Rays reflect on close-knit season after World Series defeat to Brewers
Tampa Bay’s 4-1 Game 5 loss ended a 98-win season. Kevin Cash and Bryan Baker described the disappointment and pride inside the Rays’ clubhouse.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ season ended with a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday, October 28, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. ESPN reported that players and manager Kevin Cash were heartbroken after the defeat but proud of the group that had reached the final.
Closer Bryan Baker said he was ‘proud to be part of this group,’ according to ESPN. Cash said he was ‘crushed’ and disappointed, but that what the team had meant to one another during the season and October made the loss easier to handle. ESPN described players and coaches congratulating and hugging each other in the clubhouse.
How the Rays reached Game 5
Tampa Bay had kept the series alive with a 12-inning win in Game 4. Baker worked two innings in that game, something ESPN said he had not done all year, then returned to pitch a scoreless eighth in Game 5. The extra-inning win also changed the next night’s pitching plans: Nick Martinez, the scheduled Game 5 starter, had been needed for two innings out of the bullpen.
Drew Rasmussen started instead and held Milwaukee to one run over four innings on 48 pitches. Cash followed the plan to replace him with Kevin Kelly before the fifth, ESPN reported. The defeat ended the Rays’ third World Series appearance in the franchise’s 29-year history.
Junior Caminero went 1-for-4 in Game 5 after aggravating a left foot injury in Game 4, according to ESPN. He had been managing the injury for months. ESPN also reported that teammates credited Martinez with helping bring the club together through team dinners on the road.
The Rays’ offseason decisions
The loss closed a season in which Tampa Bay won 98 regular-season games, the American League East and the pennant, CBS Sports reported. The club now faces questions about payroll, its starting rotation and Caminero’s development. Those decisions will shape how much of this World Series roster returns in 2027.
CBS Sports identified several rotation decisions: Freddy Peralta is a free agent, Rasmussen has an $8 million option with a $500,000 buyout for 2027, and Martinez has a $20 million mutual option. It said Shane McClanahan could become a trade candidate as he approaches an arbitration raise. The four starters combined for a 3.03 regular-season ERA and 42 of the Rays’ 54 quality starts in the period CBS Sports assessed, after the trade deadline and before McClanahan’s forearm injury. The club has not announced how it will resolve those roster questions.
Read in depth: Sports
Rays face payroll and rotation questions after World Series loss to Brewers
Tampa Bay’s 98-win season ended in five World Series games. Its new ownership group faces questions about spending and retaining a rotation that helped carry the club to the...
Lamar Jackson practices fully as Ravens assess his return for Bills game
The quarterback’s full participation on Wednesday gave Baltimore reason for optimism, but coach Jesse Minter said the team would assess how he responds before Sunday’s game in...
Sources and context
- Rays proud of expectation-defying season despite World Series lossESPN (Jorge Castillo)
- What's next for the Rays? Three questions after World Series loss, including payroll and Junior CamineroCBS Sports
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.