Brewers One Victory Away from their First World Series Championship
The line score tells you everything you need to know about tonight’s third game of the World
Series. The visiting Milwaukee Brewers scored 10 runs on 16 hits with 0 errors. The home
town Tampa Rays scored 1 run on 3 hits with 1 error. But if you’d like to know how those
line scores were created, please read on.
The Brewers got the scoring going tonight with a two-run top of the third. With one out
Jackson Chourio singled to left field. Jake Bauers followed with a base-on-balls. Christian
Yelich singled to left field scoring Chourio. William Contreras followed with another single
sending Bauers across home plate. 2-0 Brew Crew.
And then the Brewers let loose in the top of the fifth sending eleven players to the plate.
With one out Jackson Chourio singled to center field. With two outs Christian Yelich drew a
base-on-balls. William Contreras then ran out an infield single. Bases loaded. Brice
Turang singled to center scoring Chourio and Yelich. Garrett Mitchell followed with a single
of his own scoring Contreras. Cooper Pratt then doubled to left field scoring Turang and
Mitchell. Sal Frelick also doubled to left field scoring Pratt. And the parade continued…
David Hamilton singled to center field scoring Frelick. Jackson Chourio followed with his
second hit of the inning, a double to right field scoring Hamilton. Whew!!! 10-0 Milwaukee.
The Brewers set a World Series record in this inning as they scored eight runs with two outs.
The Rays finally got a run across in the bottom of the ninth. With one out Cedric Mullins
beat out an infield single. With two outs Yandy Diaz doubled to center field scoring Mullins.
But that’s all they could muster. Final score Milwaukee 10 and Tampa 1.
Stars of the game for the Brewers would include starting pitcher Robert Gasser who went 6
innings giving up only 1 hit while striking out 3. Hitting stars would include Jose Chourio
who went 4 for 5 with a double and 1 RBI, Christian Yelich with 2 hits in 3 tries with an RBI,
Will Contreras who had 3 hits in 5 at bats with an RBI, and Brian Turang who went 3 for 5
with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs.
What a game for the Brewers. What a disappointment for the Rays. But a team needs to
win four games in order to claim the title of World Series Champions.
Game four takes place tomorrow in St. Petersburg at 8:00 ET.
Dave’s Dime…The Tampa Bay Rays
Just for the heck of it, before I did any research, I tried to write down everything I knew
about the Tampa Bay Rays. I really couldn’t think of much. Never been a fan. Never
followed the team, obviously. The only thing I remember, and I don’t know why, is that
former Oakland A’s star Jose Canseco played with the Rays toward the end of his career.
Let’s look up a few things in order to add something to my limited knowledge…
I would now pat myself on the back if I could. Too much arthritis. Jose Canseco did play for
Tampa in 1999 and 2000. He finished his career with the White Sox in 2001.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined the American League as an expansion team in 1998. The
Arizona Diamondbacks became a member of the National League that same season.
The Tampa Bay area had been trying to obtain a Major League franchise since the 1960’s.
They were among the first areas to host MLB spring training, starting way back in the 1910’s.
There’s actually a great story associated with everything the Tampa/St. Petersburg area
went through in order to finally land an MLB franchise, including at one point a threatened
lawsuit. If you’re interested, give it a read. But they finally did it. They had an MLB
franchise to call their own.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays played their first MLB game on March 31, 1998. They ended up
losing 99 games that first season and struggled mightily for many years. They had a
propensity for signing veteran players from other teams who were a little past their prime.
Some examples would include Fred McGriff, Vinny Castilla, the aforementioned Jose
Canseco, and Greg Vaughn.
A team rebranding took place before the 2008 season. They dropped their current colorscheme and shortened their name to just the “Rays”. That new Rays name supposedly
referred to a ray of sunshine, or Florida being known as the Sunshine State. That “Devil”
part of their name was obviously a curse.
The teams’ payroll increased although it was still the lowest in baseball. However, the
changes must have meant something to the franchise, as the new and improved Rays
made it to the World Series for the first time in their history. They were swept by the
Philadelphia Phillies, but they had finally made it all the way to the big show.
The only other time the Rays made the World Series was in the shortened 2020 season.
The Covid-19 pandemic being the reason for that truncation. Only 60 games were played
that season. The Rays had a record of 40 wins and 20 losses. They lost the World Series to
the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 2. I had already forgotten how strange that season
actually was. Another thing to look up and refresh your memory if you have the time.
And now they’re back for the third time. Will it be the charm? It’s not looking too good right
now, but as Yogi Berra once philosophized, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
