Final Score: Brewers 4 Rays 1
Why The Brewers Won: The Brewers pitching was just too much for the Rays. After the Rays 4 run outburst in the 1st inning of Game 2, they could only score 6 runs over the next 38 innings. The Brewers pitching gave up 20 hits in that span with 9 being in the 12 inning 4th game. They only walked 5 batters during that stretch. It was 38 innings of superb pitching. Jacob Misiorowski pitched almost like the early season Mis going 5 and 2/3 innings giving up only 2 hits and a walk but only striking out 2. He was mowing them down until a leg injury made him leave the game. The Brewers bullpen had no trouble taking over giving up 0 hits over the next 2 and 1/3 innings. The Rays got a lucky hit in the bottom of the 9th when the ball hit the front right corner of the first base bag for a double. They added another double down the right field line to score their only run of the game. William Contreras was the MVP of the series and deservedly so. Other than his obvious contributions he was an ABS challenge wizard and was the main factor in controlling the vaunted Rays running game. The best team in baseball won this World Series.
Key Moments Of The Game: Drew Rasmussen had gone 4 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits walking none and striking out 4. He had thrown only 48 pitches. I know he was going on 3 days rest. The Rays decided it was enough and went to their bullpen. Again they just did not have it. In the next 2 innings the Brewers scored 3 runs on 5 hits and you just felt this game was over. Once the Brewers scored 4 runs, 9 of the next 10 Rays batters made outs. The only Ray batter to get on base was on a throwing error. The Rays had the mild threat in the bottom of the 9th but really did not put any real pressure on the Brewers. The Rays collectively succumbed to the pressure of the World Series and the Milwaukee Brewers. Congratulations to the Brew Crew and their first ever championship.
Next Game: Who knows with labor negotiations coming up. I have a couple of more articles coming up on the Pirates, but the blog will turn to golf for a while and few other articles on college football. Yes, golf, I am still playing and getting frustrated as usual. The learning process never stops. It was a great baseball season and an even better post season. I wish the World Series had been a little longer, but the Brewers were relentless. About 5 years of playoff frustration came to end. It was a fun season. I hope the next season will start on time. Stay tuned.
