Brewers-Rays World Series Game 4 Matchup By The Numbers

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It is no longer a pie-in-the-sky wish. It is reality. The Milwaukee Brewers are one win away from the franchise's first World Series championship.

Their first chance at that elusive accomplishment comes in Tuesday's Game 4, where the Brewers will look to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-seven series. While the Brewers have yet to make an announcement as to who will be their starting pitcher, rookie left-hander Shane Drohan is a top candidate as an opener. Drohan also started the Game 4 clincher of the NL Championship Series against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Drohan faced just five batters, pitching into the second inning, giving up a run on two hits and two walks with a strikeout as the Brewers completed a four-game sweep of the Dodgers with a 6-2 victory. Drohan starting will force a tough decision for Rays manager Kevin Cash. The Rays had three new players in their starting lineup against Brewers left-hander Robert Gasser for Game 3. Gasser allowed just one hit over six innings. But with Drohan only facing a handful of batters before other length options such as right-hander Dustin May follow, Cash could opt to go with his right-handed lineup in a desperate must-win game for the Rays.

That would include Jonathan Aranda at first base, Richie Palacios at second and Liam Hicks at catcher, all better offensive options than their Game 3 replacements of Ryan Vilade, Ben Williamson and Nick Fortes, respectively. But Brewers manager will also be able to counter with left-handed relievers JoJo Romero and his best weapon of the postseason, Aaron Ashby further complicating Cash's call. Regardless, all of the Brewers' key bullpen arms had the day off in the 10-1 Game 3 rout, meaning two days off since their last appearance in Game 2.

Shane Drohan 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	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667	0	0	0	0	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/27/2026.

Looking to keep the Rays alive for at least another day is right-handed starter Griffin Jax. Converted from reliever to starter early this season, Jax has made 23 starts among his 34 appearances this year. He has a 3.76 FIP (3.53 ERA) with a 7.6% walk rate and 25.3% strikeout rate. The walk rate is pretty much on his career mark of 7.2%, while his strikeout rate is down several points from where it has been the last two seasons (34.4%, 35%), when he was a reliever for the Minnesota Twins. Jax was acquired by the Rays at the 2025 trade deadline.

Jax did make two relief appearances vs. the Brewers this season. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning in a 3-2 Rays win March 30, striking out one and not allowing a hit or a walk. In the April 1 series finale, the Brewers lit Jax up for five runs (three earned) with three hits and a walk while he didn't get an out in the eighth inning of an 8-2 Brewers win. That outing and a start for the Twins in 2021 where Jax allowed six runs in five innings have put his ERA at 6.75 ERA over 12 appearances in 14⅔ innings.

He has made two postseason appearances this year. In the NL Division Series vs. the New York Yankees, Jax pitched two innings of relief in the Game 3 clincher, allowing a run on a hit with a walk and four strikeouts. He started Game 3 of the AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians and pitched into the fifth inning, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and two strikeouts.

Among current Brewers, Christian Yelich is 2-for-6 with a walk and two RBIs, while William Contreras is 2-for-4 with two strikeouts. Jackson Chourio, who has the second-most hits in the first three games in World Series history with eight, has not faced Jax. Chourio, who had two hits in the eight-run fifth inning of Game 3, is the only player in MLB postseason history to have two hits in a single inning of multiple postseason games.

Griffin Jax vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Current Batters Table
Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH
1	Christian Yelich	L	7	6	2	1	0	2	1	1	.333	.429	.500	.929	0
2	Bo Naylor	L	6	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000	1
3	Jake Bauers	L	4	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	.333	.500	.333	.833	0
4	William Contreras	R	4	4	2	0	0	0	0	2	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0
5	Brice Turang	L	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667	1
6	Sal Frelick	L	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000	0
7	David Hamilton	L	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0
8	Garrett Mitchell	L	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	0
9	Joey Ortiz	R	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0
10	Brandon Lockridge	R	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0
11	Gary Sánchez	R	1	1	1	0	1	2	0	0	1.000	1.000	4.000	5.000	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/27/2026.

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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.