The best pitcher in baseball led the best team to victory over the second-best team? Weird.<\/p>\n
A World Series that makes the logical feel novel began on Friday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 1<\/a>. Of course the Brewers, with their MLB-topping 103 regular-season victories, should be facing the 98-win Rays on the grandest stage. But of course, since these are two of the smallest and lowest-budget franchises in the sport, they shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n That this best-of-seven title decider is at once a shocking cold shower and a comforting warm bath is largely explained by the absence of the two-time defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were swept 4-0 by the Brewers<\/a> in the National League Championship Series.<\/p>\n Quick GuideWorld Series 2026Show<\/p>\n Schedule<\/p>\n Best-of-seven series. All times US Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).<\/p>\n Fri 23 Oct Game 1: Milwaukee 3, Tampa Bay 2<\/a><\/p>\n Sat 24 Oct Game 2: Milwaukee 5, Tampa Bay 4<\/a><\/p>\n Mon 26 Oct Game 3: Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 8pm (Fox)<\/p>\n Tue 27 Oct Game 4: Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 8pm (Fox)<\/p>\n Wed 28 Oct Game 5: Milwaukee at Tampa Bay, 8pm* (Fox)<\/p>\n Fri 30 Oct Game 6: Tampa Bay at Milwaukee, 8pm* (Fox)<\/p>\n Sat 31 Oct Game 7: Tampa Bay at Milwaukee, 8pm* (Fox)<\/p>\n *-if necessary<\/p>\n How to watch<\/p>\n In the US, all World Series games will air on Fox and Fox Deportes, with streaming available through Fox One. In the UK, the series will be carried by TNT Sports. In Australia, fans can watch on ESPN, with streaming available through Disney+ and Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n That was a philosophical battle with a drop-mic ending: the revenge of the nerds. Analytics over affluence, a triumph for the teams who scrimp and strategize rather than simply lobbing money at the best free agents each offseason.<\/p>\n The Dodgers have parlayed financial dominance<\/a> into winning the National League West division in 13 of the past 14 years. At the start of this season there was every reason to expect they would win their third World Series in succession. But instead of spending this title fight lamenting the Dodgers\u2019 dominance and fretting that money has made baseball dull and dynastic, we have the first match-up in 46 years \u2013 and second since 1920 \u2013 between two teams that have never won a World Series.<\/p>\n A country where the world\u2019s richest person has reportedly made political donations in excess of $442m<\/a> in this election cycle is culturally conditioned to believe that wealth wins. Yet baseball is, after all, still a sport where the won-lost standings and the salary tracker<\/a> are not fully interchangeable.<\/p>\n Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski delivers against the Rays during Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. Photograph: Jamie Squire\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Here are successful teams, boasting talents as luminous as Rays third baseman Junior Caminero and Brewers catcher William Contreras, with payrolls<\/a> less than half the size of the most lavish spenders. Milwaukee\u2019s annual outlay ($146m according to Spotrac) ranks 19th in the 30-team league with Tampa Bay ($96m) in 28th position. And the Rays reached this point by beating the Cleveland Guardians, who have MLB\u2019s smallest payroll, in the American League Championship Series.<\/p>\n Only the Dodgers, Brewers, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees have more regular-season wins in the 2020s<\/a> than the Rays, who are in their third World Series. Tampa Bay, founded as an expansion franchise in 1998, reached the final in 2008 (where they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies) and in the Covid-wracked 2020 season, losing to the Dodgers<\/a> at the makeshift site of Globe Life Field in Texas.<\/p>\n The Brewers\u2019 only other World Series<\/a> appearance was a loss to the St Louis Cardinals in 1982. Though there are suspicions that national television audiences will be meager for a series between small-market teams lacking superstars, the games in Milwaukee are some of the hottest tickets in World Series history. On one resale site the asking price for standing-room only tickets to Saturday\u2019s Game 2 in Milwaukee was north of $3,000.<\/p>\n The first clash held moderate value for the neutral spectator. It was a night with a fast start, a false finish and some messy, unmemorable baseball in the middle. Where ordinary pitchers throw fastballs, Jacob Misiorowski, MLB\u2019s strikeout leader in the regular season, hurls fireballs<\/a>. Pitching on 11 days\u2019 rest, the 24-year-old started his night with the quickest pitch ever recorded in a World Series, a 103.5mph screamer to leadoff hitter Yandy D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n Fans fill American Family Field in Milwaukee before Friday night\u2019s World Series opener between the Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. The matchup marks the first World Series in 46 years between two franchises that have never won the title. Photograph: Jamie Squire\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Misiorowski surrendered one run in five innings\u2019 of work. \u201cNot perfect, but good enough to get a win,\u201d he said<\/a>. Milwaukee led 3-1 after the seventh but Tampa Bay mounted a late rally, scoring a run in the ninth to induce a tense, if gauche, finish. The visitors loaded the bases but catcher Liam Hicks appeared to hit into a game-ending double play. The Brewers celebrated but the fireworks and high-fives were premature.<\/p>\n The Rays challenged the decision, which was overturned on review. This confirmed that shortstop Cooper Pratt had taken his foot off second base too early as he threw to first, and also that Milwaukee fans can boo almost as loudly as they cheer.<\/p>\n Still, there was more than enough air left in the lungs of the fans at American Family Field to reboot the celebrations after the teams returned to the field and closer Trevor Megill struck out outfielder Jonny DeLuca for the win, for real. \u201cIt\u2019s a big credit to Trev for locking back in right there and making some huge pitches after. You know, you kind of have that emotional dump and then you have to get back on it.\u201d Brewers slugger Christian Yelich told Fox Sports. It was perhaps early evidence that in a series that is likely to be decided by fine margins, Milwaukee\u2019s formidable bullpen might ultimately make the difference.<\/p>\n Pat Murphy, the Brewers manager and Bruce Springsteen superfan<\/a> who was FaceTimed by The Boss in midweek, declared Contreras the \u201cplayer of the game\u201d after he drove in a run and threw out two attempted base-stealers, neutralizing a key strategy<\/a> for Kevin Cash\u2019s aggressive Rays.<\/p>\n Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt fails to complete a game-ending double play against Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. Photograph: Ross Harried\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cMoney isn\u2019t everything\u201d is a nice narrative as far as the action goes, but the peculiar genius of American sports is how they generally preserve parity and uncertainty on the field while embracing rapacious capitalism.<\/p>\n Three years ago, the Brewers, who are owned by Mark Attansio<\/a>, a Los Angeles-based investor who also controls Norwich City FC and has an estimated net worth of $2bn, managed to squeeze $500m out of lawmakers <\/a>in taxpayer-funded upgrades for a 25-year-old ballpark that cost less than $400m to build in the first place.<\/p>\n