All the Way Rays: Going into Game 5!

Good afternoon everyone and thank you so much for joining us for another all the way Rays World Series special here at three o'clock. I know a lot of you are used to seeing Sky Tower weather now but we have kind of robbed their hour to talk all about the Rays clinching a win last night showing time and time again like they have all season long that they can defy the odds. I know after game three, we were a little skeptical. I got to admit, we didn't even know if we were going to be having a 3 p.m. stream today, but they have officially forced a game five, and we are now officially a little over five hours away from first pitch. So I want to show you three different vantage points we have from in and around the trap right now. This is a look to the left-hand side of the press area. Within the next half hour or so, we are expected to hear from Rays manager Kevin Cash, who was losing his voice last night. He joined Big Papi, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter on our Fox Sports postgame coverage. He even got an honorary t-shirt from Big Papi. So he was just so excited. He said time and time again, even after the Game 3 loss, that it was so hard to be disappointed in this team. Well, they certainly showed that they are not a disappointment at all last night. You can see up in the right-hand corner that they are continuing to get the field ready for Game 5. And then outside the Trop, you're going to have fans heading into the parking area. Actually, as we speak, I know the gates, as far as parking goes, have been opening at 3 o'clock. But be sure to tune into our FOX 13 coverage starting at 4. We are going to have Chris Cato, Allie Corey, Mark, Scott, Sean, another Mark, Mark Scull Jr., continuing our team coverage of the Rays' success. We're going to talk to some fans. We're going to hear what their experience was like last night. We're going to check in with FOX 13's Evan Axelbank. But first, I do believe we have Nash Rhodes out in the weather lab for a quick check of your World Series forecast. Nash, how are we doing? Can you hear me okay? Hey, Regina, I've got you loud and clear. You're getting a little preview here of the World Series Game 5 forecast there on the screen. A chance for a spot shower early on, but otherwise, the later into the night that we get, that is not going to be a concern. I do think rain chances should be out of our hair by around 8 p.m., and it doesn't get much better than this here for October for a forecast. It will be breezy at times throughout the night. We're talking wind gusts up to about 30 miles per hour, but a little bit lighter than they were a few days ago. Technically, we have some showers now popping up on Sky Tower Vector Scan. All of them are away from the coast, but very late tonight. Not out of the question that one or two of them pop up closer to Pinellas County, so we'll be keeping a lookout on that. Sky Tower Vector Scan 7-Day Forecast calls for high temperatures somewhere in the 80s for the next few afternoons. We're keeping an eye on low-end chances for some passing rain on Halloween, but those chances aren't particularly high. It's the day after, Sunday, that brings us our next best chance of rain. But as far as the game tonight, Regina, hard to find anything to complain about. Hopefully the Rays can get things done and the conditions should be good for any watch parties outside. I was going to say, hopefully, maybe tomorrow we're going to be looking towards a forecast in Milwaukee if we send it back there, Nash. Yeah, no surprises. Probably going to be chilly up there. Some good fall weather for baseball. Nash Rhodes, thanks so much. All right, everyone. I know that a lot of people, we actually just in our 2 o'clock hour on Florida Live spoke with Garrett and a fan who was there last night, said he is going to be wearing the same T-shirt that he wore last night to the game tonight. A lot of people with their superstitions, anything that we did yesterday as fans, bringing the good luck, we got to do the same thing. tonight. Well, that includes Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill. They actually posted this hilarious post saying, I'm going to need everyone to sit in the exact same seats that you sat in last night. So is this possible? What is Ferg's looking like right now? Well, we want to send things out to Ferg's Live where we are being joined by FOX 13's Evan Axelbank. Evan, how are we doing? Can you hear us okay yeah everything's doing great a little bit different than the last couple of days to be honest with you I'm going to show you Ferg's looks a lot different game one there was a huge crowd game two there was a mega huge crowd today it's much different not sure what the exact reason might be maybe it's because yeah maybe it's because people only bought tickets for game three and four from Milwaukee and they flew back today maybe the crowd will be a little bit smaller in terms of the Brewers fan representation. Maybe people are late arriving. Yesterday was a 12-inning game. Obviously, you know, it took later on into the evening, so maybe people were waking up late today. Not sure what the reason is, but either way, it is a much smaller crowd than we've had the last couple of days. I did meet a Rays fan here from Orlando. He drove all the way here. I'm a little bit far from him, so I'm just going to walk over here. Hey, Brandon, how are you? Very well, how are you? What made you drive over today from Orlando? A long-time Rays fan, since 98. How did it feel to get the win last night? Fantastic. I was really tired, but it was awesome. Exhilarating. Is it a point of pride at this point, or is there a real belief that the team can do it? We can do it. I mean, you know, it's tough being a Rays fan sometimes, but, I mean, we're here for the long haul. We're going to do it, man. We're doing it. Rays in seven. What is it like to have followed the team for so long and to see them go through all they've gone through with the trough, the stadium, having to play at a different stadium a couple of years ago. And now here they are in the World Series, up or down? You know, like I said, it's tough. But, I mean, it pulls on the heartstrings with the trough and the hurricane. And like I said, we're here to do it, man. I mean, I can't believe there's so many Brewers fans here. A little disappointed in that, but we're going to do it. You should have seen yesterday. Yesterday was a huge crowd of Brewers fans here. How excited are you for that first pitch? How do you think you'll be feeling? Really excited I mean, I got my wife and my son I mean, we got a whole group of us coming It's going to be great Awesome, alright Brandon, thanks We appreciate it, thanks for chatting with us So Regina, you know, look Fans, as we've seen in the last couple of days They come around from all over Florida They come from all over Tampa Bay This is a point of pride, not just for our area But for the entire state The Brewers, right now, have the lead in the series But listen, you never know what can happen. We all saw what happened in 2004 with the Red Sox and Yankees. It hasn't happened yet, but the key word there is yet. You never know. Exactly. Evan, I also heard that Ferbs kind of had to keep up with the Brewers fans, and I think they may have just gotten a massive truckload of beer. Can you tell us about how they've had to really stock up these last few days? I can. I can. So for the first home game, Game 3, they sold 1,000 cases of Miller Lite and Coors Lite. For Game 4, they sold 1,100 cases of Coors Lite and Miller Lite. That's like 25,000 beers a night. So Ferg is a very happy guy. He was very happy when the Rays won for a number of reasons because, of course, one of them being that there's a Game 5 today, which means more people packing into his bar. And yes, we did indeed see a delivery of beer coming in. I saw dozens of cases of beers, and people on Twitter have been very glad to tell me us Brewers fans love our Miller Lite. Not a surprise, but they do. And they're drinking it here, and so yes, they restocked, and I'm sure they're ready to go for tonight. But again, 25,000 beers, two nights in a row. And what's crazy is some of the Milwaukee fans from afar are saying that's not even that much like they're shocked that they haven't drank even more um Evan, we've been talking about superstitions a lot um I want to talk to you about I know you kind of had some faces and we had some concern about the tarot card reader and what would happen but I think it worked. Were you shocked look I you know did the tarot card work uh work or was it the fact that the Rays got some lucky breaks in the 12th inning. You know, the error was committed by the Brewers' third baseman. That opened the door. But listen, anything, anything that keeps us on the right side of the energy, we're going to take. So we're glad to have the tarot card reader on our side. We're glad to have whatever superstitions out there. What are your superstitions? Do you have any superstitions, Regina? Honestly, not really. Not really. I'm embarrassed to say I don't even have, I don't have a lucky hat. I don't even have that much Rays merch in my closet. So I'm just kind of, I'm going on the vibes. Yeah. You know, vibes are a big deal for me. What's a good superstition for me? I got to think about that. A good superstition. Well, I'll tell you this. I do everything in the same order every day, just about. So maybe I just like the routine, keeping things going in the routine. You know, I'm not a super superstitious guy, but look, anything helps. And look, I have an aunt, and she used to, may God rest her soul, when she would be watching a baseball game, if the Mets were doing well, she wouldn't move until they stopped doing well. So maybe we should all try that tonight. I think that works. I think anything that we could do will help. Evan, we're going to let you go. Thank you so much for this update. We appreciate you. You're a Ferg's regular now, and we'll see you at 4, 5, and 6. All right. See you later. All right, everybody. A big thanks to Evan and all of our Fox 13 team. They have been doing a marvelous job going out there, talking to the fans, getting every angle of a story possible. I don't know if you saw earlier we had Fox 13's Ariel Placencia on. She was going to Mazzaro's talking about Yandy's Tomahawk steaks and how they're now selling a cut of Tomahawk steaks. It was really great visuals. Everybody's doing fantastic. All right, guys, we are going to take a quick two-minute commercial break. We're monitoring some pretty big news. I do believe that, according to some reports, that Drew Rasmussen is going to be your starting pitcher tonight. We're going to work on getting that confirmed, but when we come back, we are going to hear from a former professional athlete who was at the game last night and can certainly speak to needing all of the energy from the crowd and not giving up on your team, so stay tuned for that. We'll be right back. Everybody, I would consider this breaking news in the World of the World Series. We have just learned, and now this was the first post on social media that we saw confirming it. Mark Topkin, a very well-known sports reporter with the Tampa Bay Times, he said breaking Rays game five starter will be Drew Rasmussen. And then we did just see on Major League Baseball's website that that is what is going to happen. A big question mark surrounding whether or not this was going to happen. Obviously, his arm, very delicate. He's had multiple surgeries. He had played and started on Friday in Milwaukee. So this is going to be good. I mean, we love Rasmussen. He is such a critical part of the team and the bullpen. Oh, and then we got Ryan Bass, the official Rays reporter, saying it is Rasmussen for Rays on short rest. So there we go. That is going to be exciting and such a such a sight. We're so excited to see Drew starting on the mound for your Tampa Bay Rays tonight. We're not too sure at the moment who is going to be throwing out the first pitch. I don't think we've seen that information anymore. But if we can get that for you, we absolutely will. But happy to bring you that news that Drew Rasmussen going to be your starting pitcher for a forced game five in the 12th inning. Last night was the perfect example of, listen, we all felt it. We were all very honest in our coverage yesterday. Game three was disappointing. It was concerning. We didn't know whether or not we were going to see a sweep by Milwaukee, and we're not getting the brooms out just yet. And somebody who can speak to that more than ever is a former Major League soccer star who now works for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Jeff Attala. He was at the game last night with his family, and I decided to reach out to him because he posted this really, really important video on social media. I'm going to play it for you first, and then we're going to bring him on live. It's 2 a.m., and I just got back from what will probably be the best sporting experience I've ever had as a fan in my entire life. 12th inning World Series win, walk off at the Trop, just absolutely electric, with my kids cheering until 1.30 in the morning, just core memories. and there was so much chatter going on today about how it's okay if you sell your tickets because of what happened in game three and i was getting so annoyed this is the world series no matter what your team is up against you show up as a fan to cheer on your team in the World Series if you have the opportunity to do that because you never know what type of moment is going to be created from that but also you show up for your team no matter what they're up against if the Rays win it in seven that'd be the best thing ever best thing imaginable I couldn't even I can't even wrap my head around what that would feel like but the experience that I just had I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world and that only happens if you show up to the game that only happens if you show up for your team when their backs are against the wall and as Tampa sports fans or as people with you know some presence in Tampa sports show up for the teams don't sell your tickets to the other fan bases they haven't seen a World Series since 1983 this is our third World Series and we started our team in 1998 don't take this stuff for granted show up to the game support the team you never know you're going to have a core memory unlocked go Rays and boy did they have a time Jeff was kind enough to share this photo of his son taking what we on good day Tampa Bay especially during the morning shift this is called a cute nap in Regina Gonzalez terms um you know you just take it you shut your eyes get a little energy going and then just wake back up and start from where you were in the beginning uh Jeff Adanella joining us live right now here on this special World Series stream uh Jeff first of all that was an incredible photo incredible night for your family and what an incredible message for fans of this team that were feeling a little down in the dumps how are you doing today my friend are we tired yeah i am tired i had a uh i had another hit i had to do at 8 30 in the morning um so getting out of bed was a little bit difficult but you know it's uh you watch a couple highlights of the game last night and you pop right up and you get excited about starting the day again so all good on my end i love it i love it we actually decided not to bother our sports team because they got out of the chop at like 1 30 we're like we'll let them sleep a little bit we we we may do on our 11 a.m show but um you have to tell me i mean the world series in the trop first of all before we even talk about being there last night i mean you work for another team the Rowdy Tour first of all doing incredible themselves um you saw what happened to the trop during hurricane milton you saw this team get to this point did you ever think you'd be seeing a world series in the first season back under this roof i mean i think you never really know what to expect and then and that's why i think that one of the things that i've been trying to really preach and like get out there is that we're very fortunate to be tampa sports fans i mean you talked about the Rowdy Tour are doing well the rays are doing well the lightning have won stanley cups the bucs have won super bowls and there's so there we've had so many opportunities to see once in a lifetime things that other fan bases would just do anything to witness once in their lives and i think that that's something that i want to just make sure that everybody in as a Tampa sports fan that's in this city realizes that we shouldn't take it for granted and for the turnaround that they've had for the success that they've had and just the excitement that they've provided for fans this season it's I don't know that anybody expected it but with the Rays you always kind of expect the unexpected and this one's been a good one I mean and that's what we were literally talking about in our news morning meeting this morning is the fact that they have gone their whole season defying the odds I mean talk to you talk to you and I a couple months ago we didn't even know if this was a World Series team and now here we are um talk to me about your experience last night getting those tickets being able to share that with your family walk me through the whole night yeah i mean it was it was honestly perfect i couldn't have drawn it all up any better you know fortunately i know that not everybody has the opportunity to go to the World Series so i want to make sure that i understand that people understand that i'm well aware of that as well but um for us you know it was just one of those things where i grew up going of the Trop you know i went to my first game when i was 10 years old my daughter's 10 years old now my son is six and it was just one of those things with the World Series in town i wanted to be able to bring my kids to that to say that you know you never know if you're going to see another one so for me to have the opportunity to bring the family to that so that we could say that we went to see a World Series game together whether you know they remember it for what it all was or not i think my daughter will more so than my son my son slept off a few innings but just for them to be able to say that we've been to a World Series game and now especially to see the game that we saw to see that our team win a game in the World Series it's it's a it's just a core memory that somebody that's loved this team and love this city and love the sports teams and wants my kids to be a fan just the way that i am those are just the types of things that a person like me and a dad will just treasure forever and and you know that only happens if you that only happens if you show up and support the team uh the best that you can even when your backs are against the wall or There's some other fan bases that, you know, want to come into town and will probably overpay some ticket prices to take them off your hands. Before we get into that part of the video you posted, Jeff, I want to talk about this incredible – you're a really cool dad. And shout out to your wife as well because I feel like a lot of parents would have been like, we got school tomorrow, it's time to go. But you guys stayed for all the extra innings, huh? Yeah, my kids have a rock star mom. And she she took over. She took over when Connor started to get a little bit tired and a little bit grumpy. And, you know, the other tricks weren't really working anymore. So she did a fantastic job of giving him a place to nap and then kind of bringing him back to the spirit of things. So it was a very good it was a very good moment for everybody. And, yeah, they didn't they they missed school today. We were kind of debating it on the way home. But once it got around 2 a.m., it was just like, I don't think it's going to matter what they do at school. and uh i think that a lot of people understand the reason to skip school that day i will say as someone who got to go to a lot of cool sporting events as a kid i will never remember what was supposed to be going on in a classroom that day but i will remember those moments so kudos to you because that was totally the right move um jeff you started off that social media post saying that you heard some people were selling their tickets or deciding not to go to game four because of what we saw in game three walk me through what was the chatter that you were hearing ahead of last night yeah i mean i think that you know of course it's uh you hear you hear from a lot of different sports fans on a lot of different platforms and and you know i think that for me it was just something where you keep hearing people calling in and just being so frustrated with what happened in game three and you know the different things and and talking pretty negatively about the team which i understand i'm a sports fan too like and i understand that there's negative there's negative fan behavior and there's negative influence that goes on with those things too and you're frustrated So I get it. But for me, the thing that started to get frustrating, which is hearing the conversations about, you know, Milwaukee fans will pay X amount of dollars or more money for for your tickets. And, you know, with the frustration that you had from game three, like selling the tickets and getting the money and not seeing what the game is and not going to this World Series game. if you'd already bought tickets and now you're on the fence about going for me that conversation as somebody that's always loved to try to champion tampa sports and really try to build this fan culture around this city for me that conversation was just getting under my skin throughout the course of the day because to have the idea of not going to support your team when they're playing in the world series despite what's going on i mean the team deserves you to be there and cheer cheer on what they've been able to accomplish this season and at the same time like i said earlier It's just a core memory, and it's something that I think we've had a lot of success in this area, and we take that a little bit for granted. But you never know when you're going to get the opportunity to do that again. And for us to be able to fill up the stadium with Tampa fans and fully get behind the team's back, I think that that's a goal that every Tampa fan should have. So I was just trying to echo that sentiment. And you know what? You showed up last night as a fan, but you, Jeff, have been on the other side of this as an athlete on the field who might be in a tough position position not winning many games and you feel the the vibe so to speak from your fans can you talk about why after a tough loss especially that it is so important and what it means to come back out to see fans in Rays uniforms because there were a lot of Brewers fans there as well yeah I think that you know it was actually really cool last night I think that there were a lot of Brewers fans for sure but i've been a fan of the tampa bay rays since 98 so i've been in the trenches of the stadium against the Yankees fans and the Red Sox fans my entire life so i've been fighting this battle for for a really long time and it was cool it's cool to see the Tampa fans show up even when there are other fan bases there and really make noise and support the team because you know that's what everybody wants but from a player perspective i mean when you deal with a tough loss and then you show up the next day and there's an entire stadium of people that have your back and they're still chanting your team's name and even if you know if you make a mistake or something the night before and then when you get up when you when it's your moment to have a moment in the game then to know that the fans still have your back to know that the fans are still supporting that they're with you every step of the way those things go such a long way and you know as players of course like you play like you play for wanting to win and chasing championships and that's a motivation but to be honest you know there's a lot of professional there's a lot of professional sports where you want to perform for the fans and you want to play for the fans and you want to represent them the best that you possibly can because you know players may come and go from a franchise but the fans are the ones that stay there forever so whenever you have the chance to represent a franchise you're really really doing it for the fans and it's just a show of appreciation for the hard-earned money that's spent to come watch you do your thing and to know that the fans have your support that the fans are supporting you when you're tougher moments then those are the things that go a really long way and we need to talk about the moment the walk off win in a 12th inning of baseball even someone who was just sitting on their couch i was like oh here we go the 10th inning the 11th the really really hanging on almost like your son by the 12th inning um that moment what were you screaming what was that like yeah we were going nuts i mean everybody was going nuts and then once they loaded the bases i mean once Junior got on of that on that air you know i think that everybody started sensing a little bit that like oh we could try to get one back and then you know the thought also goes in your mind is i'm looking at my son who looks like you know he's crying and he's trying to figure out where his emotions are i'm like oh man if we get one run and this goes three more extras i don't know how long how long he's gonna hold up but once they got the bases loaded you could just feel like you could just feel the energy and the tide was turning and then i mean once he got that hit the place just absolutely erupted and you know kids are screaming it's it's 12 30 in the morning you have kids screaming adults screaming you're watching all these brewer fans that they're getting earlier you know they're looking at each other and saying three outs and it's ours and then you see them put their head in their hands and you're just like oh this is perfect this is what a moment this is and and you know no matter even though it was so late there were tons of Rays fans that stuck around to watch the team celebrate and you know just to be a part of that it's it's a once in a lifetime type of experience and I'll remember it forever, for sure. And as you said, do not take it for granted, no matter where you were watching from. I want to talk about, and from an athlete perspective especially, we got to be honest here, there's a lot of pressure on this team. They literally need to take this back to Milwaukee and win the next three games in order to clinch their first World Series championship as a franchise. What is your message to them? I mean, how do you take the momentum of last night and bring it back into game five tonight? Yeah, I mean, all the pressure's on Milwaukee in my mind. You know, Milwaukee got themselves out to a big lead, and it's up to Milwaukee now to try to close us out. And, you know, I think that if I was to be able to say anything for the team, it's just, you know, try to continue doing what you've been doing all season. You know, enjoy the moment. Have fun with the moment. I've had the chance to play in a couple finals, and, you know, enjoying the moment was a big part of it. Just relax, go out, and have fun. You know, you work your entire career to get yourself in a moment like this, and they're literally living a dream that I'm sure every single one of them had growing up as baseball players. So now that there's really not that much pressure on you, the pressure's on Milwaukee, just play carefree, have fun, enjoy the moment, and try to embrace it for what it is because, you know, the eyes of the world are on you. And as an athlete, that's really what you're trying to do with your entire career, and now they have that opportunity. So I think just letting them know that and letting them know that there's a lot of fans out there. Even though Milwaukee fans can get a little bit loud, there's a lot of Tampa fans out there that are fighting in the trenches in the stadiums in terms of trying to win the noise battle and I know that there's watch parties and people are really rallying behind this team so we got their backs as much as they have ours I love it great way to end it Jeff Adanella a Rowdy's content and development director you joined us through extensive World Cups coverage and now we're talking World Series so maybe you're the good luck charm thank you so much we'll talk to you soon go Rays and let's keep the momentum going yeah I love it quick plug there's a Rowdies playoff game on Friday 7:38 oh my gosh no it's all good we're all we're all excited no there's a Rowdies playoff game at 7:30 at Al Lang would love to see you guys there too because we need support as well oh my gosh 100 percent it's all good I had to just plug it in real quick no you have to you have to and I apologize for not even asking about the fact that you guys have games that fans need to show up too so we appreciate you go Rowdies and congratulations on the success take care all the way let's go i love it i love it so many successful sports teams in Tampa Bay i'm losing track a huge shout out to Jeff Adanella he is just such a gem he's so knowledgeable and such a great fan he needed to bring that perspective onto social media and to all of our Rays fans who were a little bit concerned and you know rightfully so I know game three was pretty ugly but game four was another incredible turn of events and hopefully we see it in game five and take this back to Milwaukee my friends um all right we're gonna take a quick two minute commercial break before we go I want to let you know that we are still on standby any moment now we are expected to hear from Rays manager Kevin Cash uh was really hyped last night likely going to be uh keeping that that momentum going and then we also want to bring you some more information that now we just found out Drew Rasmussen is going to be your starting pitcher but before him who is throwing out that first pitch well it looks like according to Mark Topkin uh first pitch for World Series game five to be thrown by longtime TV broadcaster Duane Stutz so uh how about that he's been calling this team's game since that very first season in 1998 from the early devil Rays days to the team we are cheering on tonight he has certainly been a constant for fans through it all he spent decades telling the Rays story so tonight he's going to get to be a part of that pre-game spotlight four hours 35 minutes 42 seconds away from first pitch we'll be right back All right, everybody, welcome back on in to this special 3 p.m. World Series All the Way Rays streaming special. We've been talking to fans all day long, but of course, we want to hear from you. Scan that QR code and keep sending us your best Tampa Bay Rays memories, your amazing pictures like that Tampa Bay Rays sandcastle People dressing up in jerseys Thank you, Nicole, from Lakeland, Florida. How fun are these? We love them so much People at the Trop getting to go to World Series games as Jeff Ottenella was saying right before us He was there last night And whether you were watching from inside the Trop or watching from your couch, just don't take these moments for granted. Yesterday was absolutely incredible. And, of course, we want to get out to someone who I want to say got to witness it firsthand. But Scott Smith, our sports director, actually was kind enough to share a behind-the-scenes video of where he gets to wait while they go into extra innings. Scott, how you doing, buddy? You did great again last night. I think you left the Trop at, like, 1:30 in the morning. Hours later, we are back. How we feeling? You know, I feel great. Got some rest here, but it feels like we were just here moments ago. And that's okay. We can get some rest once this World Series comes to a wrap. But, man, what a game last night. I think, you know, in addition to the folks that were covering the game, certainly the players and the coaches fired up to have some life injected back into this World Series, getting that first win, albeit game four. Hey, better late than never. They still have a pulse, and so they're going to try to rattle off another one here tonight in game number five. This will be the last game at Tropicana Field in the 2026 season, so might as well give this fan base a show here and see if they can push this thing off to Milwaukee. But, yeah, not the glamorous side of television is displayed on social media when you hang out for the last four innings in the basement of the stadium watching on maybe a 14-inch screen. But it was a lot of fun. And, boy, we were all on the edge of our seat with how that transpired last night. You had what felt like, man, it got away in the top of the 12th with that Cooper Pratt home run and only to see this team do something that we have not seen yet in the World Series, and that is to string together four consecutive hits. And they did have a little luck on their side, Junior Caminero, hits a hot shot to third base and you know fortunately they made a they made a bad fielding error on that throw and uh and so we'll take it you know get get the first guy on and that's just kind of been the story for the Rays you know it's like put the ball in play and then make sure that they have to do everything right too it's not always about executing to perfection it's sometimes like if you are consistent you can put enough pressure on the opposing team to where they make a mistake and they were able to jump on that last night and then of course they rattled off four straight hits and and then that's all she wrote so a big 12 inning win and we're back at it for game number five here tonight at the Trop yeah i actually wanted to ask you Scott it was concerning to see Junior Caminero uh have a runner subbed in for him it looked like he was limping have we gotten any word on his status i know he said he would play with a one leg but how is that looking i mean i would the lineups have not been revealed yet but i would fully expect junior to be ready to go here tonight he did suffer kind of a late game injury to his left leg yesterday uh he was asked about it in the post game media scrum and and said you know what if my leg is broken i'm playing on it so we would expect him to be full go even if maybe his his wheels aren't 100 you know it's he's not necessarily known for his base running but rather his the power bat so let's get that going here tonight against Jacob Mizellowski uh this will be the second time they faced him in this series and this you know really this should have been probably in many's eyes that the game one starters Drew Rasmussen for the Rays and Misiorowski for the Brewers but we're getting it here in game number five so a battle of aces we'll see if Drew brings better stuff into the equation here tonight we know that he was disappointed after not getting through the fourth inning in game number two and gave up three runs in that outing but i will say this for as rare as that last performance was and we had not seen an outing like that out of Drew since prior to the all-star break like you don't see two in a row from him so there is a a strong steady confidence that says he's going to be back and looking like his normal self here tonight at eight o'clock awesome well we are so excited to see it we're excited to keep up with your coverage we've got manager Kevin Cash stepping up to the podium in the press room so we're going to head to that Scott Smith thank you always thanks for having me Regina all right everybody here we go Rays manager Kevin Cash answering some questions from the media live let's take a listen. Sorry. I really honestly can't understand what she's saying. I hear. We talked to our group and then called Rass right after he left the ballpark and he was 100% on board wanting the ball. Would he be on a pitch limit or what's the plan? I wouldn't tell you if I had that answer regardless. Rass is going to take the ball and give us what he can give us. I'm sure there are a few guys who came in your office and said they have a few innings. Any of those conversations you can share i'm sure Nick Martinez is in there nick is yeah nick is in the clubhouse right now with a stem machine on his arm and no shirt he's ready to go pumped up uh i think i'm going to hear from all of them at some point throughout the day uh that they are good to go and eager to help in whatever way possible when you sat down with your pitching group last week was Drew coming back on short rest among the things you had in mind as a possibility or did that just develop the way the series developed i think it's more of the way the series has gone um he knows that uh we know that as a group Ras has been i mean there's big there's a lot of people that have contributed to why we're here right now Ras might be at the top of that list and uh it just shows a lot about him knowing the situation and wanting maybe he can make our decisions very easy by being eager to take the ball and we're going to give it to him and this him in the past being an opener relieving coming back on short rest two years ago just put you more at ease for deciding something like that i i think what puts us at ease is we know that he does everything in between his starts even though it's shaved a day shorter uh to prepare himself he held out from throwing a bullpen yesterday with this possibly in the back of his mind that he's going to go out and prepare. And I think Rast, knowing him, he's pretty motivated to get back out there and give us what he can. Wasn't satisfied with you know how maybe game two went. Kevin, having so many arms go up last night, pun intended, about pitching today and about lending their arms today, just what does that say about your pitching staff and about this team's mentality just after last night's win? It shows what they've shown consistently, all hands on deck. They're going to do whatever we can to help us win another game. I mean, with the exception of Brian Baker, and that wasn't even the start of the season, having a closer, everybody else has just pitched in whatever role they've asked to do whatever we thought was best to win that night, and I think we'll do that again today. Going back to last night, Ben hadn't had a lot of success to this point, and he referred to that, but just your confidence in him, using that situation, and how cool was it to see him come through? That was very cool. Very cool to see the reaction, how that played, you know, hitting the ball over Bauer's head or the ground ball over his head. But, I mean, Ben, his skill set is kind of made for that situation. You're going to get contact. It doesn't matter how, you know, elite the strikeout quality the pitcher is on the mound. It seems like Ben can really have a good at bat and put pressure on the pitcher to get him to swing and miss. I applaud Ben for going up there ready to hit. The last thing you want to do is go down 0-1, and then you're starting to expand because of just the pressure of the moment. But he was ready, like he alluded to. He was ready from about the fifth inning on. The entertaining part was he was so ready that he had his batting gloves and his helmet on sitting below the dugout. Kevin, what did you like about your at-bats against Misurawski in game one, and what do you want to see more of this time as you see him the second time? Yeah, I mean, I'd like to think that we can use just the reps from not too long ago to our advantage knowing that Jacob Misurawski is as good as anybody in baseball if not the best I thought we did a good job of not helping him out by expanding at the top of the zone if we can take that similar approach today make sure you know he gets the ball down and then we're ready to hit I you know saying that being overly patient probably doesn't work because if he gets ahead of you there's a reason why he's got so many strikeouts. Kevin, just is there a time in your managerial career where you've had such an all hands on deck approach entering a game like this and can you take us through the process of how this works and how you plan to navigate something where anyone and everyone's kind of available to some degree, well I think we've been built for many years where we've talked about it during regular seasons that you know our roster is built to help us win every single night, certain rosters in this league are built where you roll out eight or nine guys every night and then you're resting guys um with with your bench that's not how we're built we're built to use everybody on a given night and you know talking to the front office there's a lot of nights where we feel our best chance is to utilize our entire bench and last night was a pretty good example of that, how to navigate it I think at this point in the season we can do all the preparing that we want, we are preparing and trying to understand but that Milwaukee pitching staff is elite. Don't know which way they're going to go on a given night. You got to be a little bit reactive. Kevin, why do you feel like your team is better than most teams in Major League Baseball with its backs against the wall? I mean, I think our team has proven that we're better than most teams because we have better players. Our players have performed very well all season long with their backs against the wall. I mean, I don't know if we've had our backs against the wall too often we won almost 100 games, came just short of 100 games so a lot of things went well for us in the regular season our backs have been against the wall in this series because that's a really good Brewer team but that doesn't uh jar our confidence whatsoever and tonight's the final game at the Trop this season, what has it been like to play here this year and just how special is this place it's been very special we've played really well here we've won a lot of games here would like to find a way to win one more, Junior and how did he hurt the foot uh look Junior he's fine uh obviously in the lineup today um really impressive that he went first and third right there very instinctual play uh he's been dealing with some uh lower extremity injuries but there's a lot of guys that are nicked up right now playing through a lot and know that Cami will be ready to go today Johnny Deluca's overall play he's made some really impressive catches he's come up with some clutch hits for you, just what would you kind of say about him? Yeah, Johnny is I mean, the defense, we don't talk about him and Chandler last night, the plays that they made to keep it a low-scoring game, the jumps, the reads that they got, really kept us in that ball game. I feel like the at-bats are trending in the right direction. I've got to think that last night's 12th inning is going to jolt some positivity into our offense and hopefully it carries into tomorrow or today and that he's, you know, So Johnny was right in the middle of all that. You've been in this community the whole time the Rays have been existing. Dwayne Statz is throwing out the first pitch tonight. What do you think about that? No better guy to have. I mean, for him to be the voice of Rays baseball for so many years, I think is awesome. I'm happy that, you know, Patrick and Bill and Ken, probably a pretty easy decision on their part. Hopefully the fans and the crowd gets behind them. After a game last night with all those decisions, are you so exhausted you fall asleep immediately? or are you so wired you're up till dawn? I was up till 4 o'clock last night contemplating whether I was going to wear the My Dog t-shirt. I can't pull that one off. All right, everybody, there you have it. Some remarks and excitement from Kevin Cash. I don't know if anybody saw that, and I don't have the clip handy right now, but in our Fox Sports postseason coverage, Big Poppy uh who awards top players best coaches of certain games a t-shirt with Big Poppy's face on it that says my dog he gifted one to Kevin Cash last night it was amazing Big Poppy always brings the energy but manager Kevin Cash keeping it simple there Drew Rasmussen's got an arm and tonight the Rays are giving him the ball and this is actually i think we can bring it back here the official post from Major League Baseball that we had on your screen there for a second uh confirming that it is going to be Drew oh that's actually he did mention this too that long time team uh long time tv broadcaster uh Dwayne Stotts he's going to be throwing out the honorary first pitch he started calling the games uh you know calls since the very first season in 1998 but here we go we've We've got Fox Sports and MLB officially triple confirming that Drew Rasmussen is going to be starting on the mound. His family, he's just got such a story. Multiple arm surgeries. When his baby was born, I know that there were complications. And now to see his wife and his two children in the trough cheering for their dad, that's just a story like no other. But Kevin Cash, back out here, was basically describing that this is an all-hands-on-deck effort with their season still on the line. And there is, of course, no shortage of confidence in his club. When he was asked why he thinks his team is the best, Cash's answer was because we have the best players. And he also credited Chandler Simpson here for all the jumps and walls he was hitting in the last two games. Looks like we've got him sitting down right now. Let's continue to listen in live. You've enjoyed this World Series experience, and what have you enjoyed the most? It's been a great, unbelievable experience. Definitely a blessed opportunity to be a part of. Probably just the environments, the atmospheres that each game has had, being Milwaukee for the first two and then being over here. So the crowd's been amazing, the energy, the atmosphere has all been electric. hey Chandler we just found out a short while ago that Drew's going on three days rest what does it mean to you and the rest of the clubhouse that he's willing to take the ball in three days and a winner in an elimination game it means a lot means a lot um especially everything that he's gone through um injury wise with his arms things like that so to put um himself out there on on on um short rest it means a lot to us and you know we know how we have to do our part um onto him and play good defense and score some runs behind him kind of piggybacking off that kevin just kind of said you know last night everyone's hands went up for the pitching staff to get the ball today and then last night ben williamson he already had a helmet and a bat ready to go in the bottom of the 12th is that just kind of the mentality of this team right now that everybody not just wants to help but wants to be a part of this yeah for sure um i feel like that's kind of the model for us all year, especially on the offensive side. I mean, when you're, quote, unquote, not starting, you've got to be ready to go from the first inning to the ninth. And then the mentality of the pitcher is ready to go whenever on a short rest or whether a starter or reliever at any point. I mean, it just speaks to the character and the mentality of the team. Hi, John. Do you think your defense is appreciated enough for how much pride do you have on your defense? Do you prevent a lot of runs by great catch or great runs? Yeah, I just take a lot of pride in it. I knew I had to make strides in that department coming into this year and the fact that the hard work is paying off and I'm seeing it. Still a ways to go, but the fact that it has made jumps just working with Corey throughout the year and putting in the work throughout the course of the year. I'm definitely glad that it's paying off, sure. Chandler, obviously speed is a big part of your game and the team's game and definitely Milwaukee's also. How much do you like to see so much activity on the bases in this World Series? And do you think that that could, I don't know, inspire other teams to maybe run a little bit more? I love it. I love it from both teams. The fact that speed and the short ball, short game, getting on base, getting guys over, getting guys in, playing good defense, good pitching. It's all playing a part. I feel like there's only been maybe two or three home runs, I think two home runs this World Series. And the fact that we're overtaking the game with a different aspect of the game that's aside from the norm of what's been the norm for the last some odd years, I'm just glad to see it. I'm glad to see it. Tyler, excuse me, what happened here last night, Talk about the character and the resiliency of your club. Yeah, for sure. Definitely in the later innings of the game, not being able to get anything going or gain any momentum. But in the 12th inning when Pry hit the homer, it definitely was like our back was against the wall when we went into the dugout. We knew that, I mean, it was either score some runs or go home, and that was the mentality. So we were just doing everything we can to get on base. And the fact that we was able to get the leadoff guy on, we saw opening, and I'm glad we took full advantage of it to the opportunity and was able to pass the baton back to each other and band together and ultimately win the game. Chandler, you've had a pretty good view of the way Johnny DeLuca's been playing, both defensively and offensively. What are you seeing from him? He's just going after everything. He's going to get it. I mean, he's really taking charge out there as a center fielder, and, I mean, it makes the left fielder and the right fielder job that much easier when you know your center fielder is trying to go and get every ball. So he's been great out there. He's been laying it out all on the line, putting his body on the line. And then at the plate, he's been doing the best he can to get his pitches and to get on base. Is there anything you take out of facing Misrosky from the first time that might help tonight? Yeah, just being ready for his best pitch was the fastball, just staying on that. I feel like last time we had some good A-Bs against him, just maybe wasn't able to get as much stuff going as we wanted to, but just making sure we stick to our approach and, yeah, just try to stick with our approach and stay who we are. Just looking back at last night, how did you feel physically and mentally by the end of it, 12 innings, sacrificing your body out there? But it's probably got to be a thrill once you come off the field mentally, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, the adrenaline was carrying so much. I mean, all of us, being that it's a lot of us first playoffs, I mean, it was the biggest game of our career. So, man, the adrenaline was carrying us so much, I didn't even know what time it was. We were just playing at that point, and we were trying to get a W, so it was cool. Shane, you walked through this before a little bit with your defense. Could you take me through your prep work, like what you're doing with the coach? And obviously you had that crazy play against the wall. So what is that like? You're just going out there right with the band and hoping to make the play? Yeah, I'm just doing early work, just hand drills, things like that, small stuff, just working on the mechanics and fundamentals of the game, make sure my technique and footwork is good and make sure I'm shagging almost at game speed implicate the balls I can get out the game throughout the game and just glad it's paying dividends. Tonight's the final game at the Trop this season what has it been like to play here this year just how special is this place? It's been amazing just after what the whole what the stadium has been through the last last year or so what the city has been through the fact that there was in the stadium last year and um the fact that we was able to come in here uh this year and make a statement and uh defy a lot of odds and uh have a lot of success achieve a lot of things i mean it was definitely a great thing for all of us to band together and i know that it's not the most glamorous place to play in but we made it our home and um we took a lot of pride in that this year Chandler, and watching you all year I've noticed it even more in postseason but really all throughout the season and big at bats especially and I saw it last night for your at bat in the in the 12th inning you step out of the box you close your eyes you breathe in and you slowly breathe out I'm curious where you learned that technique is it something you've always been able to do is it something you've learned who might have taught you that um I feel like that's just something I've uh came across maybe in college or so uh just um maybe a couple years ago just the importance of breathing throughout the game and how much focus and how much you can be present and just stand in the moment as best you can. As long as you control your breath, then anything is possible. big AB, nine big AB I feel like every AB is big, but every pitch I try to take a breath and try to lock in on what I'm trying to do. Chandler, you forced game 5. Alright, everyone. hearing from Chandler Simpson giving credit to tonight's starter Drew Rasmussen and to the work this entire Rays team has put in to get here and I cannot believe throughout this entire day of coverage we have not even thought about the fact that this is going to be the last game inside the trough this season you know if we can clinch the rest of these games we will be winning a World Series championship in Milwaukee but a message from Chandler Simpson in this moment stick with the approach and after literally putting his body on the line at the wall last night Simpson says the adrenaline was carrying him through so much he didn't even know what time it was 12 innings of baseball everything was wrapping up around 1 30 in the morning but the rest of us may have been watching the clock the Rays were busy keeping their season alive and now we are just a little over four hours away from first pitch guys thank you so much for joining us for this special all the way Rays World Series segment uh hopefully we'll be doing it again Thursday no excuse me Friday Friday what day is it i don't even know it would be an off day travel day tomorrow then we would have another game Friday and game seven on Saturday will it be Rays in seven we shall see again thank you for being with us here if you are headed to the trop have so much fun be safe if you are watching from home keep their energy going keep the cowbells going it is what this team needs right now Raise up baby hopefully we'll see you on Friday