Welcome to Staten News — where somebody is getting their first ring before Halloween.
Milwaukee and Tampa Bay open the World Series at 8 p.m. tonight on Fox. Neither franchise has ever won a title. By October 31 at the latest, one of them will have.
⚾ Two Top Seeds, Zero Titles
The Brewers won a franchise-record 103 games, the most in baseball, then swept the Dodgers in the NLCS: 2-1, 7-4, 6-2, 6-4. This is Milwaukee's first World Series since 1982.
Tampa Bay won 98 and had to work harder for it. Cleveland led the ALCS 2-1. The Rays won the next three, closing it Monday with a 7-3 win built on a Richie Palacios two-run double in the second, a Junior Caminero two-run homer in the seventh, and a Yandy Diaz two-run shot in the eighth.
The Rays are back for the third time after 2008 and 2020. They lost both.
Milwaukee won two of the three meetings this year, all in the first week of the season. That data is about as useful as a March weather forecast.
🔥 The Game 1 Gamble
Kevin Cash passed on his ace. Drew Rasmussen has gone at least six innings in every playoff start and allowed three runs over 21 innings, and he could have gone on regular rest tonight. Cash gave him the extra day instead. "We've relied on him heavily," Cash said.
So the ball goes to Nick Martinez, 36, on a one-year, $13 million deal. He went 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA over a career-high 180 innings, made his first All-Star team, and posted a 2.38 ERA in 94⅔ road innings. He comes in on five days' rest after holding Cleveland to one run on two hits over 5⅓ innings in ALCS Game 4.
Milwaukee counters with Jacob Misiorowski, the NL Cy Young favorite. He hit 104.8 mph on his first pitch of the NLCS. The fastest pitch ever tracked in a World Series is Aroldis Chapman's 104.1 from 2016.
That record is very much in play tonight.
That's not a pitching matchup. That's a radar gun against a guy who lives on a 3.6% walk rate and weak contact. Translation for the bettors: if Martinez keeps the ball on the ground through five, Cash's gamble looks smart and Rasmussen gets Game 2 fully rested. If Milwaukee's hitters square him up early, the whole decision gets second-guessed all winter.
The rest of the schedule, all at 8 p.m. ET on Fox:
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 24, in Milwaukee
Games 3, 4 and 5: Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 26 to 28, in Tampa Bay (Game 5 if needed)
Games 6 and 7: Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31, in Milwaukee (if needed)
🏀 Banner Up, Record 0-1
Ring night at the Garden ended with a 106-100 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday. Tyrese Maxey scored 28 on 9-of-19 shooting. Jaylen Brown added 19, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and LeBron James went 14, 9 and 7. Joel Embiid had 13 and 11 but shot 4 of 15.
The Knicks shot 37% from the field. Jalen Brunson scored 21 but needed 19 shots to get there, going 6 of 19 and 8 of 8 at the line. Karl-Anthony Towns was efficient with 19 and 12 on 6-of-9 shooting, and Andre Drummond grabbed 14 rebounds off the bench.
Brunson doesn't shoot 6 of 19 very often. The Knicks are at Boston tonight at 7 on Amazon, then host Orlando on Sunday.
🏈 Two Teams, One Bad Sunday
The Giants led New Orleans 10-0 with 90 seconds left in the first half. Then the Saints scored 34 straight. Jameis Winston went 14 of 26 for 152 yards with two interceptions, and J.J. McCarthy came in and threw for 243 yards in a little over 11 minutes before his fourth-and-1 pass fell incomplete at the end. Saints 34, Giants 27.
The Giants sit at 3-2-1 and go to Houston on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox. Eleven minutes of McCarthy outgained the starter's entire afternoon. Nobody in East Rutherford missed that.
The Jets' loss looked closer than it was. Drake Maye threw three touchdowns in New England's 26-19 win, while Geno Smith threw for 252 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Omar Cooper Jr. caught 6 balls for 103 yards, including a 48-yard score, and Jason Sanders kicked four field goals. Four field goals and one touchdown is how you lose by seven.
The Jets are 2-4 and host Miami on Sunday at 1 p.m. on CBS.
This is the weekend that sets the shape of the series. Because if Martinez gets through Milwaukee's lineup twice, Cash walks into Game 2 with his ace fully rested and a series lead in his pocket.
Sources: ESPN World Series schedule, ESPN on the Rays' Game 1 starter, ESPN 76ers-Knicks box score, ESPN Saints-Giants recap
— The Bandicoots ⚾🏀🏈