Rays Turn to Former Brewer Freddy Peralta in Game 3 as Milwaukee Holds 2-0 World Series Lead

The World Series resumes Monday night after a travel day, with Game 3 at Tropicana Field. The Tampa Bay Rays trail the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 and will send right-hander Freddy Peralta to the mound against the club that traded him away. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. ET on Fox, and the forecast is not a concern at the domed ballpark.

Peralta's path to this start was unusual. The Brewers traded him to the Mets on Jan. 21 in a deal that brought back prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. The Mets then sent a struggling Peralta to Tampa Bay around the trade deadline. He is a pending free agent, so this could be his last start for the Rays.

He has been dominant since arriving in the postseason picture. Peralta has not allowed more than one earned run in any outing since Aug. 26. In four playoff appearances he is 2-0 with a hold and a 1.08 ERA over 16.2 innings, and he was named ALCS MVP. At Tropicana Field, he owns a 1.45 ERA across 37 1/3 innings in seven starts since joining Tampa Bay. His one outing against Milwaukee this year, on July 20 with the Mets, went poorly: seven runs in 5.1 innings, including home runs by Andrew Vaughn and Cooper Pratt.

Milwaukee counters with left-hander Robert Gasser, who made 21 appearances, 20 of them starts, in his first full big-league season and went 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA. He has no decisions in two playoff outings, with a 1.00 ERA over nine innings and six hits allowed. He has never faced the Rays, though catcher Liam Hicks is 0-for-2 against him. Gasser's ERA was 3.40 at home and 4.36 on the road this season.

Tampa Bay let Game 2 slip away on Saturday, losing 5-4 after building a 4-0 lead in the first inning with Drew Rasmussen starting. The Rays made fielding and baserunning mistakes uncommon for them. They are also 3-for-20 (.150) with runners in scoring position in the series, after leading the majors with a .283 mark in that situation during the regular season. "The lesson is that we've got to play clean vs. those guys," said left fielder Chandler Simpson, who committed an error. "They grind, and we've got to do the same."

Comebacks have defined the Brewers' run under manager Pat Murphy. They also rallied from a 4-0 deficit in Game 4 of the NLCS to complete a sweep of the Dodgers, making them the fifth team in MLB history to overcome four-run deficits twice in one postseason and the first since the 2022 Phillies. Seven of their nine playoff wins have been comebacks. Their seven-game postseason winning streak is a franchise record, and they have outscored opponents 15-2 from the seventh inning on. A reliever has earned the win in eight of those nine victories, tying the 2015 Royals for the most in a single postseason.

History favors Milwaukee. Of 57 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series, 46 went on to win it. No team has swept a World Series since the Giants beat the Tigers in 2012, and the Brewers are trying to become the first club since the LCS became a best-of-7 in 1985 to sweep both the LCS and the World Series. DraftKings lists Milwaukee at -750 to win the series and Tampa Bay at +500, with the Rays -120 favorites for Game 3 and the total set at 7 runs.

Tampa Bay does have a late-game weapon it has not yet used. Closer Bryan Baker has not pitched in the series, has converted 35 straight saves, and the Rays are 92-0 this season when leading after eight innings. They were also 31-17 in the regular season against left-handed starters. Game 3 will be the first World Series game at Tropicana Field since Game 2 on Oct. 23, 2008.