Brewers Rout Rays to Move Within One Win of First Title

Milwaukee broke open a close game with an eight-run fifth inning, scoring all eight runs with two outs—the first time a team has done that in a World Series inning. The 10-1 victory put the Brewers one win from their first championship and left Tampa Bay facing elimination in Game 4 on October 27 at Tropicana Field.

Brice Turang’s two-run single started the surge after a replay review overturned a forceout call and loaded the bases. Taylor Walls could not stop Turang’s hard-hit grounder, which glanced off his glove into shallow center. Garrett Mitchell, Cooper Pratt and Sal Frelick followed with run-scoring hits, and David Hamilton and Jackson Chourio added to the lead against reliever Cole Sulser.

Milwaukee finished with 16 hits. Chourio went 4-for-5, and William Contreras had three hits. Starter Robert Gasser held the Rays to one hit and one walk over six scoreless innings, facing the minimum 18 batters, aided by a runner thrown out trying to steal and a twin killing.

Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta allowed five runs in four and two-thirds innings. Walls called the defensive play on Turang’s hit a turning point, while reliever Cam Booser said he felt he had let his team down. Rays manager Kevin Cash said the team’s only option was to win the next game.

Among the 25 clubs that had fallen behind 3-0 in a World Series before, 21 were eliminated in a sweep, while the other four went down after five games. Milwaukee leads the series 3-0 after winning the first two games by one run each.