The ninth inning of Game 2 lasted only a few minutes, but it contained the whole World Series so far. Jonny DeLuca doubled to open the inning, moved to third with two outs, and stayed there when Yandy Diaz struck out swinging on a full count pitch, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat Tampa Bay 5-4 to take a 2-0 series lead.
DeLuca’s double off Aaron Ashby, who had recorded the final two outs of the eighth, put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Victor Mesa Jr. struck out, and DeLuca advanced to third on a groundout, leaving Diaz as the last hope with the tying run 90 feet from home. Ashby, who has not allowed a run in 15 and two thirds innings over eight postseason appearances, struck him out swinging to end the game.
The second straight ninth
The sequence was familiar to anyone who watched Game 1. It was the second consecutive game in which the Rays stranded the tying run at third in the ninth inning, a pattern that turns close games into a psychological problem as much as a baseball one. A team that keeps getting the tying run to third and leaving it there starts to press, and pressing in the ninth inning against a closer this locked in rarely helps.
The ninth also completed a game Milwaukee had already won twice over. The Brewers trailed 4-0 in the first inning, tied the game in the sixth on Sal Frelick’s leadoff home run, and took the lead in the seventh on rookie Cooper Pratt’s RBI single. By the ninth, the bullpen had thrown six scoreless innings, and the Rays were chasing a game that had already slipped away.
What Monday now requires
As Reuters reported, the Rays stranded the tying run at third for the second consecutive game, and Game 3 moves to St. Petersburg, Florida, on Monday. Only ten teams have recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win a World Series, the last being the New York Yankees in 1996.
For Tampa Bay, the ninth inning of Game 2 is now a lesson in what must change. Getting the tying run to third is not enough against this bullpen. The Rays need the hit that brings it home, and they need it on Monday, before a series that is still winnable becomes a series that is only memorable for the runs left standing on third base.
