Oct 27, 2026 8:47 PM
Updated Oct 27, 2026 10:09 PM
Facing a 3-0 deficit, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash shakes up his roster to avoid a World Series sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Both lineup cards have been submitted, and for what could be the final time in the 2026 MLB season, the Milwaukee Brewers are set to do battle against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Seeing as the Rays are down 3-0, this is a must-win situation for them. Griffin Jax is scheduled to start at Tropicana Field against Dustin May.
Both are right-handed pitchers, so that undoubtedly had an impact on the lineups that managers Kevin Cash and Pat Murphy created.
For the Brewers, it's business as usual, though the two-time National League Manager of the Year did tweak the position of a few players in his starting nine.
As for Cash, he benched Jonathan Aranda in Game 3, a move that was met with a ton of backlash.
Cash thought he had the first baseman's best interest in mind with Robert Gasser on the mound, but that ended up not mattering in the slightest as the Brewers would blow that game open, 10-0, and Gasser threw six innings of one-hit baseball. The final score was 10-1.
With just over three hours to go before first pitch, each team's lineup is below:
Brewers Game 4 lineup
- Jackson Chourio, LF
- Jake Bauers, 1B
- Christian Yelich, DH
- William Contreras, C
- Brice Turang, 2B
- Sal Frelick, RF
- Cooper Pratt, SS
- Garrett Mitchell, CF
- David Hamilton, 3B
Player-wise, this is the exact same. There was a noticeable difference at the bottom of the lineup as Garrett Mitchell has fallen to eighth, and that's not a spot where he's taken many at-bats this season.
In fact, he has just 26 at-bats there all year, which only trails his 19 at-bats in the three-spot and his 12 at cleanup.
Cooper Pratt has 43 at-bats when hitting seventh this season, though he's had 184 combined in either the eighth or ninth spot.
As for Sal Frelick, he's had 44 at-bats when hitting sixth, which is tied with the leadoff spot for the third most he's had, only trailing eighth (67) and seventh (170).
Rays Game 4 lineup
- Yandy Diaz, DH
- Jonathan Aranda, 1B
- Junior Caminero, 3B
- Liam Hicks, C
- Jonny DeLuca, CF
- Chandler Simpson, LF
- Ryan Vilade, RF
- Richie Palacios, 2B
- Taylor Walls, SS
This is nearly a completely different lineup than what the Rays had in Game 3, so it's clearly a desperation move from Cash to make something happen.
Chandler Simpson has moved down, Jonathan Aranda is set to return, Liam Hicks is catching, Ryan Vilade stays in but moves to the outfield, and Richie Palacios takes over at second base. Jonny DeLuca stays in over a guy like Cedric Mullins.
At the end of the day, plenty of fans are going to question Cash's decisions in this series, but at least he's not going down without a fight.
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