The Tampa Bay Rays had a World Series Game 1 win on the line multiple times. They just could not reel it in.
Tampa Bay dropped Game 1 of the World Series 3-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. A ninth-inning rally, kept alive by a replay review, ended with the tying run on third base when Jonny DeLuca struck out against Trevor Megill. Between a ball that popped out of a glove and two double plays that caught two runners stealing, the Rays had their hands on this one several times. The Brewers lead
the series 1-0, and if the rest of the series is anything like this one, everybody is in for a ride.
The first near miss came three batters in. Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson singled, but Junior Caminero lined a ball right at third baseman David Hamilton, who doubled Aranda off second.
The bottom half was where the first opportunity slipped free. After Jackson Chourio led off with a single against Nick Martinez, Christian Yelich drove one to deep center, where it bounced out of DeLuca’s glove. Instead of a long out, it was an RBI triple. William Contreras followed with a single that caromed off shortstop Taylor Walls into left, and Milwaukee led 2-0 before the Rays could settle in.
Martinez ultimately settled in. He struck out Brice Turang and Garrett Mitchell to end the first, stranded Sal Frelick at third in the second and retired eight straight at one point. His final line: five innings, two runs, five hits, no walks and five strikeouts.
Jacob Misiorowski, the majors’ ERA leader at 1.80 during the regular season, threw triple-digit heat, topping out at 103.5 mph on the first pitch of the game. The Rays finally started making a dent on him in the fourth. Aranda walked, Caminero scorched a double to center, and Liam Hicks grounded out to bring Aranda home. DeLuca flew out, leaving Caminero at third, and it was 2-1.
Then the basepaths started taking bites out of the line.
Victor Mesa Jr. singled to open the fifth and moved to second, only to be thrown out by Contreras trying to steal third with two outs. Mesa got some payback in the bottom half, starting a relay that nailed Hamilton at third after a double to right.
In the sixth, Aranda singled off reliever Abner Uribe and was cut down stealing second on the same pitch Simpson struck out on. Normally that’s a hit-and-run you can count on like the sun rising but tonight it did not work according to plan. That made three Rays runners erased on the bases in six innings in what ultimately would be a one-run game.
Milwaukee needed only one extra-base hit. Steven Matz wiggled out of two two-out walks in the sixth but walked Cooper Pratt to lead off the seventh. Pratt reached second with two outs, and Kevin Kelly came on to face Chourio, who grounded a single into right. 3-1.
That run looked like a minor detail at the time. It wasn’t.
The Rays bullpen kept the door shut. In the eighth, Garrett Cleavinger and Cole Sulser stranded runners at the corners, with Caminero handling three plays at third, including a bunt he caught on a line. Aaron Ashby, meanwhile, set down all five Rays he saw for Milwaukee.
That set up the ninth, and the closest the Rays came to reeling it in. Díaz grounded out, but Aranda singled for his third hit and Simpson followed with another. Jorge Mateo ran for Aranda, the two pulled off a double steal, and Caminero walked to load the bases.
Suddenly, a game that felt just out of reach felt like a comeback was moving from possible to probable.
Hicks hit a hard grounder to Turang that was initially called a game-ending double play. Tampa Bay challenged the call at second, and it was overturned because Pratt’s foot was off the base, and suddenly the game was still breathing. Mateo scored as a result; Simpson was on third with the tying run, and Caminero was at second with the go-ahead run. Hicks had driven in both Rays runs without a hit. If the Rays pulled off the win, it would have been one of the most impactful replay reviews in history.
DeLuca, though, struck out swinging, and the tension in the game and proverbial fishing line went slack.
The Brewers are now 5-0 at home this postseason. The Rays get another chance in Game 2 on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, with Drew Rasmussen starting opposite Logan Henderson.
