Brewers' 8-Run Outburst Puts Rays on Brink, 3-0 in World Series

The Milwaukee Brewers scored eight runs with two outs in a single inning on Monday night at Tropicana Field, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series. The performance marked the first time a team has put up eight two-out runs in a World Series inning.

The Rays trailed 2-0 entering the fifth inning when a ground ball to third base changed the game. Junior Caminero threw to second as umpire Dan Bellino signaled a forceout, but the call was reversed in the New York replay operations center by umpire Alfonso Márquez, giving William Contreras an infield single that loaded the bases. Caminero said he chose to throw to second because he did not think the runner at first base had much speed.

Brewers batter Brice Turang then hit a one-hopper off the glove of pitcher Cam Booser that struck the dirt just past the infield grass. The ball glanced off the glove of shortstop Taylor Walls and rolled into short center field. Two runs scored on the play.

I knew the speed at first base wasn't necessarily the best in that situation, Caminero said through a translator. I was going to second base all the way.

I'd like to have that one back, Booser said. Those are plays that you'd like to make, that you expect to make.

Milwaukee's rally included seven consecutive two-out hits against Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta and relievers Booser and Cole Sulser. Garrett Mitchell and Cooper Pratt followed Turang with hits on three straight pitches. The Brewers scored their eight runs across a 17-pitch span. Jackson Chourio had four hits in the game, including two in that inning.

The Brewers built their initial 2-0 lead in the third inning on RBI singles by Christian Yelich and Contreras. Boston previously held the Series record for two-out runs in an inning with seven against Colorado in the 2007 opener, a mark matched by San Francisco in 2010. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Los Angeles Dodgers scored 10 runs with two outs in the first inning of Game 3 against Atlanta in the 2020 NLCS.

Rays manager Kevin Cash addressed his team after the loss. It's kind of that chip and a chair mentality, Cash said. We've got a seat at the table. We've got to do something with the chip. Obviously the only thing we can do is win tomorrow.

Of the 25 previous teams that fell behind 3-0 in a World Series, 21 were swept and four lost in five games. Of 43 teams to trail 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason matchup, only the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series came back to win.

The Rays' first World Series game at Tropicana Field in 18 years ended with Tampa Bay players leaving the field in silence. Worst feeling in the world, feeling like you let your team down, Booser said in the clubhouse. Milwaukee's Griffin Jax said he would put the deficit aside when he starts Game 4 on Tuesday. We just got our butts kicked tonight, Jax said. We'll just kind of forget it and try to sleep it off and come back tomorrow ready to fight.