The Milwaukee Brewers moved one step closer to their first ever World Series title on Monday night, taking a 3-0 series lead with a dominant 10-1 win.
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Brewers → move → win
The Tampa Bay Rays will be kicking themselves over a disastrous top of the fifth inning, and historians will one day use a clip of that inning, and the entire 2026 Brewers' postseason run for that matter, as proof of how powerful luck is in Major League Baseball.
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luck → kick → Baseball
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
Game three meant the series shifted to Tampa Bay, and Tropicana Field was packed to the rafters with Rays fans and a sizable contingent of Brewers supporters.
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Field → mean → supporters
But as has typically been the case this postseason, only those in Milwaukee blue and gold had much to cheer about.
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those → have → much
At least defensively, the Rays put up a fight.
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Rays → put → fight
In the top of the second, outfielder Chandler Simpson made a tremendous running catch in the left field corner, crashing into the fence to rob Sal Frelick of a hit.
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Simpson → make → hit
Then catcher Nick Fortes caught Garrett Mitchell trying to steal second base to end the inning.
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Fortes → catch → inning
In the third inning, the Milwaukee superteam machine kicked into high gear.
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machine → kick → gear
Jackson Chourio started things off with a ground ball single.
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Chourio → start → single
Jake Bauers followed with a walk.
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Bauers → follow → walk
That's when the Brewers' incredible penchant for outperforming on batting average on balls in play reared its gigantic head yet again.
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penchant → outperform → head
Christian Yelich popped up a 71 mph blooper that fell in for an RBI single.
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that → pop → single
William Contreras followed with another 79 mph blooper that fell in to drive in the second run of the game.
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that → follow → game
Still, a 2-0 game in the third inning wouldn't normally mean that much, but the Brewers had Robert Gasser on the mound.
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Brewers → mean → mound
Who's Robert Gasser you might be wondering?
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you → wonder → ?
Well, essentially the epitome of a league average pitcher, someone who had a 4.27 "expected" ERA in the regular season, then turned into a Cy Young candidate in the playoffs.
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who → have → playoffs
Gasser entered his game three start with just one run allowed in the playoffs, but the Rays couldn't muster even that on Monday night.
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Rays → enter → night
Rarely getting swings and misses, Gasser relied on his best friend in October: the opposing team having exceptionally poor luck on batted balls put in play.
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Gasser → get → play
Prior to Monday, opposing hitters had just a .185 BABIP against him.
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hitters → oppose → him
Then he went six shutout innings with just three strikeouts and only one hit allowed.
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he → go → strikeouts
Because the Rays had an .071 BABIP.
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Rays → have → BABIP
Gasser will likely end his postseason with just seven hits on 55 balls put in play, an incredible .127 batting average allowed, when league average is around .300.
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average → end → .300
Gasser's start was the first time a lefty had gone six shutout innings while facing the minimum number of hitters in the World Series since Sandy Koufax.
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lefty → go → Koufax
Next time you want your favorite team to acquire the big name starting pitcher in free agency or at the trade deadline, just remember that one of the most effective starters on the team that won the World Series was Robert Gasser.
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that → want → Series
That he did something that hadn't been done in the World Series by a lefty since one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the sport.
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that → do → sport
There's no luck in baseball, because everything must have an explanation, no matter how absurd.
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everything → be → explanation
Gasser didn't need much support, obviously, but the Brewers unstoppable offense provided it anyway.
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offense → need → it
In the fifth inning, Milwaukee put together one of the most absurd innings you'll ever see, and a near-perfect reminder of the immense amount of variance and randomness inherent in baseball.
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you → put → baseball
It started innocently enough, with Chourio once again singling with one out.
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Chourio → start → out
Jake Bauers flew out for the second out, then Christian Yelich walked to put runners at first and second.
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Yelich → fly → first
Then, the play that will haunt Rays fans forever.
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that → haunt → fans
William Contreras grounded one in the hole between second and third, and third baseman Junior Caminero went to second base for the force out, unable to see that he had plenty of time to get Contreras at first.
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he → ground → first
But Yelich beat the throw out, loading the bases for Brice Turang.
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Yelich → beat → Turang
Then, the floodgates opened.
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floodgates → open → ?
Turang hit a grounder to short that Taylor Walls couldn't make the play on, scoring two.
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Walls → hit → two
Then Garrett Mitchell slapped another single through the infield, directly where the shortstop typically plays.
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shortstop → slap → infield
Cooper Pratt followed with a grounder that somehow clipped the foul line for a double, making it 7-0.
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it → follow → double
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
