The World Series resumes Monday night with Game 3 at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays host the Milwaukee Brewers trailing 2-0 in the Fall Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Fox, with no weather concerns at the domed stadium.
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Rays as -120 money-line favorites, while the over/under for total runs is set at 7. On the series line, Milwaukee is -750 and Tampa Bay +500, with "Brewers in five" the leading exact-series bet at +210. Historically, 46 of the 57 teams to take a 2-0 World Series lead have gone on to win the championship.
Tampa Bay's hopes rest heavily on right-hander Freddy Peralta, who faces his former club for the first time since being traded. Peralta, a pending free agent, was dealt from Milwaukee to the Mets on Jan. 21 for prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, then flipped to the Rays at the trade deadline. Since Aug. 26 he has not allowed more than one earned run in any outing, and in the postseason he is 2-0 with a hold and a 1.08 ERA over 16 2/3 innings, earning ALCS MVP honors. At Tropicana Field this season, Peralta owns a 1.45 ERA in 37 1/3 innings across seven starts.
The Rays need a cleaner game after blowing a 4-0 first-inning lead in Game 2, eventually losing 5-4. Tampa Bay committed uncharacteristic errors in the field and on the basepaths, and the team is just 3-for-20 (.150) with runners in scoring position in the series after leading the majors with a .283 average during the regular season. "The lesson is that we've got to play clean vs. those guys," left fielder Chandler Simpson said. "They grind, and we've got to do the same."
Milwaukee, meanwhile, has made a habit of rallying. The Brewers also overcame a 4-0 deficit in Game 4 of the NLCS to complete a sweep of the Dodgers, becoming the fifth team in MLB history to twice erase four-run deficits in a single postseason. Seven of their nine playoff wins have been comeback victories, and they have outscored opponents 15-2 from the seventh inning onward. Manager Pat Murphy has guided the club to a team-record seven-game playoff winning streak, the longest by any club since the Texas Rangers won eight straight in 2023.
For Game 3, Milwaukee starts left-hander Robert Gasser, who posted a 5-5 record with a 3.87 ERA in 21 appearances (20 starts) during the regular season. In two playoff outings he has a 1.00 ERA over nine innings with six hits allowed. Gasser has never faced the Rays, though catcher Liam Hicks went 0-for-2 against him previously. The SportsLine Projection Model projects Gasser for 5.4 innings, 4.8 strikeouts, 4.4 hits allowed and 1.9 earned runs.
Peralta is projected for 5.1 innings, 5.2 strikeouts, 4.8 hits allowed and 2.2 earned runs. He struggled against the Brewers on July 20 while with the Mets, allowing seven runs over 5 1/3 innings, with Andrew Vaughn and Cooper Pratt homering. The Rays will also look to involve closer Bryan Baker, who has converted 35 straight saves; Tampa Bay is 92-0 when leading after eight innings this season and went 31-17 against left-handed starters like Gasser during the regular season.
The SportsLine model projects a 4.3-3.7 Milwaukee victory, though some experts are leaning toward Tampa Bay +1 on the run line for insurance. This will be the first World Series game at Tropicana Field since Game 2 on Oct. 23, 2008.
