Tampa Bay did not lose Game 3 in the fifth inning. Tampa Bay lost Game 3 in the innings before it, when a team that needed early runs could not score them. The Rays returned home trailing 2-0 in the World Series, needing a spark, and instead ran into Robert Gasser, who threw six scoreless innings while facing the minimum 18 batters. Tampa Bay’s early defensive highlights, a leaping catch by Chandler Simpson that robbed Sal Frelick of extra bases in the second inning, and a throw by Nick Fortes that caught Garrett Mitchell stealing in the very next at bat, fired up the home crowd. But highlights do not score runs, and the Rays’ lineup managed just one hit against Gasser and one run all night, on a Cedric Mullins single and a Yandy Diaz double in the ninth against Brandon Woodruff.
The fifth inning that ended it
Milwaukee led 2-0 in the fifth when a replay review overturned what looked like the third out and loaded the bases. What followed was the worst inning of Tampa Bay’s season: Brice Turang’s two run single, Garrett Mitchell’s run scoring single, Cooper Pratt’s two run double, Sal Frelick’s run scoring double, and hits from David Hamilton and Jackson Chourio, eight runs with two outs, seven consecutive hits, and a 10-0 lead. Starter Freddy Peralta, facing his old club, was charged with five runs in four and two thirds innings. Reliever Cam Booser faced four batters and did not record an out, giving up the first runs of the rally, and Cole Sulser could not stop it either. The inning set two records: the most two out runs in a single inning in World Series history, and the first time a team has had seven consecutive batters get a hit in a postseason game.
What the Rays must fix by Tuesday
Game 4 on Tuesday night is not just another game for Tampa Bay. It is the game that decides whether the series continues. No team has ever won a World Series after trailing 3-0, and the Rays must now win four straight against a Milwaukee team that has won ten straight postseason games. The fixes are clear, even if they are hard: score first, protect an early lead, get length from the starter, and avoid the defensive and bullpen mistakes that turned a close game into a rout. The Brewers Game 3 rout report notes that Tampa Bay’s only run came in the ninth, long after the game was decided. That is the stat that should worry Rays fans most. A team that cannot score until the game is over cannot win four straight, and Tuesday night is the night to prove that Game 3 was an aberration, not a verdict.
