The Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers open the World Series tonight with a low-budget clash that features the first Fall Classic played entirely under a roof and the debut of robot umpires in a championship round. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage available through RDS Info and RDS.ca, which will unblock the channel for subscribers of RDS and RDS2, rds.ca reported.
Neither franchise has ever won a World Series title. The matchup marks the first time since 1980 that two teams looking for their first championship have met in the final round, echoing a historical pairing last seen when the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals. Before that, such a duel occurred in 1920.
Velocity and Roster Salaries on the Biggest Stage
Milwaukee right-hander Jacob Misiorowski takes the mound for Game 1, bringing a fastball that has generated significant attention throughout his first full major league season. Misiorowski fired 1,115 pitches at 100 mph or faster this year, breaking the previous single-season tracking record of 673 set by Jordan Hicks in 2018. Nick Martinez will start the opener for the Rays.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy acknowledged the unique nature of his pitcher during a media session, joking about the pitcher’s rapid ascent. “Forrest Gump, everybody,” Murphy told reporters. Misiorowski added perspective on his sudden prominence: “I’m still new to this and have no idea what’s going on.”
Financial profiles for both organizations place them well below the league’s big spenders. As of August 31, the Brewers ranked 19th in team payroll, while the Rays sat 25th. It marks the first time since 1991 that both World Series participants occupy the bottom half of league spending. To reach this stage, Milwaukee swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, and Tampa Bay swept the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.
Old-School Strategy Against the Power Game
Both clubs reached the championship round by relying on tactical baseball rather than relying exclusively on home runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Brewers scored 32.1 percent of their runs via the long ball this season—the lowest percentage in the major leagues—while the Rays ranked second lowest at 34.4 percent. Tampa Bay batters also recorded the fewest strikeouts across all 30 major league teams and tallied 45 sacrifice bunts, the highest total for an American League club since 2015.
“It’s cool to not have to be that team that hits 170 homers a game or whatever,” Misiorowski said of the team’s offensive approach. “There are so many different ways to win a baseball game.”
Robin Yount, a Hall of Famer and former star player for the 1982 Brewers team that fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, welcomed the tactical shift. “I was a little discouraged the last 10 or 15 years by how the game had evolved, relying on the long ball without caring about strikeouts,” Yount said. “Today, it looks like baseball is really starting to focus on the game itself again.”
Brewers and Rays Return to the World Series
The Brewers are making their second World Series appearance, returning after a 44-year absence. That number coincides with the jersey worn by Hank Aaron, who starred for the Milwaukee Braves in the 1950s and finished his career with the expansion Brewers in the 1970s. Milwaukee’s previous Fall Classic appearance ended in defeat against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. The Rays previously reached the championship series in 2008, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies, and again in 2020, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Among players on both rosters, outfielder Christian Yelich holds the highest salary ranking for the Brewers at 44th overall in the majors on Opening Day, while Yandy Diaz stands as the highest-paid Ray at 154th overall.
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