs will line up to begin things:

The Brewers managed to hang on for a thrilling Game 1 victory, but now they will ask Logan Henderson to match up with the Rays’ ace, Drew Rasmussen. The Brewers haven’t lost a home start with Henderson on the mound in a long while, but the Rays have got to be heavily incentivized to make sure they’re not heading back to St. Petersburg with a 2-0 deficit to overcome.

Lineups

Five years ago, Logan Henderson was pitching at McLennan Community College in Texas. Now, he's starting Game 2 of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field.

The Milwaukee Brewers' right-hander has earned the start. He went 11-3 this season with a 2.47 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings. Hitters managed just 0.84 walks and hits per inning against him.

Even better for Milwaukee fans, Henderson has never lost a start at American Family Field and the Brewers have never lost a game he has started there. He is 8-0 in 10 starts at home. The Brewers are 10-0 in his starts there in the regular season and 2-0 in the postseason.

Giancarlo Stanton’s mind has consistently said one thing, his body another. 

Whether the two will finally match up again to allow him to be any kind of contributor for the Yankees in 2027, though, remains very much in question, setting up a $15 million decision. 

After three separate calf strains sidelined him for five-plus months and relegated him to a pair of pinch-hit at-bats in October, the soon-to-be 37-year-old DH entered the offseason healthy. That is the only bit of certainty the Yankees have involving Stanton, whose body continues to betray him late in his potential Hall of Fame career. 

“It destroyed him that he wasn’t available to us to try to help us and impact us in a positive way for most of the run this year,” general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this week. “He continued to fight through it, as someone who is wired right should. He is wired right. His leadership in there [the clubhouse] is not in question. His care factor is not in question. It’s just keeping him on the field so he can help us in that win column — it was a huge problem for us especially in 2026.” 

Regardless of what happens, the Yankees owe Stanton $15 million in 2027 (with the Marlins paying the other $10 million of his $25 million salary), which is why it makes little sense to cut him now. They have sufficient room on their 40-man roster to get to work this offseason without having to worry about a crunch just yet. 

So whenever spring training actually begins, depending on the looming lockout, Stanton figures to at least have a chance to report to camp and show the Yankees what he has left. But once that happens, then the clock might start ticking louder. 

The way the Yankees are currently constructed, assuming health, there may not be a whole lot of DH at-bats up for grabs even if Stanton is physically able. In his absence this season, Ben Rice essentially became a full-time DH, especially after the Yankees acquired Luis García Jr. at the trade deadline. García has another year left on his contract, and while the Yankees have teased possibly reintroducing some second base to him, that would likely only be a part-time solution instead of any kind of permanent move. 

Even if García does play second occasionally and Rice can improve his defense at first base, Aaron Judge may need to start getting more DH days, meaning another potential roadblock for Stanton at-bats. 

Of course, all of that banks on him being healthy in the first place, which has proven difficult. His calves limited him to 96 plate appearances in 24 games this year. Last season, his elbows (a problem that isn’t going away) limited him to 281 plate appearances in 77 games. 

“Obviously we know what he’s capable of when he is healthy,” Cashman said. “We look forward to seeing if we can deploy a healthy version of him next year. But obviously that DH spot is also available or up for grabs as well, for other people that could benefit from it at the same time. We’ll have those conversations. But I can tell you this … G’s a very accountable, responsible, wired correctly professional athlete.” 

That much has never been in doubt. Throughout the ups and downs of his Yankees tenure, Stanton has been one of the most respected and important voices in the clubhouse. He continued that this season despite being hurt for most of it, but the Yankees missed the threat of his right-handed bat in the middle of the order — still a presence, as his half a season in 2025 (he hit .273 with a .944 OPS and 24 home runs) reminded. 

“I know it was a very tough year for Giancarlo, from the soft-tissue stuff and lower-body stuff, and that pains him because … Big G is wired right and he cares immensely and does all he can to take care of his body as best he can,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So we’ll see. We’ll see as the winter unfolds, we’ll see what the roster looks like when we get to Tampa and we go back at it. But it’s impossible to know exactly what that looks like right now.”

The World Series started with a bang last night, as the Brewers escaped with a close victory despite a ninth-inning rally (and some favorable umpiring) that led to the first run allowed in Trevor Megill’s postseason. See postgame comments from both managers and several of the key players in our Brewers Notes, here.

Don’t expect things to get any easier today. After the somewhat controversial decision to go with number-three starter Nick Martinez in Game 1, the Rays will send ace Drew Rasmussen, who has been the best starting pitcher in these playoffs, to the mound in Game 2 with an extra day of rest. Milwaukee will counter with Logan Henderson.

Rasmussen, the 31-year-old right-hander, has made three starts this postseason. In the first, he dominated the Yankees: eight innings, 10 strikeouts, one hit, two walks, no runs in a 1-0 victory. He pitched twice in the ALCS, first in a game in which he allowed just two runs (both solo homers) in six innings but lost, and a win in Game 5 when he went seven innings, struck out six, and allowed one run. Overall this postseason he’s averaging seven innings per start, has 23 strikeouts to just three walks, and has a 1.29 ERA and 2.58 FIP.

That postseason success follows a season that could see him finish in the top five in AL Cy Young voting. Rasmussen went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA, 2.82 FIP, and league-leading marks in WHIP (0.913) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.44). Like Martinez, Rasmussen is one of the best pitchers in the league at limiting walks (just 1.7 per nine), so it’s a bit of an “unstoppable force, immovable object” situation with Milwaukee’s ultra patient lineup.

Folks will also remember that Rasmussen was, briefly, a Brewer. Milwaukee drafted him in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, and he debuted with the team in 2020. On May 21st, 2021, Rasmussen was the key piece going back to Tampa in one of the more consequential trades of the Brewers’ recent past, the swap that brought Willy Adames to Milwaukee. Rasmussen emerging into an ace over the last couple of years makes that sting a bit. But Adames is very popular franchise figure who gave the Brewers three-and-a-half very good seasons, and the Brewers were also compensated with the draft pick that turned into Brady Ebel, so it seems to be one of those trades that worked out for both sides.

For the Brewers, Henderson makes his third start of the postseason. Things haven’t been quite as easy for him in the playoffs as they were during the regular season, but his teammates (and his own defense) haven’t exactly picked him up; Henderson has allowed six runs over two postseason starts, but only three were earned. In five innings against the Padres, Henderson allowed just two hits but uncharacteristically walked three en route to two runs, one earned in a game that the Brewers won 4-3. In Game 2 of the NLCS against Los Angeles, Henderson went four innings, walked two, allowed three hits, and gave up four runs, though only two were earned. Milwaukee was resilient in that game and won 7-4.

We’re still waiting to see the best version of Henderson, the one who went 11-3 with a 2.47 ERA during the regular season. That pitcher matched Rasmussen’s sparkling 1.7 BB/9 and struck out batters at a higher rate, giving him a K:BB ratio (5.79) that bested even the Tampa ace’s American-League-leading mark. Brewers fans will also be hoping that Henderson didn’t get into his own head after two bad throws to first handed the Dodgers a pair of runs in the NLCS; I wouldn’t be surprised if Chandler Simpson checked on Henderson’s confidence in his throwing arm during his first at-bat tonight.

In a bit of a surprise (only because they almost never did this during the regular season), the Brewers are rolling out the same lineup tonight against Rasmussen as they did yesterday versus Nick Martinez, with Jackson Chourio leading off, followed by Jake Bauers, Christian yelich, William Contreras, Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Cooper Pratt, Sal Frelick, and David Hamilton. The Rays made a change at second base, where Richie Palacios, who is batting .364 in the postseason, enters the lineup in place of Ben Williamson.

First pitch is around 7:15pm on Fox, with pregame coverage starting at 6pm. Of course, you can always find the game on the Brewers Radio Network.

2026 stats: .324/ .360/ .440, 121 wRC+, 10 FRV, 3.8 fWARover105 G, 464 PA w/Giants.

Luis Arráez was arguably the best thing about the San Francisco Giants 2026 season. The best because it was so unexpected. The best because there are so few good options to choose from.

Luis Arráez’s freakish bat-to-ball skills in an era of swing-and-miss offense has set him apart from his peers, giving him a certain sheen that some teams can’t resist. We’ve known his name since he emerged his rookie year in 2019 because he’s different. He’s been elected to four All-Star teams in the past five years because isn’t that how you treat players who hit pitches without fail?

The point of baseball is to hit the baseball. As much as that essential truth has been flat-out refuted and refused by slug-hungry analysts, it’s hard to get around the fact that hitters need to hit. It’s right there in the name. Arráez is a hitter. Thanks to this unique skillset became a continent-traversing hired gun. An outsider. A man from a different era, maintaining his relevancy because a high-average, zero-power hitter has always been relevant. The Twins traded him to Miami in January of 2023. The Marlins traded him to San Diego in May of 2024. Two leagues, three coasts (if we count lakes), three different time-zones, and three batting titles. Each move he’s flown first class with his bat swaddled in the seat next to him. But tossed unceremoniously in with the other luggage, stuffed in the plane’s cargo hold like a dark secret — Arráez’s glove.     

Going into the 2026 season, Arráez had a career -54 Fielding Run Value. His best defensive season according to that metric (excluding the shortened 2020 season) was the 2021 season with the Twins when he logged more innings at third than second and patrolled left field for more than 100 innings. Across those three positions he accrued a -4 Run Value. The year he won his first batting title in 2022 his FRV dropped to -5.

In Miami, primarily at second base, his FRV fell to an untenable -11. He only hit 10 homers. Two numbers that aren’t directly related, but illustrative. Generally if you allow runs because of your glove, it’s nice to balance things out by scoring runs with your bat. That’s not Arráez. 2024 was split between Miami and San Diego, second base and first, and again he posted a dismal -11 FRV. He knocked just four dingers.

San Diego kept Arráez tethered to first base in 2025 and even with him tucked in the corner, he once again accrued a -11 FRV while hitting just 8 homers. He also fell off the batting average pedestal for the first time since 2021. The fall wasn’t far. His .292 average ranked fourth in the league, but slipping below .300 number is never a good look for a supposed batting champion. His 104  wRC+ in 2025, essentially league average, was the lowest of his career, as was his 0.9 fWAR. 

The timing was awful considering the well-traveled Arráez was entering into free agency for the first time. He had just posted a -33 FRV in three years. He couldn’t play the field. He couldn’t hit for power. He was too good at making contact to walk. On top of that his bat appeared to be splintering.  No wonder he sat on the shelf for most of the winter. Even Buster Posey, with his old-school love of batting average and low-K rates, seemed reluctant to dig this can of lima beans from the pantry. But by the end of January, options for filling the perceived hole at second base were limited. Arráez was certainly not the second base solution fans envisioned. Brady put words to what many of us were feeling when the news broke of the one-year, $12 million deal. 

Posey took a swing. A swing he really didn’t have to make. A swing better described as a lunge, a reflexive hack at a pitch in the dirt — but not only did he make contact, the baseball found a hole.

Luis Arráez was unexpectedly good in 2026. Good measured against himself, and good measured against his adjacent peers. While the rest of the Giants’ lineup taxied on the runway at the start of the season, Arráez took off. His monthly splits climbed from .324 in April, to .340 in May, to .354 in June. Similarly his slugging skipped skyward as well, from .394 to .490 to .536.   

By the end of June, Luis Arráez led the team with a .331 batting average, 15 points above Jung Hoo Lee. His .836 OPS was second to Bryce Eldridge’s .841, and 30 points above breakout star Casey Schmitt, as well as 75 points, 100 points higher than club core of Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Heliot Ramos and Matt Chapman.

His plate appearances became a drink of cool water for parched fans. Posey was right — it was fun to see basehits. But it wasn’t just the dinks and doinks, it was the expressiveness of his at-bats. An Arráez plate appearance was a sensory experience from start to finish. Hitting was a dance with the pitcher, the opposite of Buster ball with his khaki stoicism. He’d often take a first pitch without breaking eye-contact with the pitcher. Sometimes he’d taunt a ball he knew was off the plate, guiding it into the catcher’s glove before doing a  little tango step and shoulder-shimmy in the box. His bat was a conductor’s baton, a shovel, a rapier. He parried away pitches, yipped at foul balls, bat-flipped singles. He invited two-strike counts, batting a MLB-leading .299 with his back against the wall while striking out just 8.8% of the time. The next lowest K-percentage in two-strike counts was Nico Hoerner’s 18.5%. Willy Adames saw a third strike nearly 50% of the time. 2026 was the fifth time in his career that his walk rate was higher than his strikeout rate. His 20 at-bats-per-strikeout was the third highest rate for a Giant in the San Francisco era (min. 300 PA). 

Despite leaving at the trade deadline, two months prior to the end of the season, Arráez ended the year leading all Giants players with a 3.8 fWAR.

That 3.8 mark is the best of his career because this season was by far his best all-around year. The aforementioned offensive numbers weren’t surprising. His bat improved from 2025, but it didn’t come out of the blue. What did feel like it was conjured up from nothing was his performance on defense.

Arráez completely transformed himself as a member of the Giants’ infield. His -11 Fielding Run Value in 2025 was nearly flipped perfectly on its head to +10 FRV. A 21 run swing that put him in the 91st percentile of the league. His 12 outs above average was fifth most among all second basemen.

These results border on the miraculous. Water into wine type stuff, and watching Arráez out at second base felt a bit like a party. He didn’t play like a reprogrammed fielding robot. He played with flair and lightness, born again. He picked short hops with attitude and exaggerated underhand feeds with a whole-body lunge. He relished throwing off one foot, on the run, contorting his body to look like a Baroque sculpture as he discovered new ways to deliver the ball to first. Fielding coach Ron Washington, hired a couple months prior to Arráez, was the miracle worker, the one to touch the infielders clumsy oven-mitt hands and make them soft. But it wasn’t just a physical change, but a mental and spiritual one as well. Washington had Arráez out on the field in Scottsdale, morning dew still clinging to the grass, peppering him with grounders, and he had him laid out on the couch as well, delving into his subconscious, his anxieties and fears in order to reclaim second base as a field to roam, to frolic, to literally play in. Matisse said he spent his entire career trying to relearn how to draw like a child. Maybe that’s what Arráez did in the 2026 season. He rediscovered the joy.  

Though he fell short of a fourth batting title (.310, 2nd in NL to Gabriel Moreno’s .311) and a career first Gold Glove nomination, Arráez’s 2026 was one to remember. A year to hang a bat, hat, and glove on. He played so well that he played himself out of the orange-and-black uniform, which is maybe not the ideal situation, but a pretty good one considering the initial risk taken.

So let’s give credit where credit is due. Posey got this one right. The problem became that a lot of the other things went wrong. Adames never figured out his offense or defense. Chapman hobbled around the diamond for a little bit before going completely AWOL. Devers launched into the stratosphere pretty much the moment Arráez shipped off to Philadelphia. The four of them seemed to enjoy making faces across the infield while whipping the baseball at each other, but they never could coordinate how to turn their wheels in the same direction at the same time. A shame, for a number of reasons — one of them being that we didn’t get to watch Luis Arráez play baseball the last two months of the season.

Frelick and Pratt lift Brewers to 5-4 comeback win over Rays and 2-0 World Series lead originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Sal Frelick tied the score with his first home run in three months, Cooper Pratt hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers stunned the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night for a 2-0 World Series lead by overcoming a four-run deficit for the second time in the postseason.

Tampa Bay, which won the AL pennant by forcing opponents into mistakes, committed one error, made two other misplays that could have been charged as errors and had a runner thrown out at the plate.

Down 4-0 in the first inning, Milwaukee rallied for its seventh comeback win of this postseason. The Brewers also rebounded from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, completing a four-game sweep.

After losing Friday’s opener 3-2, the Rays burst ahead against rookie Logan Henderson but the Brewers started to claw back with two runs in the bottom half against Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen.

David Hamilton cut the deficit to 4-3 with a run-scoring grounder in the fourth and Frelick capped a nine-pitch at-bat against Ian Seymour in the sixth by driving a fastball over the center-field fence.

Frelick had gone 103 plate appearances without a home run since his July 11 drive off Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft and had not gone deep against a lefty pitcher since opening day against Tyler Gilbert of the Chicago White Sox. Frelick sped around the bases in 18.72 seconds, half the time of some theatrical trots this postseason.

Screaming fans at the second game of Milwaukee’s first World Series since 1982 were fired up during the seventh-inning stretch, dancing to the “Beer Barrel Polka” played by Mike Schneider, an accordionist from Clinton, Wisconsin.

Brice Turang doubled against losing pitcher Tyler Wells on the second pitch of the bottom half, advanced on Garrett Mitchell’s flyout to right and scored when Pratt, a 22-year-old who debuted in June, looped a sinker from Kevin Kelly into short right field.

Abner Uribe pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win.

Jonny DeLuca doubled off Aaron Ashby starting the ninth, then Victor Mesa Jr. struck out when he couldn’t check his swing. Pinch-hitter Ben Williamson’s groundout advanced the runner and Yandy Díaz struck out when he couldn’t check his swing on a full-count pitch.

Ashby has three saves in the postseason while not allowing a run.

Milwaukee won its seventh straight game, becoming the fifth team to twice overcome four-run deficits for victories in a single postseason and the first since Philadelphia in 2022.

Game 3 of the matchup between teams seeking their first title is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Brewers last played in 2023.

Of the 57 previous teams to take 2-0 World Series leads, 46 claimed the championship.

Tampa Bay took a 4-2 lead in the highest-scoring Series first inning since 1993’s Game 4 as teams combined for seven hits, tying the most in an opening frame.

Still, Milwaukee improved to 13-0 in games started by Henderson, dating to his 2025 debut. He followed Jacob Misiorowski in the Brewers’ rotation, the first time teammates 24 or younger started the first two games of the Series since Cincinnati’s Gary Nolan and Ross Grimsley in 1972.

Henderson started on 11 days’ rest and struggled as the Rays fouled off 13 of 35 pitches in the first. He gave up four runs — three earned — in three innings.

Given an extra day of rest, Rasmussen allowed three runs and six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his shortest start since July 9.

Pratt made his fourth error of the postseason at shortstop, the Brewers’ ninth in 10 games, bouncing his throw past first baseman Jake Bauers on a leadoff grounder by Díaz. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with RBI singles, and Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer.

Jackson Chourio and Bauers started the bottom half with singles and first baseman Jonathan Aranda allowed Contreras’ one-out foul pop to bounce out of his mitt near netting in front of the seats.

With Bauers running on a full-count pitch, Contreras bounced an RBI single to the left of second baseman Richie Palacios, who had taken a step toward the base. Mitchell’s two-out single cut the deficit to 4-2.

Hamilton hit an RBI grounder in the fourth that bounced under Aranda’s legs for an error.

Chourio threw out Hicks from left for the final out of the sixth when third base coach Brady Williams waved the slow-footed catcher to try to score from second on Mesa’s single.

Up next

Rays RHP Freddy Peralta, who became a two-time All-Star when he pitched for the Brewers from 2018-25, starts Game 3. He was the AL Championship Series MVP and is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in three postseason starts and one relief appearance. He will be opposed by Brewers LHP Robert Gasser, who allowed one run over nine innings in his first two postseason starts.

A little over two weeks ago, the New York Yankees were eliminated from World Series contention in the American League Division Series for the second consecutive campaign. At times, they didn’t even put up a fight, being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 in the best-of-five series. Prior to that, they won 93 games and finished 4.5 behind the Rays in the race for the AL East. That’s a solid season for virtually any other team, but losing the division and experiencing such an early postseason exit is often associated with frustration and disappointment in the Bronx.

This week, chairman and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner faced the media and didn’t even hesitate for a second to put it all on the players, particularly the offense.

“I don’t think you can pin the season and the unacceptable end to it on Aaron [Boone],” Steinbrenner said on a Zoom call. “I don’t think you can pin it on [Brian Cashman], based on the roster he put together.

“In the end, the majority of the responsibility — I’ll say it for the fifth time, in my mind, my opinion — lies with the position players and the inability to score on a consistent basis throughout the course of the entire season, for the most part,” Steinbrenner said. “Not on the shoulders of Aaron Boone does the blame lie.”

Usually, in these cases, those who make the decisions and have to face the press either take the responsibility themselves or adopt a shared blame approach. Throwing the players under the bus like this doesn’t seem like a particularly good idea, especially when Steinbrenner decides to employ Cashman as his GM and Boone as his manager — these two are the ones actually choosing the players who step into the box and onto the mound.

One has to think that the Steinbrenner conference didn’t sit well with Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and other veterans on the roster. No one knows what is said behind closed doors, but it’s hard to envision the players loving the Zoom conference.

Now, nobody is saying that the players should be on the clear. On the contrary: they deserve a sizable portion of the blame. They were, after all, the ones competing on the field and failing to execute when it mattered against the Rays and, for stretches, during the regular season.

Austin Wells had one of the worst halves in Yankees history for a regular and even after rebounding, he committed a game-changing baserunning mistake in Game 1 of the ALDS. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was inconsistent and error-prone, Ryan McMahon was an offensive liability all year, and Anthony Volpe had another uneven season, just to name a few other disappointments. Trent Grisham had a .613 OPS in the second and then hit .133 in five October games with an awful AB to end the season. Who insisted on using Grisham in both center and then the leadoff spot in the finale, though? And who was responsible for the offense not having any contingency plans at catcher and third base? Yes, the men at the top. Surely they deserve at least some slice on the Blame Game pie chart and not total absolution.

Regarding Grisham at the leadoff spot, no other circumstance, stat, or situation other than “gut feeling” was behind the decision to use him at the top. He had been bad up there all year, and the numbers back it up:

Once Boone and Cashman make a decision, they tend to stick with it even if the house of cards is falling. The ability to adapt and adjust is just not there, nor is the willingness.

The complete lack of self-criticism from Steinbrenner was baffling, and honestly, a bit frustrating. Maybe the players need to be blamed the most for the postseason fiasco, but when the same mistakes occur year after year, it shouldn’t be on the players anymore. Althought the rosters have changed, there have been two constants for every postseason failure from 2018 onward: Boone and Cashman. The Yankees have a losing playoff record under them at 27-30, and the latter’s spotty résumé goes back even longer.

The Yankees have issues in roster and lineup construction, scouting, player development (hitting-wise, at least), and several other departments. Unless they improve some of their resources and practices, they are doomed to keep striking out in October, literally and figuratively.