The Rays are down 3-0 in the World Series, and Rick opens with the hard truth that no team has ever come back from that. Steve was at the Trop and walks Rick through a Game 3 loss in which the Brewers faced the minimum through eight innings, the Rays managed three hits (Yandy Diaz's leadoff single in the first and Cedric Mullins' and Diaz's hits in the ninth to avoid the shutout), and the lone highlight for the crowd was Chandler Simpson's wall-crashing catch. Rick points out that the offense hasn't hit since the first inning of Game 2, and the hosts spend plenty of time on the mistakes: Simpson sliding well past second base on a steal, Jonathan Aranda's absence from the lineup against a lefty, Ben Williamson batting fifth, Richie Palacios barely playing, a lazy throw to second by Junior Caminero that kept an inning alive, and Victor Mesa Jr. and Taylor Walls misplaying balls. Milwaukee scored all 10 of its runs with two outs, including eight in one inning (which Steve says is a World Series record).
They debate whether Kevin Cash and the analytics overthought it, from the lineup to the rotation. Rick says he'd rather manage from the gut and play his best hitters, Steve says "If I'm going down, I want to go down with my best," and both note that Freddy Peralta didn't lose the game and that Cam Boozer, who had been good, couldn't get out of the jam. They also cover the bigger picture: a Milwaukee bullpen that has been fully rested, Rays starters Rasmussen, Peralta, and Martinez combining for a 6.77 ERA, Jackson Chourio as the likely series MVP, how much of the crowd Brewers fans took over, and the cost of a night out ($1,000 tickets, $100 parking, and $21 beers). Rick calls this one of the greatest seasons in Rays history even as he laments a third World Series loss, and they look at the coming lockout and when baseball might return and note that the Rays' new owners "won big."
They turn to the Bucs, who are coming off a 43-13 rout of the Panthers and 258 rushing yards. Rick praises Bucky Irving, whose 5 a.m. workouts began with Tom Moore and who has bounced back from an injury-plagued year, and says the run game, the offensive line, and Baker Mayfield's 11 passes (including a back-shoulder throw on third-and-10 and a touchdown off a scramble) are the new identity. Steve shows that the seven teams the Bucs have faced are a combined 14 games above .500, so their 2-5 record is better than it looks. They walk through the schedule ahead (the Falcons at home, then Sunday night at Chicago), the injured players who could return (Emeka Egbuka, Winfield, Luke Goedeke), two straight five-sack games, and what the Bucs need to do to get back in the NFC South race. The show closes with a congratulations to Coach John Cooper on the ninth annual Coop's Catch for Kids fishing tournament, which raised another half million dollars for pediatric cancer research, a look at Lightning-Jets on Thursday, and a preview of tonight's Game 4 with Griffin Jacks on the mound.
Segments
- Rays down 3-0: no team has ever come back
- Game 3 recap: three hits, the minimum faced through eight, and Simpson's catch
- Simpson's baserunning and the Rays' mistakes in the field
- The lineup controversy: Aranda on the bench, Williamson fifth, and Palacios
- Eight two-out runs, Caminero's throw, and Mesa Jr.'s misplay
- Cash overthinking it: lineups and the rotation
- Milwaukee's bullpen, Chourio, and a Brewers-heavy crowd
- Rays pitching, ticket prices, and what a great season means
- The CBA, the lockout, and when baseball returns
- Bucs crush the Panthers with 258 rushing yards
- Baker Mayfield's two big plays and the run-first identity
- Bucky Irving's work ethic and Tom Moore
- Schedule strength, the NFC South math, and the road ahead
- Injury return outlook and back-to-back five-sack games
- Coop's Catch for Kids, the Lightning on Thursday, and Game 4 tonight
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