Three biggest questions for World Series Game 3: Can the Rays get off the mat at home?

The Brewers hold a 2-0 lead after two one-run wins at home, but now the series shifts to St. Petersburg

Oct 26, 2026 at 8:33 am ET • 4 min read

The Milwaukee Brewers are two wins away from the first World Series title in franchise history. The Brewers won Games 1 and 2 at American Family Field in nail-biting fashion, and the series now shifts to Tropicana Field. Game 3 is a must-win for the Tampa Bay Rays, who will try to become the first team to erase a 2-0 deficit in the World Series since the 1996 New York Yankees.

"I know our fans are going to be really loud and excited to see us come back and kind of reset ourselves a little bit," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Game 2. "We've got a really good pitcher going, as do they. A lot of confidence in this club to respond. They've done it all season long, and they'll continue to do it."

As agonizing as it has been, the Rays were this close in Games 1 and 2. They had the tying run at third base in the ninth inning of both games. One hit, one bounce, and it's a very different series. Ultimately, the Rays did not get that hit or bounce, and they must now beat baseball's best team, one on a major heater at that, four times in the next five games.

Here are three key questions going into Monday night's Game 3 at the Trop.

1. Can Freddy Peralta continue his postseason excellence?

The Rays will start Freddy Peralta, the ALCS MVP and, of course, a former Brewer, in Game 3. Six teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series in the last 40 years and the common thread is a great pitching performance in Game 3. Comebacks always seem to start with the guy on the mound. Ask the Rays, and they'll tell you they have the right guy lined up Monday.

"I give Freddy a lot of credit for being a good pitcher and being vulnerable enough to say, 'I wasn't comfortable doing some things and I want to get back to my strengths,'" Cash said prior to the World Series. "He guided that through the entire two months he's been with us, and he took off in September and has continued to take off in October."

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Peralta has been terrific this postseason, allowing only two runs in 16 ⅔ innings across three starts and one relief appearance. He's been great with the Rays in general since coming over from the Mets at the trade deadline. Since Aug. 26, Peralta has a 0.88 ERA in nine starts, one relief appearance, and 50 ⅔ innings. Tampa tweaked several things, including his delivery and pitch selection, and got his season back on the rails.

Beyond the obvious (needing a good performance to win the game), the Rays could use a long outing from Peralta because, gosh, their middle relief looks very sketchy. Even at his best, Peralta is not someone who will give his team six-plus or seven innings consistently. The Rays will take whatever he gives them in Game 3, but the more they can avoid the bullpen, the better.

2. How much can the Brewers lean on their bullpen?

Brewers bespectacled lefty Aaron Ashby is the best pitcher in the world right now. He's thrown 15 ⅔ scoreless innings this postseason, all in high-leverage situations, and seven times in his eight appearances he's recorded at least five outs. Ashby has been terrific. So too has hard-throwing righty Abner Uribe. He's allowed two runs in nine innings this postseason.

Uribe and Ashby have shut the door time and time again in the late innings this year. That said, it is fair to wonder whether Brewers manager Pat Murphy can continue to lean on them this much. Uribe got four outs in Game 1 and again in Game 2. Ashby recorded five outs in Game 1 and again in Game 2. After Saturday's win, Murphy acknowledged his top bullpeners are on fumes.

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"They're not fresh, that's for sure," Murphy said after Game 2. "When you have the long layoff (after the NLCS), you think it helps their freshness, but to be honest with you, not being on the mound doesn't help him stay crisp. Having that long layoff and not throwing much allows them to give it all they've got. Maybe they'll get crisp soon."

My guess is, if the Brewers are in a position to win Game 3 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead, Murphy will put the pedal to the floor and use Uribe and Ashby for as long as needed. At some point, though, someone other than those two and closer Trevor Megill will have to get some big outs for Milwaukee -- whether it be DL Hall, JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela, whoever. 

3. Will Yandy Díaz get going at the plate?

In the very first at-bat of the World Series, Rays slugger Yandy Díaz hit a rocket to the wall in right field. He has not hit the ball out of the infield since, and is 0 for 9 with three strikeouts through two games. Maybe Díaz did check his swing in the ninth inning of Game 2 and should have worked a walk. It doesn't matter now. It was ruled a swing and went as Díaz's third strikeout in four at-bats.

"Just the emotion, wanting to come through right there in the moment," Cash said about Díaz's frustrated reaction to the check swing call. "He didn't feel like he check swung. I didn't go look at it, but from my vantage point, it did look like that he swung."

Díaz, the longest-tenured Ray, was so good against the Cleveland Guardians last round that he could have won ALCS MVP. He went 9 for 27 (.333) with four doubles and two homers in the six games. Now the guy can't buy a hit. That's baseball for you. The Rays have no path to the comeback -- zero -- without Díaz playing a major role. They need to start hitting right away in Game 3.