ST. PETERSBURG — Three pitches in the fifth inning Monday night turned the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, as the Milwaukee Brewers erupted for eight runs on seven consecutive hits to seize a 3-0 series lead and push the Rays to the brink of elimination.
The historic barrage — the most two-out runs in any Fall Classic inning and the second most in any single postseason inning, according to OptaSTATS — was also one more run than the Rays have scored in the entire series through three games. No team in Major League Baseball history had strung seven consecutive hits in a postseason inning before Milwaukee did it Monday.
“Things just seem to be going [the Brewers’] way right now,” said left-hander Cam Booser, who allowed four runs on four hits to four batters in just 12 pitches before being pulled. “I don’t know what else we can do. Just unfortunate. [Crappy] feeling, like you let your team down.”
The inning began with the Rays holding a manageable 2-0 deficit, but it nearly ended without damage. With runners on first and second and two outs, Brewers catcher William Contreras hit a chopper to third baseman Junior Caminero, who threw to second for what was initially ruled an inning-ending forceout. Replay review overturned the call when Christian Yelich’s right foot reached the bag before the throw arrived to second baseman Ben Williamson. Manager Kevin Cash acknowledged after the game that throwing to first to retire the slow-footed Contreras might have been the better play, but declined to second-guess his third baseman. “I understood why he thought the best avenue was to go to second,” Cash said. “But it was a good job by Yelich busting it to second base and getting there safe.”
Said Caminero via interpreter Kevin Vera: “Going into the moment, once I got the ground ball, I was going to second base all the way.”
The reprieve ended starter Freddy Peralta’s night and brought in Booser, who has been one of the Rays’ most effective relievers since his season debut June 2. Booser’s first batter, Brice Turang, hit a topspin liner at 106 mph that deflected off shortstop Taylor Walls’ glove and rolled into center field, scoring two runs. “I felt like that was pretty much the turning point in the game there,” Walls said. Booser’s next pitch — a 96 mph four-seam fastball — was slapped through the left side by Garrett Mitchell to score Contreras. His following pitch, an 87 mph cutter, was pulled down the left-field line by Cooper Pratt for two more runs. The score went from 2-0 to 7-0 in three pitches. Sal Frelick then lined an RBI double into the same corner before Cash pulled Booser. David Hamilton added a line-drive RBI single off Cole Sulser, and Hamilton scored on Jackson Chourio’s double to right-center before Jake Bauers’ flyout ended the inning.
Cash called the collapse “deflating.” Walls was more visceral: “knife in the chest.”
The Rays now face a deficit no team has ever overcome in World Series history. Only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have rallied from 3-0 down in any postseason series. Walls, however, urged his teammates to play without pressure. “Nobody’s expecting you to win at this point,” he said. “So just play free, go out there, do what you can to survive the at-bat, win the pitch, and see what happens at the end of it.”
Game 4 of the World Series is scheduled for Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, with the Rays facing elimination and the Brewers one win from their first championship.