ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – After awhile and even to the purists, this was difficult to watch.
Here’s a team, the Tampa Bay Rays who converted a marginal expectation into a season of grandiose achievement. Now walking the plank in this World Series, the Rays are on the verge of packing and looking in the rare mirror.
In game three of this World Series, the Rays were neither competitive nor challenging. The result was ugly, dreadful and horrid.
The result of a lethargic experience was a 10-1 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers before a sell-out crowd of 40,388 in Tropicana Field. The Brewers banged out 16 hits in this one and that was only six short of the World Series record of 22 accomplished by the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks.
Down 3-0 to the Brewers in this best of seven, the Rays, while disappointed, can only acknowledge the Brewers are clearly the better team and worthy of a championship.
No team in the history of the game has rallied down three to capture a World Series. In fact, only one team, the 2004 Boston Red Sox were down 0-3 in a post-season series and came back to defeat the New York Yankees in the American League Championship series.
“We have a seat at the table and a chair, mentally” said Rays manager Kevin Cash after game three. “We have to do something with that chip. Obviously, the only thing we can do is win (game four).”
Down two games to none coming into the third game, Cash relied on righty Freddie Peralta to help the Rays stay competitive in this series. An elevated pitch count kept Peralta from keeping his team in this game and though he connected on 12 first-pitch strikes among the 22 hitters he faced.
After the Brewers jumped out to a 2-0 lead into the fifth, Peralta appeared to settle in and pitch effectively. Then again, the pitch count began to rise and when the Brewers added a third run in the frame, Peralta’s count reached 87. That’s when Cash went to lefty Cam Bosser to pitch the left-handed hitting Brice Turang, who singled in two and opened the Rays’ demise.
From a flash point in that fifth frame, the Brewers reeled off seven straight hits and forged out to an 8-0 lead.
In the process, lefty Robert Gasser kept the Rays at bay with pinpoint control and crafty location. After Yandy Diaz opened the game a single up the middle, Gasser, a lefty out of El Dorado, Calif, retired 17 of the next 18 hitters. The only Tampa Bay hitter to reach was a lead-off walk to Victor Mesa, Jr. in the sixth.
From that point, the Brewers remain one win away from their first-ever championship.
“We have not achieved anything,” said Brewers’ leftfielder Jackson Chourio, who paced the Milwaukee attack with a 4-for-5 night, two runs scored, a double and one RBI. “So (in game four), the mentality remains the same. The mentality is to come out and win and play our version of the game. So, we’ve sacrificed a lot to get to this point, and we understand the job is not finished.”
From the clubhouse … One of the features which cemented the Rays’ surge to the top of the baseball world was development of team cohesion, purpose and solidarity. When utility player Ryan Vilade said during the stretch run that “we are brothers in here,” the notion of team unity appeared complete. Perhaps the best example of how this team bonded is the presence of pitchers Shane McClanahan (back spams) and Ryan Pepiot (hip surgery), both shut down through the end of the Worls Series. Through the September push, the post-season and the principle of October baseball, their presence in the clubhouse, on the bench and enjoying the champagne celebrations have all worked to characterized the Rays’ effort of establishing “culture,” and that important mental feature. “I think both are part of that culture,” said manager Kevin Cash prior to game three at Tropicana Field. “That’s because of the way they’ve gone about their craft, the way they’ve gone about their rehab, how committed they are to being the best possible teammates and even though they know that they are not able to contribute at this time.”
And the winner is …the annual Roberto Clemente Award was presented before game three to the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor. The Mets shortstop was cited for his dedication to education, youth development and community leadership.
Lindor is the fifth native of Puerto Rico to receive this honor.
“We really don’t try to get recognized by the work we do in the communities,” Lindor said to reporters and well-wishers in a Tropicana Field session. “This is huge honor and humbling to share a stage and share my name on the plaque with Clemente’s ironic batting, running, mechanics after he hit the ball.”
He joins Edgar Martinez (2004), Carlos Delgardo (2006), Carlos Beltran (2013), and Yadier Molina (2018) all natives of Puerto Rico in receiving this award.