Brewers-Rays World Series Game 3 Matchup By The Numbers

Image courtesy of Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Brewers Video

After winning the first two games of the 2026 World Series at home, the Milwaukee Brewers look to move closer to their first championship in franchise history as the series shifts to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the next three games vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.

It will be Robert Gasser, the only left-hander expected to start for either team in the best-of-seven series, who will go for the Brewers in Game 3 on Monday (7 p.m. CT, Fox). After starting the clinching Game 4 in the NL Division Series vs. the San Diego Padres, this is the same assignment Gasser had in the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has gone a combined nine innings, allowing just one run on six hits with two walks and a strikeout. That run came on a homer by Fernando Tatis Jr. The left-hander went five innings against the Dodgers after logging four against the Padres.

Gasser has been more of a steady presence in the Brewers' rotation in 2026, although he finished strong, including seven shutout innings vs. the Baltimore Orioles in his next-to-last start of the regular season. He had a 4.24 FIP and 3.87 ERA with a 7.6% walk rate and 22.2% strikeout rate during the regular season. Gasser posted a 1.67 ERA in his final six appearances (five starts) of the regular season.

Gasser has zero history vs. the Rays, but has faced one Tampa Bay hitter before. That is catcher Liam Hicks, who was with the Miami Marlins in Gasser's July 19 start at American Family Field. Hicks hit a shallow fly to left and struck out swinging in his two plate appearances. Gasser has been better at home than the road this season (3.40 ERA vs. 4.36 ERA). Including the postseason, the Brewers are 15-7 when Gasser starts.

Jonathan Aranda, who went 3-for-3 in Game 1 with a walk, is 4-for-7 in the World Series, while Chandler Simpson is 3-for-8, Victor Mesa Jr. 2-for-6, Junior Caminero 2-for-7 and Jonny DeLuca 2-for-8. The Rays have struck out 19 times in the two games.

Robert Gasser vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Current Batters Table
Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GIDP
1	Liam Hicks	L	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/25/2026.

If you would have said at this time last year that the Brewers were in the World Series and Freddy Peralta was starting Game 3, you would have been very excited for that to happen. Well, no one is looking forward to the right-hander starting Game 3 against the Brewers. A fan favorite during his eight seasons with the Brewers, Peralta was traded to the New York Mets before the season started, then to the Rays at the trade deadline. After struggling with the Mets, Peralta has regained his Fastball Freddy persona with the Rays.

He is a more well-rounded pitcher since the time where he only threw fastballs, just different versions. While also featuring a changeup, curve, slider and sweeper, Peralta has relied on his four-seamer more in the postseason. And his velocity is up, too. After using his four-seamer 53% of the time between the two teams, that usage is up to 67.1% in four postseason appearances (three starts), while seeing his velocity jump from 94.3 to 96.9 mph.

Peralta had a 3.93 FIP (3.25 ERA) in his 10 starts with the Rays to go along with a 6.9% walk rate, the best of his career even in a small sample size, and 19.7% strikeout rate, his worst mark. He has walked seven and struck out 12 in the postseason.

Peralta did face the Brewers in July with the Mets. The Brewers knocked their former ace around for seven runs in 5⅓ innings, including home runs by Cooper Pratt and Andrew Vaughn in what would be an 8-3 Milwaukee win. Pratt went 3-for-3 and Garrett Mitchell 2-for-3. The Brewers have worked the Rays for nine walks in the the first two games. The Rays issued the fewest walks in MLB during the regular season.

Freddy Peralta vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Current Batters Table
Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Bo Naylor	L	6	5	1	0	0	0	1	2	.200	.333	.200	.533
2	William Contreras	R	5	5	1	0	0	0	0	3	.200	.200	.200	.400
3	Jake Bauers	L	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333
4	Jackson Chourio	R	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333
5	Garrett Mitchell	L	3	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	.667	.667	1.000	1.667
6	Cooper Pratt	R	3	3	3	0	1	1	0	0	1.000	1.000	2.000	3.000
7	Brice Turang	L	3	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.333	.333	.667	1.000
8	Christian Yelich	L	3	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.667	1.000
9	David Hamilton	L	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000
10	Joey Ortiz	R	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/25/2026.

See All Brewers Polls >

Steve Drumwright grew up in Wisconsin and was forced out of youth baseball when he failed to make enough contact to play the sport he loves. He did make one memorable pitching appearance, summoned from right field in a blowout. Steve went on to a successful journalism career, beginning as a part-time high school sportswriter in small-town Wisconsin to becoming the No. 2 person in the newsroom in San Francisco. Steve enjoys telling the stories of other people and how sports is a terrific vehicle for telling those stories. He now lives in Southern California. Follow him on Bluesky.