The Milwaukee Brewers are two wins away from the first World Series title in franchise history. The Brewers won Games 1 and 2 at American Family Field in nail-biting fashion, and the series now shifts to Tropicana Field. Game 3 is a must-win for the Tampa Bay Rays, who will try to become the first team to erase a 2-0 deficit in the World Series since the 1996 New York Yankees.
"I know our fans are going to be really loud and excited to see us come back and kind of reset ourselves a little bit," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Game 2. "We've got a really good pitcher going, as do they. A lot of confidence in this club to respond.
They've done it all season long, and they'll continue to do it." As agonizing as it has been, the Rays were this close in Games 1 and 2. They had the tying run at third base in the ninth inning of both games. One hit, one bounce, and it's a very different series.
Ultimately, the Rays did not get that hit or bounce, and they must now beat baseball's best team, one on a major heater at that, four times in the next five games. Here are three key questions going into Monday night's Game 3 at the Trop. The Rays will start Freddy Peralta, the ALCS MVP and, of course, a former Brewer, in Game 3.
Six teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series in the last 40 years and the common thread is a great pitching performance in Game 3. Comebacks always seem to start with the guy on the mound. Ask the Rays, and they'll tell you they have the right guy lined up Monday.
"I give Freddy a lot of credit for being a good pitcher and being vulnerable enough to say, 'I wasn't comfortable doing some things and I want to get back to my strengths,'" Cash said prior to the World Series. "He guided that through the entire two months he's been with us, and he took off in September and has continued to take off in October." Peralta has been terrific this postseason, allowing only two runs in 16 ⅔ innings across three starts and one relief appearance. He's been great with the Rays in general since coming over from the Mets at the trade deadline.
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