Milwaukee’s eight run fifth inning in Game 3 was not built by one star. It was built by a lineup that kept passing the baton, seven consecutive hits with two outs, until Tampa Bay had no answer left. Brice Turang started it with a two run single after a replay review overturned what looked like the third out and loaded the bases. Garrett Mitchell followed with a run scoring single, rookie Cooper Pratt ripped a two run double that deflected off Junior Caminero, and Sal Frelick doubled home another run. David Hamilton and Jackson Chourio added run scoring hits, and by the time the inning ended, Milwaukee had sent 12 batters to the plate and turned a 2-0 lead into a 10-0 rout. Chourio finished four for five, William Contreras went three for five, and Milwaukee collected 16 hits in a 10-1 win that gave the Brewers a 3-0 World Series lead.
The kids in the middle of it
What stands out about the rally is who delivered it. Turang, Mitchell, Pratt and Frelick are not the names that carried Milwaukee’s marketing all season, yet they carried the biggest inning of the season between them. Pratt, a rookie shortstop, drove in two runs with a double down the line in the biggest at bat of his young career. Frelick, who had already made his mark in the field, added a double and later saved a run in the eighth with a diving catch on Ben Williamson’s fly ball to right. Chourio, the phenom, capped the inning with a run scoring double to right field. The sequence, seven straight hits without the benefit of a walk, was the first time a team has had seven consecutive batters get a hit in a postseason game, according to OptaSTATS, and the eight two out runs were the most two out runs in a single inning in World Series history, according to ESPN Insights.
Why it broke Tampa Bay
Rallies like that do more than change a score. They change a series. Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta left after four and two thirds innings with five runs charged to him, and reliever Cam Booser faced four batters without recording an out, giving up the first three runs of the rally before Cole Sulser took over. A bullpen that had been a strength all October suddenly looked mortal, and a lineup that needed early runs to believe watched a 2-0 deficit become a 10-0 rout in a single inning. Milwaukee’s offence had already shown it could win tight games, taking Game 1 by 3-2 and Game 2 by 5-4 after erasing a four run deficit. Game 3 showed it could also win a blowout, and that versatility is what makes a 3-0 lead feel so large. The Game 3 hit parade report captures the scale of the inning, but the deeper story is simpler: Milwaukee’s lineup does not have a soft spot for an opposing pitcher to hide in, and Tampa Bay found that out with two outs in the fifth.
