The World Series begins tonight, and per Pinstripe Alley's Jake Devin (the same item ran on Yahoo Sports), the Rays–Brewers matchup ensures that one franchise will win its first championship. Devin wrote that the Yankees won't be there, "but you already knew that." Awful Announcing's Ken Fang lists Game 1 in his October 23 viewing picks, which also cover other sports, so his piece adds nothing on the matchup itself.
Fri, Oct 23, 8:00 PM ET
Milwaukee comes in as the better regular-season team, 103-59 and first in the NL Central, with a five-game winning streak. Its last three games were wins over the Dodgers: 7-4 on Oct. 12, then 6-2 on Oct. 14 and 6-4 on Oct. 15, both in Los Angeles. Tonight's game is at home against Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay finished 98-64 and won the AL East. Its last three results were all against Cleveland: 3-1 on Oct. 16, 7-3 on Oct. 17 and 7-3 on Oct. 19. Our data shows a one-game losing streak, so the Rays have lost since that last win. Our data does not say what that loss was.
The Yankees are the AL East's second-place team at 93-68. Their season ended against these same Rays, who beat them 1-0 on Oct. 3, 5-2 on Oct. 5 and 4-3 on Oct. 7. Tampa Bay's run to the Series therefore began with a sweep of the club that Devin says spent eight months leading up to this night.
The series continues tomorrow, Oct. 24, with Game 2 in Milwaukee. Game 3 on Oct. 26 moves to Tampa Bay.
Discussion