Brewers one win from franchise-first title after Game 3 rout

The Brewers turned World Series Game 3 into a blowout before Tampa Bay could settle in, then used one huge fifth inning to lock down a 10-1 win on Monday night at Tropicana Field MLB. Milwaukee is now up 3-0 in the best-of-seven and one victory from its first championship in franchise history.

The early damage came in smaller pieces. Christian Yelich and William Contreras delivered RBI singles in the third, and the Brewers kept stacking contact against the Rays’ pitching from there. By the time the fifth ended, Milwaukee had scored eight runs in the inning and taken all the air out of the building.

Robert Gasser gave the Brewers the kind of start that lets a lineup play freely. He allowed one hit over six scoreless innings, and Jackson Chourio finished with four hits, one shy of the World Series single-game record MLB. Every Brewers starter reached base, and eight of the nine drove in a run.

Milwaukee’s last trip this deep came in 1982, when the Brewers won the American League Championship Series over the Angels, 3-2, before losing the World Series to the Cardinals, 4-3 MLB. That makes this run different: the club is not chasing a repeat of 1982, but something the organization has never finished.

The Rays are trying to do what only one team has ever done in a best-of-seven postseason series: erase a 3-0 deficit. MLB’s postseason history page says the 2004 Red Sox are the lone club to complete that comeback MLB. Game 4 is Tuesday night, with Milwaukee one win away from ending the series.