The Brewers made a helluva run at it, but the 2005 White Sox and 1999 Yankees won't have to make room in the 11-1 Club. Cooper Pratt's go-ahead homer in the top of the 12th put the Brewers ahead 3-2 and within three outs of their first-ever World Series championship via a four-game sweep, but neither Antonio Senzatela nor Shane Drohan could even record one of those outs. All five Rays reached safely in the bottom of the inning, capped off by Ben Williamson's game-winning single to extend the series to Game 5.
The Brewers will now finish the postseason no better than 11-2, which also means they won't be the first team to sweep both the League Championship Series and World Series since both became best-of-seven series in 29185. They also missed an opportunity to set the record for most consecutive postseason victories. Their winning streak was halted at eight, which is the same as the 2005 White Sox, along with the 2019 Nationals, 2014 Royals and 2004 Red Sox.
Had Drohan been able to close it out, it would've represented an indirect victory for White Sox player evaluation, as they selected him in the Rule 5 draft back in 2024. The attempt at carrying him never really got off the ground, however. He underwent nerve decompression surgery during spring training, and a rehab stint wasn't the best way to go about carrying him on the 26-man roster the rest of the season. Instead, he returned to the Red Sox, with whom he was only able to pitch in two more games thanks to more shoulder problems.
He finally returned to form in 2025, only for forearm issues to put him on the shelf during the season, and that's how he ended up running out of time with the Red Sox. The Brewers were able to pick him up on a minor league deal, and although he opened the season in Triple-A Nashville, he finally got the call to the majors in the second half of April, and spent the rest of the season throwing 124 ⅔ innings over 33 games and 19 starts. That caught me off guard, as did Milwaukee's 23-10 record in games Drohan pitched.
Recording the final out of the World Series would've been quite the cap on his season, as well as a reflection of the Brewers' capacity to get big-league value out of unexpected places, especially since he hadn't pitched in a month. Instead, he inherited a runner on first after a Joey Ortiz error and gave up four consecutive singles, and the Brewers' celebration had to wait a day.
Spare Parts
- Priced out of the World Series in Milwaukee, Brewers fans take their party to Florida -- The Athletic
- Brewers fans drink St. Petersburg sports bar out of Miller Lite -- WISN.com
As somebody who watches postseason games while doing other things, I rely to some extent on crowd noise to tell me how quickly to turn my attention when it's divided. So, when Tropicana Field roars as Cooper Pratt puts the visiting team ahead in the top of the 12th, it's a very disorienting experience.
Aside from one inning in Game 3, it's been a pretty tense World Series, although I'm surprised by how much small ball both teams are playing, and the way both teams have been exchanging outs on the basepaths. Sam Miller takes an inventory of all the bunting, running and smaller decisions that are adding/subtracting up.
- Caleb Bonemer recaps Fall League stint: 'A great three weeks' -- MLB.com
- Arizona Fall League midseason check-in -- FanGraphs
After 595 plate appearances during the regular season, 55 more in the Arizona Fall League and 180 outfield innings between the two, the White Sox are letting Caleb Bonemer call it a season. Eric Longenhagen came away from his looks buying into the hit tool enough to think he'll access his power.
Perhaps one reason the White Sox didn't want to push Bonemer was the AFL's experiment with outfield positioning rules, which Baseball America's Ian Cundell said achieved their desired effect of yielding far more hits, especially doubles and triples. But that means a lot more full-tilt running, and Bonemer had already done more than he was used to.
I'm 95 percent sure Jon Greenberg listing David Haugh as a potential replacement for John Schriffen is merely a joke about Haugh's strange ubiquity ("You can never count out David Haugh, who has every other job in the Chicago broadcast industry"), but 95 percent of readers seem to be taking it at face value.
- From Biberty to living under home plate: The worst commercials of the MLB postseason -- The Athletic
Veterans of the baseball blogosphere -- particularly those adjacent to Baseball Nation on SB Nation -- would call this article "classic Brisbee," and required reading for everybody else who wonders why so many insurance company commercials have complicated backstories.
