Tropicana Field is a strange place to watch baseball. With its catwalks, dim lighting, and artificial turf, it often feels more like a storage facility than a real ballpark. By the late innings of Game 4, it felt like a graveyard.
There was no dramatic comeback. No late-inning magic to keep the season alive for another day. The Milwaukee Brewers swept through St. Pete, shutting down the Tampa Bay Rays over four games to win the World Series.
Getting swept is its own kind of tough. There’s no Game 7 heartbreak or the excitement of a close series. You just watch your team struggle and then see the other team celebrate on your home field.
You have to give Milwaukee credit. They were unstoppable. Jackson Chourio was aggressive on the bases, turning walks into doubles and disrupting the Rays’ rhythm. Pat Murphy used a bullpen full of hard-throwing pitchers. Whenever Tampa Bay tried to rally, a new Brewers reliever came in and shut it down with fast pitches. Milwaukee played sharp, energetic baseball and deserved the trophy.
But as the Brewers take the trophy back to Wisconsin, the story in Florida isn’t just about losing. It’s also about the determination the Rays showed to get this far.
No one expected this roster to make the World Series. The team spent the playoffs barely hanging on, beating stronger and wealthier teams in tough, low-scoring games. They depended on Kevin Cash’s smart bullpen moves, finding ways to get through tough innings with careful decisions. It was a tough and tiring way to win.
Eventually, it caught up to them. By the time they faced Milwaukee, the team was out of energy. You can only ask your pitchers to do so much before they get tired, and you can’t win when your offense stops getting on base. The hitters struggled, and the pitchers ran out of steam.
Losing is tough, and getting swept at home is something that will stick with the team for a long time. But that doesn’t take away from what happened over the last month. The Rays gave the city an exciting run. They showed that a hardworking team can still make an impact in October. They didn’t get a storybook ending, but they deserved the applause as they left the field.
Cody Queen is the lead columnist for the Queen Media Sports Report, bringing you the hard hitting facts, the deep dives, and the unapologetic truth about the teams you love. Queen Media Sports Report is brought to you by Backwater Royalty.
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