World Series starts tomorrow: Rays vs Brewers, Game 1 Friday in Milwaukee — and the first game at the Trop is Monday. Who are you taking?
The World Series starts tomorrow and I am all in even though I did not watch a full Rays season this year. Tampa Bay beat Cleveland 4-2 in the ALCS on Monday night to take the pennant, and now it is Rays vs Brewers. Games 1 and 2 are in Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM ET, and Game 3 — the first World Series game at Tropicana Field — is Monday, October 26 at 8 PM ET. For people who actually follow both teams: does Milwaukee home field decide this early, or does Tampa Bay's momentum travel? And for anyone who has been to the Trop, is it a good World Series atmosphere or just a quirky dome?
2 answers
- Steal one in Milwaukee
The schedule is the story here. Milwaukee hosts Games 1 and 2, so Tampa Bay has to steal one on the road before the series ever gets to Florida. If the Brewers hold serve at home, the Rays come back to the Trop already down 2-0 and the whole series changes shape. Win one in Milwaukee and suddenly Games 3 through 5 at the Trop, starting Monday, become the real series.
- The Trop games decide it
Put numbers on it: Tampa Bay closed out Cleveland 4-2 in the ALCS on Monday, so they arrive with a week of rest questions but also a hot bullpen story. The Trop hosts Games 3, 4, and 5 on October 26-28, which means if this goes six or seven, the clincher games are in Florida, not Milwaukee. That back-loaded home schedule is worth more than people think — it is why dropping both Milwaukee games would hurt so much.