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And it all comes down to this.
Last night, the Milwaukee Brewers dominated the Tampa Bay Rays in a 10-2 blowout (that saw old friend Antonio Senzatela throwing two quality innings in relief).
Tonight may mark the end of the 2026 MLB season if the red hot Brewers can complete the sweep — and nothing we’ve seen so far suggests they won’t. That means the home team enters this one as an underdog.
The Brewers will send Dustin May to the mound to start game. The righty is 0-0 in postseason play and has a 5.63 ERA. He was struck out five.
Starting for the Rays is RHP Griffin Jax. He is 0-1 in the postseason with a 6.00 ERA that includes six strikeouts.
Pitching Matchup: RHP Freddy Peralta (2-0, 1.08 postseason ERA) vs. LHP Robert Gasser (0-0, 1.00 postseason ERA)
SB Nation sites: DRaysBay | Brew Crew Ball
Radio: ESPN Radio
TV: FOX
Lineups:
For the visiting Brewers:
And the home Rays:
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Jackson Chourio – LF
Jake Bauers – 1B
Christian Yelich – DH
William Contreras – C
Brice Turang – 2B
Sal Frelick – RF
Cooper Pratt – SS
Garrett Mitchell – CF
David Hamilton – 3B
SP: Dustin May – RHP
Yandy Diaz – DH
Jonathan Aranda – 1B
Junior Caminero – 3B
Liam Hicks – C
Jonny DeLuca – CF
Chandler Simpson – LF
Ryan Vilade – RF
Richie Palacios – 2B
Taylor Walls – SS
SP: Griffin Jax – RHP
Time: 8:00 PM EDT
TV: FOX / FOX ONE, Fox Deportes
Radio: ESPN Radio
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I don’t want the Rays to win the World Series. I didn’t want them to win before Game 1, and I ESPECIALLY don’t want them to win it now that they’re down three games to none, because I don’t want any team other than the 2004 Red Sox to ever win after being down three games to none ever again. This is very important to me.
Having said that, my God, Rays, please win tonight. There are few more depressing days than the first few days after the baseball season ends, when the rhythm that has dictated your life since late March suddenly disappears. You don’t notice its absence on the first day after the series. Maybe you don’t notice it on the second day, either. But that third day is brutal. The third day brings that realization that the foreseeable future is dark and cold and has nothing for you at 7:10 PM on a Tuesday night.
Moreover, it’s been a lackluster postseason and we deserve a good series. Griffin Jax will take the mound at 8 on FOX for the Rays to try to give us one. He’ll be opposed by … wait, really? This isn’t a typo or some kind of Mandela Effect thing going on? Really? REALLY?Okay, sure, whatever. Life is mysterious and unknowable, I guess… Dustin May.
We have Game 4 of the World Series this evening, and with the Brewers holding a commanding 3-0 lead, its very possible this is the last major league baseball game we will have in 2026.
It is a 7:00 p.m. Central start time on Fox.
Talk about it here.
It’s win or go home for the Rays.
If the Brewers take Game 4, it will not only be the first title in their history, but also the first World Series sweep since 2012, when the Giants swept the Tigers.
I’d like to see the Rays win tonight if for no other reasons than this: More baseball is always good, and we don’t know when MLB players will next take the field after this World Series due to the looming owners’ lockout.
TV: Fox-TV, Fox One (streaming). Announcers: Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci.
TBD vs. Griffin Jax, RHP
The 2026 World Series shifted to Tampa Bay for Game 3 on Monday night, but the change in scenery failed to slow the Milwaukee Brewers. The National League champions won 10-1 to move within one victory of their first World Series title. After scoring two runs in the third inning, the Brew Crew erupted for eight runs with two outs in the fifth. Left-hander Robert Gasser was unfazed by the hostile road environment, allowing one hit over six scoreless innings.
The Rays are fighting history, as no team has ever overcome an 0-3 deficit in the World Series. Tampa Bay must win Game 4 tonight to keep its season alive and force a Game 5 on Wednesday. However, the Brewers are looking to finish the series in four games and join the 1976 Cincinnati Reds as the only teams to sweep both the NLCS and the World Series.
Through three games, the Brewers have simply been the better team. Milwaukee’s offense has delivered more clutch hits, while its starters and relievers have outperformed their Rays counterparts. Both teams feature strong bullpens, but Tampa Bay’s relief corps faltered at the worst possible time. If the Rays hope to begin a comeback, they must generate more offense and eliminate defensive and base running errors.
The Rays will turn to right-hander Griffin Jax for the biggest start of his career. Jax has struggled this postseason, allowing four earned runs in six innings over two appearances. Earlier this year, the Brewers scored five runs against him in an outing in which he recorded just three outs. Facing elimination, Rays manager Kevin Cash will keep Jax on a short leash and pull him early if he runs into trouble.
Here’s how the Rays stack up for this must-win Game 4:
The Brewers will counter with right-hander Dustin May. He has made four appearances this postseason, but only one was a start, in which he lasted three innings. Given that, May likely will serve as the opener, pitching two or three innings before handing the ball to left-hander Shane Drohan or another Brewers pitcher.
And here is the Brew Crew’s starting lineup:
Will the Brewers complete the sweep, or will the Rays stave off elimination? Who do you got? Should be exciting either way!
Baseball's first World Series was played in 1903 with the Boston Americans defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates that October.
The New York Yankees have won more championships – 27 – than any other team in history. Entering 2026, 25 of Major League Baseball's current 30 franchises have won a championships with the Milwaukee Brewers-Tampa Bay Rays series set to crown a first-time winner.
Here's a look back at all of MLB's World Series champions
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Series winners by year: Full list of MLB champions
Can the Brewers clinch it tonight?
Can the Rays extend the series, and the MLB season, yet another day?
Can we talk about it? Yes we can!
A former Yankee opened up after Jorge Posada revealed he no longer feels welcome by the organization he helped lead to four World Series titles.
Former hard-throwing reliever Joba Chamberlain took to social media Tuesday afternoon to indicate how much the comments say about the current situation in The Bronx for Posada to publicly reveal his feelings, which were aired out during an appearance on The Post’s “The Show” podcast hosted by Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman.
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Try it free“Says a lot coming from him, just saying,” Chamberlain wrote on X.
In a separate post responding to a fan, Chamberlain, who was part of the 2009 World Series-winning Yankees squad with Posada, wrote that it “seems like there are some that they love that are still around.”
Replying to a fan who opined that the Yankees “look down on former players,” Chamberlain wrote, “Who knows anymore.”
Chamberlain and Posada played together from 2007 through 2011.
Posada was asked by Heyman and Sherman about possibly helping the Yankees when he made the surprising comments.
“I mean, I could, but I don’t think they want me there, to tell you the truth,” said Posada, who was inducted into Monument Park and had his No. 20 retired in 2015.
“I don’t feel welcome when I go there, you know? Even in spring training, I don’t feel like — I’m just like, I don’t know, like, I don’t feel welcome. I don’t feel like they want me there, so I don’t go.”
Posada spent 17 years with the Yankees from 1995 to 2011 and was a fan favorite during the dynasty run.
The Yankees great has been around the franchise over the years, having been in attendance for several Old Timers’ Days and being on hand for the 25th anniversary of the Bronx Bombers’ Championship team in 2023. He was also part of the pregame ceremony on Sept. 11 in remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Posada did not give a specific moment that has led him to feel unwelcome by the Yankees, but did reference the end of his career with the franchise in 2011, when he publicly disagreed with the team over his playing time and his use as a designated hitter.
“I don’t know what happened. I’d rather just move forward,” Posada said. “My last season of my career was a really tough one when it comes to handling everything in my part and also the Yankees toward Jorge Posada.
“So, it’s tough to go back and feel that again.”
In all the talk around Mariners managerial candidates, it felt like a lot of the candidates who were being proposed were the obvious ones – Jason Kanzler was the first real dark horse candidate that popped up, and has apparently made it quite far in the process. But if the Mariners are really looking for new voices and ideas, it seems to me that it would be productive to look into some under-the-radar names, people who are more up and coming rather than established names. That inspired me to do some digging around the league and try to identify at least one candidate from each organization who I think would be an interesting fit in Seattle.
Admittedly, some teams are more scoop-able than others. For this reason I’ve left off most of the AL West, teams undergoing their own coaching changes (again, most of the AL West, plus the Red Sox), some organizations that have recently undergone sweeping coaching changes (the Rockies, the Nationals), and some teams that I just couldn’t come up with a good name for or don’t think have really strong coaching and player development (it’s the Reds. Sorry, Cincinnati).
I am a big proponent of joining professional organizations and ongoing professional development (both attending and presenting). Therefore, in identifying candidates, I first and foremost looked for people who are interested in the art of coaching; I cross-referenced names with members of the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) and tried to track down articles and quotes to get a sense of their coaching philosophy or managerial style (and in some cases, guest appearances on the ABCA podcast). I also gave some preference to those with geographical ties to the West Coast or the Seattle area in particular, because unfortunately that is a very real thing to have to consider, as we saw with why Rocco Baldelli reportedly dropped out of the race. Finally, I considered how long a candidate has been with a particular organization or how deeply tied they seem to be to their current organization – for example, I really like Ron Wotus with the Giants, but his connections to that organization run so deep it’s hard to imagine him anywhere else.
With the Mariners reportedly seemingly narrowing it down to Joe Espada and Jason Kanzler for a managerial role, this article is less useful than it was when I started doing all this research, but maybe some of these people would be under consideration for a non-managerial role. Actually, since there are a lot of candidates here who are more nontraditional as far as big-league managing experience, this article might be more useful. At least that’s what I’m telling myself after hours of scrolling LinkedIn profiles, social media accounts, and podcast appearances.
In order to avoid publishing The Odyssey-but-make-it-coaching, I’ll be splitting these up by divisions; we’re starting with the AL Central. Let’s see how many I can get done before the Mariners announce a hire.
Current role: Manager, Double-A Birmingham Barons
Age: 35
Bonus points: coaching bloodlines (son of Jim Leland); former Mariner farmhand (2015)
Leyland has been coaching in pro ball since 2018, and has managed at the minor-league level since 2022, all in the White Sox organization; he’s yet to make it to the big-league level. Like dad Jim, Pat has found more success as a coach than as a player, which he says informs how he relates to players.
Relevant quote: “Not that it disqualifies any other coach, because there’s more than one way to do things, but I know I can relate to our players,” he said. “I understand what they’re going through. I tell them that I wasn’t a very good player, and I know how hard this can be. I can be a shoulder to lean on, especially when things aren’t going well. I had to fight and claw and find a way to grind things out.”
Double bonus points: normally a cool customer, was ejected once all season in a home game on the last day of the MiLB season for sticking up for his hitter who got pitched inside and absolutely made a meal of it.
Current Role: Assistant Director of Player Development
Age: 45
Bonus points: Has a connection to current Mariners farm director Justin Toole; former Mariner farmhand (2008); College World Series champion (Miami, 2001) under Jim Morris, who Howard cites as a mentor.
Following a 12-year playing career (drafted in the 5th round out of Miami in 2002) Howard spent a year coaching high school/small college before being hired by the Guardians as a hitting coordinator. In 2021 he moved to the Mets as Director of Player Development, then was moved to hitting coach; in 2023 went to the Royals in his current role. During his time with the Mets, Howard spoke to his alma mater about desiring an on-field role because he really values building relationships.
Relevant quote: “I was willing to work hard. I wanted to get to the Major Leagues so bad. I was willing to do whatever I could, but some of the stuff that I try to instill in our players is having a growth mindset and I did not have a growth mindset. I had a fixed mindset and I didn’t want to listen. I didn’t want people to tell me anything because I took it personally. If I could go back, that’s definitely something I would change and I think that would have made a major impact on how much I could have improved.”
Current role: Third base coach (MLB)
Age: 42
Bonus points: Born in Auburn, WA; attended Enumclaw HS; PNW coaching experience (student manager at UW, coached at Seattle U, coached at Pierce College during the program’s first NWAC Championship in 2012)
Boyer, whose name is probably most recognizable on this list, has a reputation as a strong infield defensive coach – his big-league coaching journey started with the Twins as an infield and baserunning coach before he moved to the Tigers, transitioning from a quality control coach to third base coach this past July after the team and Joey Cora parted ways after the Tigers finished near the bottom of the league in stolen bases despite an organization-wide emphasis on that. The Tigers also reportedly wanted Boyer to work with upcoming superstar Kevin McGonigle, but a report from the Detroit News at the end of September called Boyer’s status “unclear” amidst a bunch of other coaching changes.
Relevant quote: I thought this thread on rhythm, tempo, and timing was a nice encapsulation of Boyer’s approach and an interesting supplement to Perry Hill’s “6 Fs”.
Current role: Bench coach (MLB)
Age: 40
Bonus points: Spent first 16 years of his life living in Saudi Arabia with his international-school teacher parents; triple sport athlete in college
Non-bonus points: said he fell in love with baseball because of Kirby Puckett and the Twins
The Twins were a HEADACHE to go through, y’all. Apparently the only thing the Pohlads love more than saving money is hiring franchise legends, nepo babies, and lifelong fans. Hallberg was with the Giants for six years before moving to the Twins, close to his Wisconsin-based family. It’s too bad, because I really like data-minded Hallberg, who was part of implementing an aggressive ABS challenge system with the Twins this spring.
Relevant quote: “When you can switch count leverages in big moments and change base/out states (run expectancy charts), those are all factors, and how many run-scoring opportunities you get,” Hallberg said. “When you’re down in the game and you make their closer (enter) and keep fighting throughout the night, some of those overturns (Wednesday) gave us the opportunity to come back. It stung to lose the game, but our guys fought and our competitive spirit was intact. We made them work. We got their closer up. That impacted the next day, and I hope our team continues to do that throughout the season.”
(Also quoted in that article is someone else I considered while tussling with the Twins’ org chart, Mike Rabelo, who doesn’t have a lifelong love of the Twins sparking his interest in baseball, but is also tragically very east-coast-based)
Current role: Assistant Director, Player Development
Age: 36
Bonus points: West Coast ties
It’s time that the Mariners reverse-scoop from the Guardians’ staff. Coming back to the West Coast would be an easy landing for Nakken, whose previous big-league experience was with her hometown Giants; she’d also walk into a clubhouse led partially by Josh Naylor, who is an outspoken advocate of women having a place in baseball. This is assuming, of course, Nakken would prefer a role back on the field, as she moved from the Giants to the Guardians to take a more front-office role after the birth of her first child. Look, just let me have this one beautiful dream, okay.
Joe DeMayo welcomes a doubleheader of great guests to the latest episode of The Mets Pod, as offseason action quickly approaches for the Mets and all of MLB.
First up, Ron Darling chats with Joe about the future of the SNY booth, as well as the future of the Mets starting rotation, the free agency of Tarik Skubal, learning from other playoff teams, and the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Mets championship.
Later, Will Sammon of The Athletic checks in for a conversation that covers Skubal, Teruaki Sato, the possibility of moving Juan Soto to first base, and the potential prospects who could eventually be the solution at second base for the organization.
The show wraps with a Mailbag that delivers questions about Francisco Alvarez, David Stearns, Kodai Senga, and more.
Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
After two tightly contested games to open the 2026 World Series, Game 3 got out of hand as Milwaukee scored seven runs with two outs in the fifth inning on the way to a 10-1 victory. With a win tonight, the Brewers would clinch the first World Series title in franchise history.
On the mound for the Brewers will be right-hander Dustin May, who threw one scoreless inning in Game 2. His last bulk appearance came in relief of Shane Drohan during Game 4 of the NLCS. In that outing, May gave up a three-run homer to Shohei Ohtani, but bounced back and ate three innings in the Brewers’ pennant-clinching win. Through four appearances this postseason (three in relief), May has allowed eight hits and five earned runs in eight innings.
Tampa Bay will counter with righty Griffin Jax. Acquired from Minnesota at last year’s trade deadline, the former shutdown reliever moved into the rotation in late April and put up solid numbers. In 34 appearances (23 starts), Jax posted a 3.53 ERA with 9.29 strikeouts per nine innings.
Today’s lineup has just one change from yesterday’s: Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick swap spots. Mitchell, who hit sixth in each of the first three games of the series, drops to eighth. He’s just 2-for-11 in the World Series, though both hits drove in runs. Frelick, who’s 4-for-his-last-12 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs, moves up to sixth.
Meanwhile, Rays manager Kevin Cash is shaking up his lineup after Tampa Bay scored just one run last night. Jonathan Aranda is back for Tampa Bay, playing first base and hitting second, but Ryan Vilade gets his second straight start as Victor Mesa Jr. starts tonight’s game on the bench. Junior Caminero moves up to the third spot, and Chandler Simpson, who’d hit third in each of the first three games, drops down to sixth.
You can catch the game on FOX and the radio broadcast, as always, on WTMJ 620. Tonight’s first pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.
Tampa Bay Rays avoid sweep with dramatic win on Game 4 of the World Series originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Jonny DeLuca and pinch-hitter Ben Williamson singled home runs in a stunning 12th-inning rally, and the Tampa Bay Rays staved off World Series elimination with a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night that forced Game 5.
Cooper Pratt hit a tiebreaking home run off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th as Milwaukee neared a sweep and its first World Series title.
But the Rays, also seeking their first championship, rallied in the bottom half after a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz on Junior Caminero’s leadoff grounder against reliever Antonio Senzatela.
Liam Hicks singled off Shane Drohan, who relieved in his first appearance since Oct. 15, and DeLuca’s single to center drove in pinch-runner Cedric Mullins to tie the score at 3.
Chandler Simpson’s single loaded the bases and Milwaukee employed a five-man infield with the infield in.
Williamson, who had been 1 for 15 in the postseason, hit a chopper over first baseman Jake Bauers and into right field.
“We’ve got a lot of fight in us. We’re never going to shy away,” Simpson said. “We were going to keep fighting until the end — the last inning, the last out, the last play, the last pitch. We were going to keep fighting. That’s what we did tonight.”
Game 5 in the best-of-seven matchup is Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, with NL Cy Young Award favorite Jacob Misiorowski scheduled to start for the Brewers. Rays manager Kevin Cash said he hadn’t decided on a starter yet.
Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The previous four lost Game 5.
Of 43 teams to trail 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason matchup, the only one that rebounded to win was the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
“It just shows the resiliency of this group,” Williamson said. “We continue to fight, and that’s been the motto this series and this full season, is just fight.”
Caminero was replaced by Mullins at third base and hobbled off the field with an ailing left foot. But the slugger said he’ll definitely play Wednesday night.
“He’ll play tomorrow on one leg. I’ll make sure of it,” Cash said.
Tampa Bay ended an eight-game winning streak by the Brewers, who were bidding to become only the second team to sweep a League Championship Series and the World Series.
“If you want to win a championship, you’ve got to survive some hard things,” Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich said. “Like I said earlier, it’s supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to test you. We understand that.”
David Hamilton also homered for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio had a single and double, improving to 10 for 20 in the Series.
Pratt, a 22-year-old rookie whose go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour. Pratt had tied the score at 1 with an RBI double in the second.
Milwaukee players bounded out of the dugout to greet Pratt, who debuted in June and became the first rookie to hit an extra-inning homer in the World Series.
Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty ImagesSeymour had allowed Frelick’s tying homer in Game 2.
Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 40,514, many waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads, brought a Badger State feel to Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay returned to its white home jerseys, a day after playing in Devil Rays throwbacks.
Simpson hit an RBI double off starter Dustin May in the second, but Milwaukee tied the score in the fourth against Griffin Jax when Frelick hit a two-out single and came around on Pratt’s double.
Caminero singled leading off the bottom half to chase May and advanced on a groundout. DeLuca hit a hard grounder to Hamilton and Caminero twisted toward the grass to avoid the third baseman’s tag, then came home when Hamilton bounced his throw past Bauers for an error.
Hamilton, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, drove an 0-2 fastball at the letters from Jax into the right-field seats for his second home run of the postseason — half his regular-season total and just his second since June 6.
Tanner Scott is officially a father of two.
Scott and his wife, Maddie, welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world named Blair Elizabeth. The couple announced the exciting news on Instagram along with the caption: “she’s here & she’s perfect 
.”
Bo Scott was officially promoted to big brother and wore a blue shirt and beaming smile to welcome his little sister.
Scott is coming off a successful second season with the Dodgers, where he posted a 2.69 ERA with 82 strikeouts across 63.2 innings pitched. The Dodgers reliever generated a 1.9 bWAR throughout the 2026 season.
The Dodgers signed Scott to a four-year, $72-million deal ahead of 2025, after he put together an All-Star campaign with the Marlins and was later traded to the Padres ahead of the deadline. In San Diego, he sported a 2.73 ERA.
Last season was a disastrous campaign for Scott, who famously said baseball “hated him,” after he posted a 4.74 mark and blew a league-leading 10 saves. The Dodgers didn’t give up on Scott, however, and he returned in 2026 to a solid set-up man.
While the back-to-back World Series champions fell short of a three-peat, Scott is set to be apart of the 2027 Dodgers group that attempts to return to the Fall Classic after a shocking sweep in the NLCS this October.