MILWAUKEE – The history guaranteed to be made in this unusual World Series starts here.
It starts with the host Milwaukee Brewers giving the ball to their fireballing ace, Jacob Misiorowski, a 24-year-old getting a start that, for the Cream City, is 44 years in the making. It starts with the Tampa Bay Rays trying to spoil the party that will start in the American Family Field parking lot hours before first pitch.
One of these teams is about to embark upon the journey to their franchise’s first title – an arrangement not seen in a Fall Classic since 1980 (Phillies over Royals) and only one other time in the last 116 years (1920 Cleveland Indians over Brooklyn Dodgers). So this is not your ordinary Game 1.
“We know,” said Brewers captain Christian Yelich, “that our performance directly affects people’s happiness and togetherness.”
Hey, no pressure.
But two teams known to put pressure on opponents appear up to the task. The Brewers and Rays are going to feel like they’re looking in a mirror in what, on paper at least, looks to be a small-ball Series straight out of the 1980s.
What’s not out of the ’80s is the fastball velocity of the kid they call “The Miz.” And so much of Game 1 will be oriented around whether Misiorowski can reclaim the dominance we saw from him in the regular season after he struggled to provide much length in the Brewers’ first two rounds of play.
“Obviously the Padres and Dodgers both had a good approach of just fouling stuff off,” Misiorowski said. “I bet Tampa Bay is going to do pretty much the same thing. So I think I've just got to stick to my strengths and pound the zone.”
The Rays opted not to stick with their Game 1 starter from the ALDS and ALCS in Drew Rasmussen, who was available to them on four days’ rest. Instead, they’re giving their ace an extra day, saving former Brewers ace (and ALCS MVP) Freddy Peralta for Tropicana Field and rolling with Nick Martinez in Game 1. A free-agent acquisition who emerged as a first-time All-Star this season, the 36-year-old Martinez is grateful for the opportunity.
“It's exciting,” he said. “I think as a team, as a staff, we're confident in whoever we call up for the mound. It fell on me, and my job is just to rack up as many outs as we can and keep us in this ballgame.”
A little history lesson headed into this one: The Game 1 winner in the World Series has gone on to win the Fall Classic 77 times, or 63.6% of the time. That has been the case in 18 of the last 23 and 23 of the last 28 World Series beginning in 1997. Home teams have won the World Series opener 72 of 121 times (59.5%).
When is the game and how can I watch it?
Game 1 is Friday at 8 p.m. ET and airs nationally on FOX and FOX Deportes with streaming on FOX One.
All series are available in the US on MLB.TV with authentication to a participating Pay TV provider. Games also are available live internationally, although not in Canada. Sportsnet is MLB's exclusive English language broadcaster in Canada for every postseason game, while TVA Sports will be covering the entire AL postseason and the World Series in French and Broadcaster RDS will cover the entire NL postseason in French.
Who are the starting pitchers?
Rays: RHP Nick Martinez
Key Stats: Rays have gone 24-9 in games started by Martinez this season, including playoffs
In a bit of a surprise move, the Rays announced on the eve of the World Series that it will be Martinez, not ace Drew Rasmussen, who will take the ball in Game 1, with Rasmussen slated for Saturday's Game 2. Rasmussen, who started Game 1 in both the ALDS and ALCS, would have been on four days' rest for Game 1 of the Fall Classic, but Martinez instead joins Scott Kazmir (2008) and Tyler Glasnow (2020) as Rays to start a World Series opener. Martinez has pitched only on the road this postseason, permitting only three runs on seven hits and three walks over nine innings.
Rasmussen will now get to pitch on five days' rest when he takes the ball in Game 2. Twenty-three of his 30 regular-season starts this year came on more than four days of rest, and the same has been true for each of his three postseason outings thanks to the postponement of ALCS Game 4 in Cleveland.
Brewers: RHP Jacob Misiorowski
Key Stats: MLB regular-season leader in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), WHIP (0.80), opponents' average (.157)
Misiorowski’s first pitch of NLDS Game 1 against the Padres was 104.8 mph, the fastest postseason pitch in the pitch-tracking era, which dates back to 2008. But it hasn’t been smooth sailing since then. The Padres made him work, fouling off an incredible 30 pitches in the first four innings to knock Misiorowski out of the game by the fifth at 88 pitches. Then the Dodgers battled him just as tough in Game 1 of the NLCS, seeing 94 Misiorowski pitches in 4 1/3 hard-fought innings in which he limited the damage to one run. Half of their swings -- 21 of 42 -- produced a foul ball.
“Miz, say what you want, you didn't see 105 [mph], whatever, but whenever he got in a jam, he got better,” manager Pat Murphy said that night after the Brewers won the game. “His innings are up to almost 190 this year. That's way over, way over what he's ever done. The kid's bound to be a little bit tired, you know what I mean? You can't expect him to understand what this is all about going this far and having to pitch this much this year with the pressure he's had on him.”
The good news is Misiorowski will be rested. Because the Brewers finished off the Dodgers in four games, he will have gone 11 full days off between pitching against an opponent in a different uniform.
What are the starting lineups?
Rays: Misiorowski isn’t exactly an easy matchup for anyone, but it would make sense for the Rays to use a relatively standard lineup against the Brewers’ flame-throwing ace.
1. Yandy Díaz, DH
2. Jonathan Aranda, 1B
3. Junior Caminero, 3B
4. Liam Hicks, C
5. Chandler Simpson, LF
6. Victor Mesa Jr., RF
7. Jonny DeLuca, CF
8. Richie Palacios, 2B
9. Taylor Walls, SS
Brewers: The lineup the Brewers used against right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 produced the second postseason game in franchise history in which five different players tallied multiple hits. Against right-hander Tyler Glasnow in NLCS Game 4, they came back from four runs down to finish a sweep. So with the Rays starting a right-hander in Martinez for World Series Game 1, why not roll with the same batting order?
1. Jackson Chourio, LF
2. Brice Turang, 2B
3. William Contreras, C
4. Jake Bauers, 1B
5. Christian Yelich, DH
6. Garrett Mitchell, CF
7. Cooper Pratt, SS
8. Sal Frelick, RF
9. David Hamilton, 3B
How will the bullpens line up after the starter?
Rays: The Rays leaned heavily on their starters in the ALDS and ALCS, with Peralta, Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour making at least one appearance out of the bullpen. Seymour became a regular left-handed presence in relief, albeit with shaky results in ALCS Game 6. Closer Bryan Baker has finished each of the Rays’ seven postseason wins, working seven scoreless innings so far. Left-hander Cam Booser has clearly established himself as the top left-handed setup man in front of Baker, while Tyler Wells and Kevin Kelly will get the biggest outs against right-handed hitters.
Brewers: Brewers relievers are 7-1 with a 1.33 ERA (six earned runs in 40 2/3 innings this postseason, accounting for every decision in the eight team games so far. That comes after they led MLB with 48 wins and led the NL with a 3.40 ERA in the regular season. Their high-leverage arms are leading the way: Trevor Megill (5 2/3 innings), Aaron Ashby (12 1/3 innings; more on his historic showing here) and DL Hall (5 1/3 innings) have combined for 23 1/3 scoreless innings this postseason with a .096 opponents’ average, and Abner Uribe had not allowed an earned run while appearing in each of the first six team games this postseason until allowing two runs (and giving up the lead) in the Brewers’ come-from-behind 6-2 win over the Dodgers in NLCS Game 3. He didn’t pitch in Game 4, so he will be particularly well-rested. Oh yeah, there’s also Brandon Woodruff. The Brewers’ longest-tenured player was a last-minute add to the World Series roster after completing an unlikely comeback from the cusp of season-ending shoulder surgery.
Any injuries of note?
Rays: Starter Shane McClanahan was ruled out for the postseason, although he will be ready to go next spring. Otherwise, nothing new.
Brewers: The biggest question mark for the Brewers on the eve of the World Series was Woodruff, who spent the past three weeks making a last-ditch effort to make the roster. After bullpen sessions during the NLDS and NLCS, Woodruff threw 23 pitches in a simulated game earlier this week, and the Brewers saw enough to make the stunning decision to add him to the 26-man roster in place of right-hander Chad Patrick, who was on the roster for the NLDS and the NLCS but never pitched.
It’s a risk the Brewers deemed worth taking. Typically, an injured player can be replaced on the roster, but the Brewers worry that Major League Baseball would not approve a substitution in this case because it would fall under a preexisting injury. The club's best understanding as of Thursday afternoon is that such a request likely would be denied. Either way, the Brewers and Woodruff decided to go for it.
“This is a guy that's one of the most successful, dominant big-game pitchers I've ever been around,” president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said Thursday while acknowledging the risks. “A lot of unknowns there, but obviously, the good version of that guy is somebody you'd love to have on your roster.”
Who is hot and who is not?
Rays: Caminero officially joined the postseason party in Game 6 of the ALCS by slugging a two-run homer off the left-field pole against Cleveland closer Cade Smith. Díaz hit .333 with four doubles, two homers, four RBIs and a 1.061 OPS in the ALCS, and he leads the league with six extra-base hits in the postseason. Palacios went 6-for-12 with a big two-run double in the ALCS, and Simpson once again established himself as the lineup’s speedy spark plug. Hicks, DeLuca, Walls and Mesa didn’t provide much at the plate in the ALCS, but their defense was invaluable.
Brewers: Bauers won NLCS MVP by driving in six runs (twice as many as any other player on either the Brewers or Dodgers in the series). His 12-pitch walk turned NLCS Game 2 in the Brewers’ favor, and his 11-pitch home run in NLCS Game 3 gave the Brewers the lead in the seventh inning. … Contreras is also having a great postseason, hitting .367 with five RBIs in eight games. … Chourio is hot and not, all at the same time. He has a team-best seven RBIs this postseason, but has hit just .171 (6-for-35). His leadoff home run off Blake Snell in Game 3 of the NLCS gave Chourio 18 career postseason RBIs, moving him past Andruw Jones for the most postseason RBIs before a player’s 23rd birthday.
Anything else fans might want to know?
• This will be the first World Series game at American Family Field, but not the first World Series game in Milwaukee. Both the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and 1982 Brewers played at County Stadium, which sat just to the west of where the Brewers play today. There’s a marker for County Stadium’s home plate on the concourse of the youth baseball and softball field on the site today.
• Teams to score first are 23-12 (.657) this postseason going into the World Series, but Milwaukee has bucked that trend this October, going 5-1 when conceding the first run. All other teams are a combined 7-22 going into Friday night.
• It’s been 44 years since the World Series came to Milwaukee, and that’s a big number in these parts. It was worn by Hank Aaron, the former Milwaukee Braves and Brewers star who hit his 755th and final Major League home run at County Stadium 50 years ago this year.
• The Rays are 92-0 this year, including the regular season and postseason, when leading after eight innings. The last team to go a full year, including the playoffs, with a perfect winning percentage and at least 92 wins in those situations was the 2002 A’s (93-0). The A's, however, fell in the Division Series to the Twins.