A fresh report has ramped up speculation that Pat Cummins’ shock decision to bowl first in the Cape Town Test was one fuelled by emotion after Steve Smith’s withdrawal at the eleventh hour.
The most challenging part of Dylan Garand getting to finally live out his Rangers dream
There must have been so many days when the NHL felt so far away. There must have been so many nights when Dylan Garand felt like his time would never come.
But just one month after the 24-year-old was sent down to begin his fifth straight season with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Garand’s lifelong dream has been granted — and twisted by necessity.
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tRY IT NOWThe rookie has played in each of the Rangers’ nine games since Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending injury, including Monday’s 6-3 loss to the Kings, when Garand played more than 38 minutes in relief of the struggling and debuting James Reimer.
“It’s been challenging,” Garand said following Tuesday’s practice. “There’s so many games. You play a game and almost the next day you gotta get ready for another game, so it’s almost a never-ending thing. That’s something that I’m learning and going through now. I’m just trying to handle it the best that I can.
“I think I played nine games in 18 days, so that’s quite a bit. It’s definitely the first time I’ve ever gone through it. I’m definitely trying to embrace that challenge and work my hardest every day. … It’s gonna be good for me in my career moving forward.”
Garand, who entered the season with just three career NHL appearances, initially exceeded expectations when he stepped in for Shesterkin, going 4-1-1 in his first six starts while boasting a .929 save percentage and 1.85 goals against average.
But the former fourth-round pick has allowed five goals in each of his past two starts — and two more goals Monday — as the Rangers (7-6-1) have dropped five of their past six games.
Garand entered Tuesday ranked 15th in the league in goals against average (2.69) and 21st in save percentage (.899).
“It’s a little frustrating [because] my work ethic and my compete-[level] is there,” Garand said. “I’m really trying hard. I’m just making a couple mental errors and mental mistakes by not executing at the level I know I’m capable of … you look at the last three weeks, I’ve played some really good hockey.
“I think the last couple games, I don’t really love my execution. I think I could’ve been a little better, but it’s part of it. I’m trying to be ready for every opportunity in every game that’s coming.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan acknowledges how much the team has asked of a goalie with such limited experience, noting that Garand will benefit from the team’s current five-day break more than any other player.
Soon, Garand’s workload may decrease significantly, with Joonas Korpisalo expected to return from injury in the next week or two.
Soon enough, Garand may be wondering when his next opportunity will come.
The next start can’t come soon enough.
“Playing in the NHL you gotta zoom out a little bit and never take it for granted and enjoy it, and I do,” Garand said. “I enjoy playing and going to battle with the guys in this room every night. The last week or so we haven’t been playing our best and that’s disappointing, but I have full trust in this group and in myself.”
Report: Sabres Looking To Address Major Trade Need
After finishing the 2025-26 season at the top of the Atlantic Division, the Buffalo Sabres are having a tough start to this campaign.
At the time of this writing, the Sabres are sporting a 4-4-3 record and have lost each of their last three games. With this, they are also at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings.
Now, as the Sabres continue to struggle early on, they are reportedly looking to upgrade their roster.
According to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, the Sabres are looking to bring in another scoring winger to their roster.
"Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen is believed to be exploring the trade market for some additional goalscoring, TFP’s David Pagnotta reported on TSN 690 in Montreal during his weekly Tuesday appearance," The Fourth Period wrote.
With the Sabres moving on from Alex Tuch through a big sign-and-trade with the Washington Capitals this off-season, it makes sense that they are looking to add another forward to their roster. The Sabres could use another skilled winger to solidify their top nine.
The Fourth Period did not specify any specific wingers who the Sabres are looking at, but there are some intriguing names in the rumor mill right now.
The Athletic's Chris Johnston recently included wingers like Jake DeBrusk (Vancouver Canucks), Rickard Rakell (Pittsburgh Penguins), Dmitri Voronkov (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Ivan Miroshnichenko (Washington Capitals) on his latest trade board.
Other wingers who could be interesting players for the Sabres to pursue are Brock Boeser (Canucks), Bryan Rust (Penguins), and Joel Farabee (Calgary Flames).
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if the Sabres can strike a deal for a new winger soon.
A Troubling Relief Campaign
Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability).
A Troubling Relief Campaign
Jeremiah Estrada never had a real shot at breaking into the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen. The Padres made that something that the Northsiders would live to regret when they claimed him off of waivers ahead of the 2024 season. Estrada had a dominant 2024 campaign, highlighted by a 2.95 ERA and an MLB-record 13 consecutive strikeouts. Since then, he’s been solid but uninspiring.
Overall Grade: C
It’s not that Estrada’s 2025 campaign (3.45 ERA, 73.0 IP) was particularly bad. The bigger problem was his breakout 2024 made it seem like the right-hander would be automatic from then on. He was somewhat unlucky in 2025, with a 2.76 expected ERA compared to his 3.45 ERA. However, he allowed a career-high 12 home runs, contributing to his high 3.55 Fielding Independent Percentage (BB, HR, SO and HBP).
The problem with Estrada’s 2026 season was his lack of availability. The righty had three separate stints on the injured list due to elbow tendinitis, knee inflammation and a shoulder impingement. That resulted in Estrada being able to toss just 31 innings for the Friars. He was solid during that time (3.48 ERA) but just wasn’t nearly as dominant as his former self.
Entering 2027, Estrada’s health will be closely monitored. He should be good to go come Spring Training, but San Diego will need to keep a close eye on his performance in the offseason and through Cactus League. Notably, Estrada’s .183 opponent batting average was a step forward. His bigger problem was in limiting free passes (16 walks). Regardless, Estrada will be a big factor in San Diego’s bullpen plans for 2027.
SnakePit Post-season GDT, #21
This could be the last major-league game for quite a while. If you were hoping for a long, drawn-out World Series, it seems the Brewers have other intentions. They have disposed of the Rays with brutal efficiency. Through three games, the Rays have averaged just 33 PA. That’s the third lowest figure in World Series history. In the second ever event, in 1905, the Philadelphia Athletics averaged 32.8 across a five-game loss to the New York Giants. And in the 1963 World Series, the Dodgers averaged 32.75 PA/G. Though they swept the series, and skipped the ninth inning in Games 3+4.
The Tampa Bay offense has been almost completely stifled, with a line of .187/.237/.264 for a .501 OPS. Only one team is below that since 1988. The Detroit Tigers in 2012 hit .159/.243/.246 for a .489 OPS – that was also the last time the World Series ended in a sweep. But that’s in line with this being the worst postseason offensively as a whole in the same time span. Pitching has dominated this October, in a way not recently seen. Going into the potentially final game, the 12 teams have a collective OPS of .637, across 2,768 PA. That’s the lowest playoff OPS since 1983.
- Milwaukee Brewers @ Tampa Bay Rays (3-0): 5 pm, FOX
Game Preview #5: Wolves vs Warriors Game Thread
With a day of rest and the comforts of home, the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the fading specter of the Golden State Warriors. This mid-week game will be their third in four days, with another back-to-back to start Halloween weekend. Still smarting from their first loss of the season at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wolves will look to get back on the correct side of the win/loss column.
Game Info
- Who:Minnesota Timberwolves (3-1) vs. Golden State Warriors (1-3)
- When: Wednesday, October 28 at 7:00 PM CT
- Where: Target Center – Minneapolis, MN
- Local TV: DAZN-MN, Kare 11
- Radio: 830 WCCO
Numbers on the Board
Minnesota continues to shoot below 70% from the charity stripe. Their second efforts to gather rebounds and run in transition like children bounding to the house that is giving out king-size candy bars might be sapping some of the energy from their legs.
The big highlight plays that fill up our timelines are fun and feel big and important. They can demoralize an opponent and lead to 20-point blowouts. And yet, leaving points on the board will come back to haunt the Wolves when they pour out their plastic pumpkin and find the weight of their haul misleading.
It’s the points here and there, the KitKat minis that fill in the spaces that will sustain the sugar rush.
The Wolves committed 42 turnovers combined in their back-to-back bouts. Their uptempo and loose play style will naturally lead to the ball flying around – sometimes errantly, sometimes snatched by a defender hiding just out of sight.
During the Golden State Warriors’ dynastic run, they were consistently in the top ten for average turnovers per game. The cost of creating havoc for defenses is that sometimes the havoc pulls you in.
All that said, there is at least one space that should be easier to clean up. The guards need to be better about how they give Rudy the ball in the post. He is not a player who can regularly catch it cleanly in traffic anywhere beneath his head. When he does get the ball at his chest while under the basket, he regularly puts his Ricky Bobby costume on and gives it away.
On the positive side of things, TJ Shannon Jr. is off to a roaring start of the season. He has more than doubled his average points per game and is currently shooting 50% on five attempts from beyond the arc. I don’t foresee the three-point percentage holding, but if he can stick in the upper 30s with the same shot frequency, he will have that much more space for his preferred method…
Attacking the Rim
These Warriors are small. 6’6 Draymond Green is their starting center, while Al Horford at 6’8 is their backup. Both players are near the tail end of their careers, and neither is the tallest available player on the team. That honorific goes to Malevy Leons, who has seen roughly ten whole minutes of floor time this season. Kristaps Porziņģis is out indefinitely due to a chronic illness.
The Wolves attacking the basket or snagging offensive rebounds for putbacks is a recipe they should be able to go to again and again.
Jonathan Kuminga has also been thoroughly impressive in his start with the Wolves.
If the stories about infighting between JK and Warriors coach Steve Kerr are true, then this game will be a real test for Kuminga’s focus and consistency. He has the size and athleticism to make the Warriors pay on both ends of the floor, but it will serve him and his team best if he does so in the flow of the game and not looking to prove a point.
In his last game against the Warriors, Kuminga had only two points on one for nine shooting, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 22 minutes of action. The Hawks did win that game but lost the minutes JK was on the court. Now more ingrained in a team that believes in him, he should look to get to the hoop when the lane is there, shoot the open three, and find the next open man if neither option is available.
No Guard to Change
The Golden State Warriors are not what they once were. They are not even the team that tussled with Minnesota in the second round of the playoffs in 2025.
The second timeline that promised a seamless change of the guard now plays for different teams. Only Moses Moody is still there from that initial youth movement that started with trading D’Angelo Russell to the Wolves (and he won’t even be playing in this game).
Stephen Curry still raises hell from the three-point line. Draymond Green can still play tricks on any offense looking for a sweet bucket. These moments are fewer, and much of the cast that props up these dynastic remnants is out with no clear timetable for return. Jimmy Butler, Porziņģis, and Moses Moody will look to suit up sometime in the winter if at all.
The freshest face the Warriors roll out is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. At 24 years old, he’s the same age as much of the Wolves roster. He has shown flashes already and is able to make the reads that lead to open shots for his teammates.
If he gets the Anthony Edwards LaMelo Ball assignment, look for Yaxel to start chirping early, as he did against Luka Dončić. We have seen what happens when Ant feels a one-on-one competition brewing, and it rarely goes well for the opponent.
Prediction
The Wolves are still kicking themselves for letting the game in Cleveland slip away. Back in Target Center, they will jump out to an early lead on the back of Edwards LaMelo giving Yaxel all he can stomach. Jonathan Kuminga will drill a three in front of the Warriors’ bench and earn a technical as he stands staring at them for a full thirty seconds.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Kerr will wave the white flag, and his bench of broken-down Hall of Famers will resemble the waiting room in Beetlejuice.
Our blogging buddies are over at Golden State of Mind. Be kind to our friends with sunny minds!
World Series Game 4 open thread
We’re on the verge of baseball history, folks. Tonight, the Milwaukee Brewers could become World Series champions for the first time in the 58-year history of the franchise.
The Brewers, who had the best record in baseball during the regular season, have steamrolled their opponents in these playoffs. They’re 10-1 so far, taking three out of four from the Padres in the Division Series and sweeping the Dodgers in the NLCS, and are now on the verge of a second straight sweep and a ninth consecutive win. After squeaking past the Rays with a pair of one-run wins in Milwaukee, the Brewers delivered a beatdown in last night’s Game 3 in Tampa Bay. Their eight-run fifth inning — which featured seven consecutive two-out hits — allowed them to build an insurmountable lead and give all of their high-leverage relievers some much-needed rest.
I must say, the Brewers’ offensive approach is a joy to behold, and it’s almost unrecognizable to Orioles fans. Two-out hits! Hitting to the opposite field! Grinding out at-bats! Scoring 10 runs without any homers! Who knew that a team could succeed without just trying to pull the ball in the air all the time? Someone alert the O’s coaching staff.
Now the Brewers are in an enviable position. They have all of their best bullpen arms available to try to string together 27 outs tonight. And even if they can’t seal the deal today, they’ll have a fully rested Jacob Misiorowski ready for Game 5. Chances are good that they’ll win the championship without the series ever needing to head back to Milwaukee. It’ll be a shame if they don’t clinch in front of the home crowd, but considering how many Milwaukee fans were in the stands at Tropicana Field tonight, the Brewers will have no shortage of supporters on hand.
Starting for the Rays tonight is Griffin Jax, representing Tampa Bay’s last hope to stay alive in the series. No MLB team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a World Series, and it’s only happened once in any postseason series, the memorable 2004 Red Sox takedown of the Yankees in the ALCS. The Rays were the AL’s best team this year, but I’m not sure they have the juice for that kind of comeback.
Only once before have the Brewers been within a win of a championship. That came in 1982, their only previous World Series appearance, when they built a 3-2 series lead over the Cardinals before suffering a blowout loss in Game 6 and a heartbreaking defeat in Game 7. They’ve waited 44 long years to get back to the Fall Classic, and 57 years to win one. Will it happen tonight?
The most important stories of 2026: #4 — Bryce Eldridge is a hit
Yesterday, we took a look at the pitching struggles that shaped the disastrous 2026 season. But it wasn’t six months of pain and bigotry. There was an exciting vein of success running through it that has the potential to reverberate into the future, and beyond just this single player.
Bryce Eldridge will get the full season review treatment later on, but for now it’s enough to point out that the Giants did it. They finally graduated a hitting prospect with All-Star potential. It had been too long and seemed to cement the idea that the Giants, as a player development entity, were failures. That part of the baseball operation was a money pit that only offered up the occasional hope or dream. But a 6’7” left-handed slugger who could seize control of Oracle Park as Barry Bonds once did… he was a prospect with too much potential to ignore or even diminish with low expectations.
And all Eldridge did was play up to the modestly high ones fans and prospect hounds alike had for him heading into the season. For example, here were ZiPS 80th and 20th percentile projections for him:
80th percentile: .269/.330/.476, 127 wRC+, +1.8 fWAR
50th percentile: .238/.302/.422, 105 wRC+, +0.5 fWAR
20th percentile: .217/.276/.369, 84 wRC+, -0.8 fWAR
****ACTUAL****: .269/.364/.461, 131 wRC+, +1.8 fWAR
Take a bow, Dan Szymborski and your various graphics cards that run ZiPS projections! No, that’s not really the spirit of ZiPS — Dan’s not trying to prove to you how smart he is, he’s trying to show you the likeliest outcomes based on meaningful statistical analysis — but it just goes to show that the modest projection for him was something far less than where he wound up. I wonder how often a 21-year old hits their 80th percentile projection?
Yes, his season was cut short due to an abundance of caution following an incident with a door frame, but he still wound up with a very respectable 17 home runs and 57 RBI with that triple slash, which helped put him in some interesting company:
Is there a bit of scrounging going on here? Hoping to find the right sort or filter to make Eldridge stand out? Sure. Eldridge wound up being the 20th-most valuable rookie in 2026 (by fWAR; min 100 PA) — Wade Meckler’s defense got him to 2 fWAR, good enough for 18th — and even out of the 21-year old rookies (of which there were 10 with a minimum of 100 PA), he came in 3rd in terms of fWAR, behind Kevin McGonigle and A.J. Ewing. He is, technically, the best hitter of the group by wRC+, but his 131 is ahead of Kevin McGonigle by just two points while McGonigle had 259 more plate appearances (707 to 448). So, he had a very good season, but not an historic one.
Then again, this is a Giants blog and he’s a Giants prospect and dang it, there was a lot of history in this wonderful season. Also, and rather crucially, there was this historic moment for the ages:
That was his 109th plate appearance of the season, and it’d be easy to say it was the high point, but, really, the whole season was a high point. The record will show that he had just a .799 OPS after this game over his next 339 plate appearances, but what we saw every day was a player who would get a little ahead, then fall a little behind. Get ahead, fall behind. His splits by month is a testament to her perseverance and, potentially, evidence of how he was able to maintain focus over his first full season.
(Also, maybe some credit to Hunter Mense and the hitting staff, too.)
May: .777 OPS (67 PA) — 11.9 BB%, 22.4 K%
June: .883 OPS (104 PA) — 13.5 BB%, 22.1 K%
July: .720 OPS (107 PA) — 14 BB%, 34.6 K%
August: .828 OPS (101 PA) — 9.9 BB%, 24.8 K%
September: .948 OPS (69 PA) — 17.4 BB%, 27.5 K%
He could even pick it at first base.
in our first extended look at him defensively, he’s … pretty OK? Maybe even really good, with a much higher ceiling than anyone expected? (And if anyone is expected to have a high ceiling, we know it’s Eldridge.)
As a continuing storyline, Eldridge was the first bold step forward in the industry’s and fan’s perception of the franchise’s player development. A big, tall leading indicator that the farm system was turning around.
All 7 farm teams posted winning records and overall the system combined for a record of 413-303. That follows a season where 6 of the 7 were winners and they system overall went 405-314.While it’s true that the player development system has had success this decade prior to Buster Posey taking command (2021-2024: 1,535-1,429, .518 win%), perception is very important, and the Giants have managed to turn that around fairly quickly. Eldridge isn’t a fluke. He’s leading the next generation.
Who follows in his footsteps remains an open question, but with their top 5 players all on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 and their next 5 another group of tantalizing talents with standout skills — Kilen’s 60 hit, Jordan’s 60 power, Davidson’s 50s across the board, Bresnahan’s 60 FB/65 CU, and Bolemon’s 60 breaking stuff — it feels like the system is finally having A Moment. Whether or not they can sustain it long-term (Bobby Evans and Brian Sabean certainly couldn’t) is actually besides the point. As a 2026 storyline, the emergence of an actually interesting player development pipeline is one of the bigger ones.
Yes, some of the best are still maybe a year or two away and maybe a year or two away from putting it together to approach their projections, and many simply aren’t going to make it, but at this point, you have to see player development as a continuing storyline that figures to bear fruit in every season when it matters. Like this one we all just endured.
Pistons vs. Knicks Discussion: Game Time, TV, Odds, and More
The undefeated Detroit Pistons will ride their 3-0 record into New York to face the winless Knicks (0-3) tonight at Madison Square Garden. No defending champion has begun the season 4-0 since the 1969-70 Boston Celtics. The Pistons last went 4-0 in 2018-19. If the Pistons win tonight, it gets really interesting. Detroit has gone 5-0 to start a season since 2005-06. That was the 64-win team in its first year under Flip Saunders coming off of consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. But first, they have to deprive the Knicks of their first win of the season, something you know the Knicks will be fighting like hell for.
Why are the Knicks winless? Nobody on their team, save for Karl-Anthony Towns, seems to remember how to shoot. They rank 30th in points, 30th in shooting efficiency, 29th in shooting inside the arc, and 27th in points in the paint. They are also surrendering 37% shooting from three, a bottom-10 mark in the NBA. The Pistons have started the season both hot and prolific from deep and hopefully that trend continues. Last season, the Pistons went undefeated against the Knicks in the regular season and Cade Cunningham averaged 27.3 points, and shot 51% from two and 41% from three. He also averaged 11 assists and four turnovers. Also, Ausar Thompson should be back in the lineup for the Pistons tonight after sitting out the team’s victory over the Philadelphia 76ers with an ankle injury.
Game Vitals
When: 8 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Watch: TV: NBC | Streaming: Peacock
Odds: Pistons +4.5
Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons (3-0)
Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, John Collins, Paul Reed
New York Knicks (0-3)
Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns
Open Thread: World Series Game Four
Three straight wins for the Brewers. I was hoping for a long series, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. If the series ends tonight, the off-season starts tomorrow.
I thought the Rays would, at least, make a series out of this, but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen.
My wife and I went up to Edmonton yesterday to see a night of John Prine music. Four very talented singers/musicians played 2+ hours of John Prine songs. They did all the songs you’d want to see Prine sing, if he were still around. Many that I knew by heart, but also a few that were album cuts that I didn’t remember.
And we had supper with our son and his girl friend, which was great.
World Series Game Four: Open Game Thread
Tonight’s game is possibly the last baseball game of 2026, and maybe from then on the last game of baseball for quite a while, depending on how the lockout goes. As such, we are rooting very hard for the Rays to keep the World Series going because despite our various preferences as a staff, first and foremost we are on team More Baseball. So: let’s go Rays.
Lineups:
Richie Palacios returns to the Rays starting lineup. Griffin Jax will be tasked with trying to keep the Rays from being swept out of the World Series.
Dustin May, one of my Least Favorite Pitchers to Watch, will take the ball for the Brewers. Again, I say, let’s go Rays.
Game time: 5 PT
FOX and FOX Sports One
World Series Game Discussion: Brewers vs Rays Game 4 Tuesday
The Milwaukee Brewers will try to lock up a world championship Tuesday night as they take a 3-0 series lead into Tropicana Field. The Rays will start RHP Griffin Jax while the Brewers will reportedly start Dustin May. First pitch is scheduled for 7pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Fox.
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World Series Game 4: Brewers at Rays, 8:00 p.m. ET
No team has ever rallied from an 0-3 deficit in the World Series, and only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have done it in any best-of-seven playoff series. That is the task now before the Tampa Bay Rays. The Brewers were the ones who had to wait almost a week between the League Championship and the World Series, but somehow they’ve been the club that hasn’t missed a beat. Meanwhile, a Rays lineup that has cooked all season long has run out of gas, while they’ve only made it tougher on themselves by running into a ton of outs on the basepaths.
The Brewers are hunting their first World Series in franchise, and they look dead set on getting it ton as soon as possible. We’ll see if the Rays can put up a fight and make a bit of a series out of it, but the Brewers appear inevitable at this point.
Time/Place: 8:00 p.m ET, Tropicana Field, Tampa, Florida
Broadcast: FOX
SB Nation Sites: DRaysBay/Brew Crew Ball
Pitching Matchup: RHP Dustin May (0-0, 5.63 ERA) vs. RHP Griffin Jax (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Anthony Edwards out two months in Timberwolves injury nightmare
In a young NBA season that’s already been littered with bad injury news, the Timberwolves are the latest to be affected.
Anthony Edwards is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee that will force him to miss up to two months, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday night.
The star guard, 25, dealt with issues in both knees last season and notably played through right knee inflammation and a bone bruise and hyperextension in his left at the end of last year.
He was initially listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Warriors over the right knee issue, which appeared to bother him in a weekend win over the Raptors. He did play Monday, scoring a team-high 47 points in a thrilling 127-125 win over the Cavaliers.
While the knee injury clearly got to a point where he needs surgery, he averaged 33.3 points (in 33.8 minutes per game) through the first four games of this season, with Minnesota off to a 3-1 start.
Edwards, an All-Star in four consecutive seasons, will be a tough player to replace for the Timberwolves, who have hopes of being a contender once again in the Western Conference.
Injuries have dominated the early storylines in the NBA season, as the Thunder have already lost Jalen Williams (dislocated his left ankle, fractured fibula) and Cason Wallace (torn left labrum) potentially for the rest of the season.
The Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard is also out indefinitely with a swollen knee.
Brewers can clinch the World Series with a Game 4 win over Rays tonight
Tonight could see the great city of Milwaukee inundated in a collective inebriation not seen in decades. Their mighty Brewers sit on the cusp of a World Series title after seizing a commanding 3-0 lead over their rivals the Tampa Bay Rays, the latter of whom now must achieve the impossible if they’re to hang their first banner in Tropicana Field.
The Rays will at least have their home field on which to lean in Game 4, as the Trop will again be the host site for the action. That was anything but a good thing for Tampa in Game 3, however, as the Brewers hitting machine sliced and carved them to pieces in a 10-1 rout that sent the Rays to the brink.
All hands will obviously be on-deck for Tampa in what could end up being the final Major League Baseball game played for awhile, what with the December 1st expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the looming lockout from owners on the docket. Griffin Jax will be tasked with the start, though Tampa will obviously have a quick hook if need be – something that yesterday’s drubbing exacerbated as they needed to turn away from starter Freddy Peralta earlier than anyone had hoped.
Dustin May will toe the rubber for Milwaukee as they look to clinch. First pitch is set for just after 8:00 PM ET, with coverage once again on FOX.
Here’s how both clubs will line up to start:
Best of luck to Milwaukee. I expect there to be some serious celebrating of the works of the Plank Road Brewery.