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.
That’s the short version of the story. The long version? 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.
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. But as has typically been the case this postseason, only those in Milwaukee blue and gold had much to cheer about.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS’ DOMINANT BULLPEN AND CLUTCH OFFENSE PUT THE TAMPA BAY RAYS ON THE BRINK
At least defensively, the Rays put up a fight. In the top of the second, outfielder Chandler Simpson in the left field corner, crashing into the fence to rob Sal Frelick of a hit. Then catcher Nick Fortes caught Garrett Mitchell trying to steal second base to end the inning. It was all downhill from there.
In the third inning, the Milwaukee superteam machine kicked into high gear. Jackson Chourio started things off with a ground ball single. Jake Bauers followed with a walk. That’s when the Brewers’ incredible penchant for outperforming on batting average on balls in play reared its gigantic head yet again.
Christian Yelich popped up a 71 mph blooper that fell in for an RBI single. William Contreras followed with another 79 mph blooper that fell in to drive in the second run of the 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. Who’s Robert Gasser you might be wondering? 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. Because baseball.
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. 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. Prior to Monday, opposing hitters had just a .185 BABIP against him. Then he went six shutout innings with just three strikeouts and only one hit allowed. How? Because the Rays had an .071 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.
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.
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. That he did something that hadn’t been done in the World Series by a left
