Rays and Brewers Meet in a World Series Neither Franchise Has Ever Won, With Game 1 on Friday
Tampa Bay beat Cleveland 7-3 in Game 6 behind Junior Caminero's homer and ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta, and now faces a 103-win Milwaukee side hoping to end 44 years of waiting.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026/2 min read
One of these two franchises will finally win a World Series. The Tampa Bay Rays clinched the American League pennant on Monday night with a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 at Tropicana Field, ESPN reported, and will meet the Milwaukee Brewers, who swept the Dodgers in the NLCS. Neither club has ever won a title.
Game 1 is Friday, 23 October, at 8pm Eastern in Milwaukee, per the MLB schedule.
How did the Rays beat the Guardians in Game 6?
Our Game 6 report has the full account; in short, with a starter who would not be hit and a home run that took its time. Freddy Peralta allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings and was named ALCS MVP, having given up a single run across 12 innings in the series. In the seventh, Junior Caminero hit a two-run homer off closer Cade Smith, his first career postseason home run, to make it 5-1. ESPN clocked his trot at 38.7 seconds, the longest of the Statcast era for a postseason homer. Yandy Diaz added a two-run shot in the eighth and Bryan Baker closed.
The Rays won the last three games to take the series in six. For Cleveland it was a familiar ending: 78 years without a title, a third straight ALCS loss, and, as ESPN's postmortem put it, a team that ran on two starters. President Chris Antonetti summed up the drought as "0-for-28" with a plan for "1-for-29" next year.
Who is favoured in the World Series?
Milwaukee, but not overwhelmingly. The Brewers won a franchise-record 103 games, the best record in the majors, and have home-field advantage; the Rays won 98 as the AL's top seed. ESPN's simulations give the Brewers 59 percent and the Rays 41 percent, and Milwaukee took the regular-season series two games to one.
It is Milwaukee's second World Series and its first since 1982. For Tampa Bay it is a third appearance in 29 seasons and its first since 2020, according to Fox 13. Fox 13 also notes that two teams chasing a first championship is something the Series has not seen since the Phillies and Royals in 1980.
What is the World Series schedule?
Games 1 and 2 are in Milwaukee on 23 and 24 October. Games 3 and 4 are in Tampa Bay on 26 and 27 October, with a Game 5 there on 28 October if needed. Games 6 and 7 return to Milwaukee on 30 and 31 October. Every game starts at 8pm Eastern on FOX.
What to watch
The Brewers have not played since sweeping the Dodgers, and ESPN noted that Jacob Misiorowski would have 11 days off between starts if he opens Game 1. Rested arms can be sharp or rusty. Tampa Bay arrives hot, with Peralta and its power bats, and with the Cleveland series having shown how little room a hitter gets when Rays pitchers are on form.
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