The Tampa Bay Rays are one loss away from getting swept in the World Series. Ahead of Game 3 of the World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays benched Jonathan Aranda and Liam Hicks. Ryan Vilade and Nick Fortes replaced them at first base and behind the plate, respectively. However, the result was ultimately nil. Without their two best hitters, the Rays offense went cold, and the Milwaukee Brewers crushed them 10-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the World Series.
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A brutal 8-run fifth inning punctuated the Brewers’ offensive explosion on Monday, and Rays’ reliever Cam Booser faced the worst of it. After the loss, a disheartened Booser spoke to the media about what went wrong.
“Yeah, just spitting on good pitches and putting balls in play. It’s a good lineup. Things seem to be going their way right now. So, it’s unfortunate,” Booser told the reporters, per Mark Skol, Jr. of FOX13News. “Worst feeling in the world, feeling like you let your team down. So, yeah, it’s unfortunate.”
With the Milwaukee Brewers only one win away from a World Series victory, Booser’s words describe the incredible pressure and disappointment within the Rays clubhouse. According to MLB.com, shortstop Taylor Walls compared watching the game unravel to a “knife in the chest.”
Freddy Peralta started Game 3 for the Rays. He kept them scoreless until Christian Yelich hit an RBI single, scoring Jackson Chourio in the top of the third. Peralta then followed it with another RBI single to William Contreras, giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead. Until now, Peralta had not allowed a multi-run inning since August 21, after he joined the Rays.
While the fourth inning went uneventfully, things backfired for the Rays in the fifth. Manager Kevin Cash pulled Peralta after he allowed singles to Chourio and Contreras and walked Yelich with two outs. Cam Booser inherited the runner with the bases loaded.
However, Booser failed to get the final out in the fifth. Instead, he allowed back-to-back run-scoring singles to Brice Turang and Mitchell, extending the gap. Leading 5-0, the Brewers scored three more runs off Booser as Cooper Pratt hit a two-run double and then scored a run on Sal Frelick’s RBI hit.
Booser left the mound without an out, putting the Rays in an 8-0 hole. His remark about letting his teammates down stems from his ineffective outing on the mound. After allowing two more runs, Cole Sulser ended the inning by retiring Jake Bauers. The Rays were trailing 10-0 and never recovered.
Robert Gasser kept the Rays’ offense in a chokehold and allowed only 1 hit in his 6 innings. The Rays scored only one run at the bottom of the ninth, when Yandy Diaz doubled with two outs.
In the pursuit of their first World Series title, the Rays are on the verge of getting swept while playing in their home park. The last time they played in the World Series was in 2020, when they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.
The Rays now have a daunting task in front of them. The Boston Red Sox are the only team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven postseason series. They did it in 2004 when they won the ALCS and eventually became the World Series champions.
Taylor Walls talk about the turning point of the game
Cam Booser has been one of the effective relievers in the Rays’ bullpen since he debuted on June 2 this season. Booser finished the regular season with a 1.98 ERA and 45 strikeouts. However, his effectiveness was missing against the Brewers on Monday.
After the inning-ending forceout by Junior Caminero against Christian Yelich was overturned upon replay review, the Brewers got a new life. Freddy Peralta was pulled in favor of Cam Booser, who inherited the bases-loaded inning. The Rays were trailing 2-0.
Brice Turang hit a liner up the middle that hopped in front of shortstop Taylor Walls and deflected off his glove, helping the Brewers score two more runs.
According to MLB.com, Walls described the play as, “I felt like that was pretty much the turning point in the game there.”
And he was right. There was no recovery for the Rays from there. Apart from scoring 4 runs in the first inning of Game 2, the Rays’ lineup has struggled against the Brewers. Without Aranda and Hicks, the task became even more difficult. The Brewers also kept capitalizing on the opening they got.
With the Brewers on the verge of making franchise history, the Rays should aim for their own history in Game 4 to script a comeback.