John Romano: The Miz was good for Milwaukee, but the Rays made it easier for him

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 23, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MILWAUKEE — From the 103-mph fastball to the 77-mph change-up, every pitch is charted, measured and analyzed.

And, in the case of the World Series, obsessed over.

With that in mind, we’ve broken down the most important pitches, and the surrounding factors, from Milwaukee’s 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.

Jacob Misiorowski, Pitch No. 13, cutter, 96 mph

Three batters into the game, Yandy Diaz had hit a 347-foot, opposite-field drive that would have been a home run in 10 parks but was caught at the wall, and Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson had back-to-back singles. On pitch No. 13, Junior Caminero hit a soft liner to third and Aranda was caught off second for an inning-ending double-play. A lot of excitement for zero reward.

Nick Martinez, Pitch No. 12, cutter, 91 mph

Martinez, Pitch No. 13, cutter, 91 mph

Back-to-back cutters in the first inning were hit like rockets by Christian Yelich and William Contreras to drive in the game’s first two runs. Yelich hit a bomb to right-center with an exit velocity of 103.1 mph. Contreras followed with a line drive at 108.4 mph past a drawn-in infield. Making it all worse, both hits went off the gloves of Jonny DeLuca and Taylor Walls. It wasn’t the fault of the fielders. According to Statcast, there was a 62% and 63% chance the balls would go for hits.

Misiorowski, Pitch No. 52, fastball, 101.5 mph

After Aranda led off the fourth with a walk, Caminero lined Misiorowski’s 52nd pitch to straightaway center where it went off Garrett Mitchell’s glove for a double. A soft grounder by Liam Hicks brought Aranda home to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 2-1.

Misiorowski, Pitch No. 78, fastball, 103 mph

Victor Mesa Jr. led off the fifth with a single and advanced to second when Ben Williamson fouled off four consecutive two-strike pitches before hitting a bouncer to third base. After Walls popped out, Diaz came up. Among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, Diaz had the highest batting average in the majors at .370. On Misiorowski’s 78th and final pitch, Mesa inexplicably tried to steal third. He was thrown out and the inning ended without Diaz getting a chance to drive in the tying run. Brewers catcher Contreras had one of the highest caught-stealing rates in baseball at 34.2%.

Abner Uribe, Pitch No. 12, slider, 98 mph

One out, Aranda on first base, Simpson at the plate, full count. The Rays attempted a hit-and-run that was doomed as soon as the pitch left Uribe’s hand and Simpson tried to check his swing. Strike three, and Aranda was thrown out easily at second base to end the inning.

Kevin Kelly, Pitch No. 1, sinker, 90 mph

This one pretty much ended the game. In his second inning of work, Steven Matz gave up a leadoff walk to Cooper Pratt to start the seventh. He managed to get the next two outs, but Pratt advanced to second on a slow roller. With the lineup turning over, Rays manager Kevin Cash went to right-hander Kevin Kelly to face Jackson Chourio. On his first pitch, Chourio inside-outed a grounder down the first-base line to drive in Pratt and put the Brewers up 3-1.