MILWAUKEE -- Whether the Brewers or Rays emerge with the Commissioner’s Trophy hoisted in the air, Major League Baseball is about to have a first-time champion.
They are among the five current franchises -- with the Mariners, Padres and Rockies -- which have never won the World Series. But that will change after a clash between the two teams that finished the regular season with the best record in each league. The Brewers won a franchise-record 103 games. The Rays won 98.
One of them will win four more.
“The World Series is about to be [between] two exceptional baseball teams,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said amid the sprays of champagne and pouring beer in the Tropicana Field clubhouse late Monday night. “It's going to be a blast to watch.”
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: Likely RHP Drew Rasmussen
Key Stats: 11-0, 1.73 ERA in 15 starts since the All-Star break
What better way for the World Series to start than with Rasmussen facing the team that drafted him and dealt him to the Rays five years ago? The Rays obviously didn’t announce their rotation immediately after clinching a spot in the Fall Classic, but their ace will be on four days’ rest and ready to pitch Game 1 of the World Series, as he handled Game 1 of the ALDS and Game 1 of the ALCS. Tampa Bay has won 14 of Rasmussen’s last 15 starts, and the club should be able to roll out ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta -- another former Brewer -- on normal rest in Game 2 before turning to fully rested and ready options like Nick Martinez and Griffin Jax.
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 leaning toward left-handed hitters 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 likely to start Rasmussen in 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, 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.
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 is right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who spent the past two weeks making a last-ditch effort to make the World Series roster. After throwing off the mound prior to the NLDS for the first time since abruptly scuttling plans for season-ending shoulder surgery in August, Woodruff threw 31 more pitches off a mound in the visitors’ bullpen at Dodger Stadium during a workout between NLCS Games 2 and 3.
“I’m not really holding back,” Woodruff said that day. “I’m going as hard as my body will let me right now, because that’s where we’re at. I’m doing it in what I think is a good and safe way. I wouldn’t get on a mound if I didn’t think I could get on a mound. … I wouldn’t go do what I’m doing if I didn’t feel like I could do it.”
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.