The 2026 World Series gets underway tonight, and baseball fans are in for a pitching duel. The Milwaukee Brewers host the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 at American Family Field, with first pitch set for 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX, according to Fox Sports' World Series coverage.
The Brewers (103-59) send ace Jacob Misiorowski to the mound. The flame-throwing righty went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA during the regular season, leading the majors in ERA while striking out 252 batters, per FanDuel's Game 1 preview. Opposing him for Tampa Bay (98-64) is veteran Nick Martinez, who went 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA and earned his first All-Star nod this season, according to Baseball Prospectus.
The Rays made a late change to their rotation plans, bumping Drew Rasmussen to Game 2 on Saturday in favor of the steady veteran Martinez. As Baseball Prospectus notes, the move frees Tampa Bay to deploy its bullpen aggressively tonight while holding its pitching advantage for Games 2 through 4, where Rasmussen is slated to face Milwaukee's Logan Henderson.
Milwaukee is chasing history. The Brewers swept the back-to-back champion Dodgers to reach their first World Series in franchise history, and they enter the Fall Classic as heavy favorites — listed around -196 on the moneyline with the total set at 6.5 runs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, clinched the AL pennant with a 7-3 Game 6 win over Cleveland, powered by Yandy Diaz, who sealed the ALCS with an eighth-inning home run and belted two homers with four RBIs in the series, per SportsBook Review.
The two clubs met three times in the regular season, with Milwaukee taking the series 2-1, including an 8-2 win on April 1 at American Family Field in which Misiorowski struck out seven over six innings, according to The Spread. With the Brewers' power arms facing Tampa Bay's contact-and-command pitching philosophy, Game 1 sets the tone for what could be a fascinating Fall Classic.