Photo: Yamasztuka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The World Series shifts to Florida tonight, and the Tampa Bay Rays are already out of margin for error. The Milwaukee Brewers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 as the matchup moves to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for Game 3 on Monday night, with the Rays needing a win at home to keep the series from slipping toward a sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern, with the game broadcast on FOX and streaming on Fox One.
Milwaukee took the first two games at home, winning the opener 3-2 and then rallying from a 4-0 deficit to beat Tampa Bay 5-4 in Game 2. The series now settles in St. Petersburg for up to three games, and Monday's is a landmark night for the home crowd: it is the Rays' first home World Series game since 2008, the year of the franchise's first pennant. The 2020 World Series, Tampa Bay's only other appearance, was played entirely at a neutral site in Texas.
How to watch Game 3
Game 3 begins at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, October 26 at Tropicana Field, the Rays' domed home in St. Petersburg. FOX carries the national television broadcast, with streaming available on Fox One, and network pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET. Game 4 follows at the same time and place on Tuesday night, and Game 5, if necessary, is scheduled for Wednesday night in St. Petersburg before the series would return to Milwaukee on Friday.
The roof removes weather from the equation, which puts the focus squarely on a Tampa Bay team that has played its best baseball at home this season and now has no room left to give games away. The Brewers, meanwhile, can move within one win of a championship with a victory tonight, and they have shown in the first two games that they can win both a pitchers' duel and a comeback slugfest.
Probable pitching matchup
The probable starters are right-handers Freddy Peralta for Tampa Bay and Robert Gasser for Milwaukee, and both have been excellent this postseason. Peralta carries a 1.08 ERA in the 2026 playoffs, while Gasser has posted a 1.00 ERA, setting up what looks on paper like another low-scoring game after the 3-2 and 5-4 finals in Milwaukee.
The bullpens could decide it. Milwaukee leaned heavily on its relievers in Game 2, when starter Logan Henderson lasted just three innings and the bullpen covered the rest of the comeback win. Tampa Bay's relievers, by contrast, could not hold the four-run lead they were handed, and manager Kevin Cash will have to decide how quickly to pull the trigger if Peralta runs into trouble with the season effectively on the line.
History is against the Rays
Comebacks from where Tampa Bay now stands are rare. Only 10 teams in World Series history have rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win the title, and none has done it in 30 years — the last was the New York Yankees in 1996. The Rays do not need to win the series tonight, but they almost certainly need to win the game: no team has ever come back from 3-0 down in a World Series.
Both clubs are chasing a first championship, which guarantees a new name on the trophy next week. Tampa Bay lost the World Series in 2008 and again in 2020, while Milwaukee's only previous appearance came in 1982. The Brewers are two wins from finishing the job; the Rays, back in front of their own fans for the first time in this series, are trying to make sure the Fall Classic does not end where it restarted.
Sources: Sports Illustrated, USA Today Network, Awful Announcing