The Brewers will start Dustin May in Game 4 of the World Series against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Yahoo Sports, Sportsnet and ESPN all reported it, and Yahoo also published the Milwaukee lineup. The feed summary we have doesn't include the batting order, so we can't give it here. Yahoo framed the game around whether the Brewers can clinch their first World Series title. Sportsnet said Milwaukee is "going for the sweep."
The sweep language doesn't match our results. ESPN described the game as taking place Tuesday night. Our data shows the Rays beat Milwaukee 4-3 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the previous game at Tampa Bay. Game 4 is on the schedule for Wednesday, Oct. 28. Going by our results, Milwaukee won 5-4 on Oct. 24 and 10-1 on Oct. 26, then lost Tuesday. That puts the Brewers up 2-1, not 3-0. A win Wednesday would give them a 3-1 lead, not a sweep. The "possible clincher" and "sweep" descriptions look like they were written for a different series state, and we'd treat them with caution.
Wed, Oct 28, 8:00 PM ET
May's season gives the Brewers a mixed profile. He made 31 appearances and threw 145.2 innings, going 7-9 with a 4.70 ERA and 144 strikeouts. That's close to a strikeout per inning, but the ERA is the highest-risk number for a game this big. His game log also shows one earlier start against Tampa Bay, on March 29. He took the loss in that one, allowing 10 hits and six earned runs in four innings. The reporting we have doesn't say whether he is expected to go deep or be used in a shorter role, and none of it quotes the club on why he got the nod.
Milwaukee comes in as the better regular-season team, 103-59 and first in the NL Central. Tampa Bay was 98-64 and won the AL East. The Brewers carry a five-game winning streak into Game 4. Tuesday's one-run loss was the first time they lost during that stretch of the series. The Rays' win ended a two-game slide in which they were outscored 15-5.
The Brewers' offense gave them room in Game 2, when they scored 10 runs at Tampa Bay, and Game 3 was a one-run game. May will need to keep Tampa Bay close to that lower-scoring pattern. First pitch is Wednesday at Tropicana Field. If the series goes on, it returns to Milwaukee for games on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31.
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