ST. PETERSBURG Game 3 of the World Series was full of blood. The Brewers now have a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series after a 10-1 sweep of the Rays. They pick your opinion: men vs. boys, varsity vs. JV This series was less than inevitable.
The Brewers are now 7-0 in the NLCS and World Series. The only team previously to sweep both of the last two rounds was the 1976 Reds, but the Big Red Machine only had a five-game NLCS. The Brewers can make it 8-0 for the first time in MLB history with a win in Game 4.
The first, however. Let’s talk about this Game 3 monster from the Crew. They struck out 10 on 16 hits, compared to 1 and 3 for the Rays — and it was worse than it looked because the Rays would go on a run in the ninth with two hits when it was basically over. It was dominating from start to finish, as the boom beams were ineffective. For front and center winners? Alciati Chourius, of course.
Heading into the series, I noted that Chourio and the Rays’ third baseman was Junior Caminero will have a national arc here in this World Series as up-and-coming superstars. Chourio was up to business and then some. He struck out the game with a single, then went through each of his two at-bats. In his fourth at-bat, he doubled in a game-changing, eighty-fifth inning.
“Yeah, I think you could say this was one of my better games,” Chourio said after the game. “Really, I’m just making every at-bat like it could be my last one and trying to get on base any way I can. Because I know as long as I’m on base, there’s guys behind me who could score.”
That fifth-inning double was the weakest of four hits on 99 mph (95+ “hard hit” balls). Chourio put up four hits, two runs and an RBI over five innings. The Rays as a team posted no runs on one hit through eight.
Remember, Chourio is still only 22 years old. In Game 3, he became the youngest player with four-hit World Series games since Joe Garagiola in 1946. It was the first in 80 years! That’s how talented this class is.
“Nobody’s surprised that Jack Jack’s done this. Nobody’s surprised. He’s turning into — 20, 21, 22, he’s turning into a pretty good player. He understands what it takes, the discipline it takes. He’s coming into his own. Nobody’s surprised. He’s really just really good,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Game 3.
“He also played incredible defense, and he stole the show tonight. He’s a total player. As we’re talking, you’re asking about Kobe Bryant and him. Kobe’s been striving to get better and better and better every year because he’s been disciplined like that. He’s such a worker. He’s got such an attitude. Jackson’s on the same track.”
From the entire spectrum of malt they wring talent. Especially off the bench like Jake Bauers, as well as regular guys like Game 3 starter Robert Gasser. And then there are the expectations of a superstar like Chourio.
He didn’t finish that high in the MVP voting this season, but it would be his last for a long time. The injury held him to 127 games for the season and still a 4.9 WAR. 20-20 He has gone (runs home and goes down) already three times. We saw all five tools in the playoffs.
A hit tool? Yeah, he’s 8 for 14 in the World Series, a cool .571 average. Power? He hits two home runs in free time alone. To speed up? He stole the boot in Game 3, giving him only three World Series steals. The ball and arm were on hand in Game 2, when he drove out all the important Rays at home.
When you watch Chourio play, they make you feel like there’s nothing he can’t do on the baseball field. It’s true, and it only begins to scratch the proverbial surface. Not a bad prediction for next season’s National League MVP. But first he relies on his material in the most important stages.
Anyone who watches him play regularly can’t help but be a little surprised at his performance in this World Series. He had a long talent and the confidence and swagger of a superstar. And just as importantly, he signed a team-friendly contract with the Brewers through the 2031 season with two club options running through 2033. Face regulation has long been balanced.
The Brewers are better in every way, and the Rays have scored just three runs in the first inning of Game 2 in the opening three games, before not scoring again in a 5-4 loss. Hell has not been torn apart. and the doors were blown out of them in Game 3 by the superior team. In the children here vs. of men, one of the smallest players in the series is the biggest, most mixed man of all.