Milwaukee Brewers Rout Tampa Bay Rays to Move One Win From a Championship

The Milwaukee Brewers are one win away from a championship. Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field, taking a 3-0 lead in the best of seven series.

The Brewers did almost all of their damage in one inning. They scored eight runs in the fifth, and their pitching staff allowed only three hits all night in front of a crowd of 40,388, according to the ESPN box score.

An Eight Run Fifth Inning

Milwaukee led 2-0 when the fifth inning began, and by the time it ended the game was out of reach. USA Today reported that the Brewers collected seven two out hits and scored eight two out runs in the inning, a first in World Series history.

Brice Turang delivered the biggest blow, a 106 mph two run infield single that ticked off the glove of shortstop Taylor Walls, according to USA Today. Garrett Mitchell followed with a run scoring single, and Cooper Pratt doubled home two more.

The hits kept coming. Sal Frelick doubled in a run, David Hamilton singled in another, and Jackson Chourio capped the rally with a run scoring double to right field. By the end of the inning, Milwaukee led 10-0.

Gasser Shuts Down the Rays

On the mound, Robert Gasser gave the Brewers exactly what they needed. The left hander threw six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three on 75 pitches, according to the box score.

Antonio Senzatela followed with two hitless innings without issuing a walk. Brandon Woodruff pitched the ninth and gave up the only Tampa Bay run, when Yandy Diaz doubled to center field to score Cedric Mullins. Woodruff then got Jonathan Aranda to ground out to end the game.

For the Rays, the night was a struggle at the plate. Diaz had two of their three hits, and the rest of the lineup combined for one, a hit by Mullins.

Peralta Faces His Former Team

The matchup carried extra meaning for Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta, a former Brewer. Milwaukee knocked him out in the fifth inning. Peralta allowed five earned runs on seven hits over four and two thirds innings, with three walks and four strikeouts.

Reliever Cam Booser entered and could not stop the rally, allowing four hits and four runs without recording an out. Cole Sulser, Garrett Cleavinger, Tyler Wells and Steven Matz then combined to hold Milwaukee scoreless over the final four innings.

Chourio Leads a Deep Lineup

Milwaukee finished with 16 hits. Chourio led the way with four hits in five at bats and scored twice, including the first run of the game on Christian Yelich's single in the third inning. William Contreras and Turang each had three hits, and Yelich added two hits in three at bats.

The early runs came in the third. Yelich singled home Chourio, and Contreras followed with a single that scored Jake Bauers. That 2-0 edge held until the fifth inning turned the game into a rout.

The production came from up and down the order. Nine different Brewers scored a run, and eight drove one in.

One Win Away

The Brewers finished the regular season 103-59, while the Rays went 98-64. Milwaukee has now won the first three games of the series and needs one more victory to clinch the title.

History favors the Brewers. Only one team in Major League Baseball history, the 2004 Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, has come back to win a postseason series after trailing 3-0. No team has done it in the World Series.

For Tampa Bay, the task is simple and daunting: win four straight games. For Milwaukee, one more performance like Monday's would bring a championship home.