{"id":1079,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1079","headline":"Rays hand Nick Martinez the World Series Game 1 start","dek":"Tampa Bay bypasses ace Drew Rasmussen, setting up Martinez against Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski on Friday in Milwaukee.","body":"The Rays are opening the World Series with a bit of a surprise, turning to Nick Martinez instead of staff ace Drew Rasmussen for Game 1 against the Brewers on Friday in Milwaukee. The move gives both Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta extra rest, with Rasmussen lined up for five days off if he starts Game 2, and Peralta set for six days of rest after a heavy workload in the American League Division Series that included two starts and a relief outing.\n\nMartinez will face off against Brewers rookie flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski to kick off the series. His track record against this particular Brewers lineup is mixed at best. Martinez faced Milwaukee once this season and gave up four hits, including a double and a home run. More concerning for Tampa Bay, the Brewers' 13 position players expected to be on the World Series roster have hit a combined 30-for-122 with a .737 OPS against Martinez, making him the Rays starter that group has had the most success against among the top three options.\n\nThe decision signals the Rays are prioritizing long-term rotation health over matching up their best arm in the opener.","published_at":"2026-10-23T21:48:02.485912+00:00","source_count":5,"written_from":[{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Rays opt for Martinez to start World Series over ace Rasmussen","url":"https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50252981/rays-opt-nick-martinez-open-world-series-vs-brewers"},{"outlet":"Fox Sports","publisher":"Fox Sports","title":"Nick Martinez To Start Game 1 Of World Series For Rays","url":"https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/nick-martinez-start-game-1-world-series-rays"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rays Not Starting Drew Rasmussen In Game 1 of World Series","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rays-not-starting-drew-rasmussen-213400463.html"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Nick Martinez gets World Series Game 1 start for Rays: Why Tampa Bay went with unexpected starter","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2026-world-series-rays-game-1-start-nick-martinez/"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Rays tab Nick Martinez to start Game 1 of World Series against Brewers","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7714895/2026/10/22/rays-world-series-game-1-starter/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Tampa Bay Rays reveal World Series Game 1 starting pitcher","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tampa-bay-rays-reveal-world-203815955.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"World Series Game 1 – Tampa Bay Rays at Milwaukee Brewers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/world-series-game-1-tampa-223000118.html"}],"image":null,"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}