Friday night brings the World Series to American Family Field, with the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers arriving as the best regular-season clubs in their respective leagues. One franchise will leave the series with its first World Series trophy, and Milwaukee gets the opening turn at home behind its overpowering young ace.
Game 1 sets the tone in Milwaukee
- World Series Game 1: Rays at Brewers
- First pitch: 8 p.m. ET Friday
- Television: FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One
- Venue: American Family Field, Milwaukee
- Starting pitchers: Nick Martinez for Tampa Bay and Jacob Misiorowski for Milwaukee
The Brewers have won both postseason games started by Misiorowski, known around the clubhouse as Miz, but neither outing has gone as deep as Milwaukee would prefer. Across 8 1/3 innings in his two starts, he has allowed three runs and struck out 11, yet he has not finished the fifth inning either time.
Opponents have taken a clear approach: make him work, spoil pitches and force his count upward. It has kept Misiorowski from delivering the kind of lengthy starts that could spare Milwaukee’s high-octane bullpen. In a series that could stretch the full distance, every extra inning from the Brewers’ starter would matter.
Still, the right-hander remains the central figure for Milwaukee. He has been one of baseball’s most dominant arms this season, a leading National League Cy Young candidate with extraordinary velocity. The Brewers are handing him the ball for Game 1 because there may not be a better stage for him to find another gear.
The Rays need their power to travel
Tampa Bay trailed Milwaukee during the regular season in most major offensive categories, including on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, runs, walks and triples. The Rays did hold one meaningful power edge: they hit 15 more home runs than the Brewers.
That contrast has shifted somewhat in October. Milwaukee has hit 10 postseason homers, more than Tampa Bay’s seven and more than any other remaining postseason club. The Brewers were tied for the second-fewest homers in Major League Baseball during the regular season, ahead of only Toronto, but their power has shown up at the right time.
- The Rays hit 15 more regular-season home runs than Milwaukee.
- The Brewers have hit 10 home runs this postseason.
- Tampa Bay has hit seven playoff homers.
- Junior Caminero hit 42 home runs in the regular season.
- Caminero’s blast in ALCS Game 6 was his first postseason homer.
The Rays’ Game 6 celebration in the American League Championship Series offered a reminder of how much energy a long ball can bring to their dugout. Postseason scoring tends to tighten when every pitch carries added weight, making the occasional mistake pitch especially valuable.
Caminero could be the key to that equation. His Game 6 homer finally put him on the postseason board after his 42-homer regular season. Tampa Bay will be looking for that swing to become a streak, particularly against a Milwaukee club that has shown it can manufacture damage without relying on a heavy regular-season homer total.
A city waiting more than four decades
Milwaukee has not hosted a World Series game since Oct. 17, 1982. The Brewers were still an American League club then, Tampa Bay would not exist for another 16 years, and Ronald Reagan had been president for roughly a year and a half.
That night, Milwaukee beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. Robin Yount went 4-for-4 and homered, while starter Mike Caldwell threw 127 pitches over 8 1/3 innings despite allowing four runs on 14 hits. The Brewers returned to St. Louis needing one win, but lost Games 6 and 7.
Forty-four years later, Milwaukee is back on its own field with a chance to finish the story differently. The city’s faithful have carried the club through generations of baseball, with Bernie Brewer, his slide and the late Bob Uecker all part of the franchise’s enduring character.
The roof may be closed Friday because of the cold, even with no rain expected. If it is, American Family Field should be deafening. The Brewers are four wins from a championship the organization has never claimed, and the first pitch will come with all those years packed into the building.
