Only 10 teams have overcome an 0-2 World Series deficit: Can the Rays become the 11th?

When the Tampa Bay Rays took a 4-0 first-inning lead against Logan Henderson, a pitcher who had not allowed more than three earned runs in a single start in his big-league career, with Drew Rasmussen on the mound for them, it felt as if it were inevitable that they'd find a way to even the World Series at one game apiece with the series shifting to Tropicana Field.

Instead, Rasmussen immediately gave up two runs in the bottom of the first, was knocked out in the fourth, and the bullpen surrendered the lead from there, while Tampa Bay's offense went silent against the vaunted Brewers' bullpen. The Brewers won the game, taking a 2-0 series lead. The Rays will now need to win four of the next five games to win their first-ever World Series.

Is this possible? Certainly. It'd be foolish to completely count the Rays out. They rallied from a 2-1 ALCS deficit this very postseason. With that being said, though, history would suggest that doing so would be easier said than done, with only 10 teams accomplishing this feat.

The 10 teams that have won the World Series after falling down 0-2

Only 15 of the 92 teams that have fallen behind two games to none in any best-of-seven postseason series have wound up winning that round. That's roughly 17 percent of the time. It's even tougher to come back from a 2-0 World Series deficit when the competition, most of the time, is tougher.

The list of teams to accomplish this feat proves just that. Again, only 10 have, and this hasn't happened at all since 1996. Perhaps the Yankees, an AL East foe, being on this list four of the 10 times can give Rays fans some hope that they too can complete a memorable comeback, but I cannot stress to you how slim those odds are.

For them to win this series, a lot will have to go right.

What the Rays need to do to become the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit

The dynamic duo of Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson combined to allow four runs in eight innings in the first two games of this series, yet the Brewers won both of those games. Say what you want about the timely hitting for Milwaukee, but they're up 2-0 right now because of their bullpen, which has allowed just one run in 10 innings this series, and entered Saturday's action with a 1.41 ERA in 44.2 postseason innings. For the Rays to come back in this series, they're going to need to figure out how to hit this bullpen.

That's easier said than done, obviously, but the Brewers proved that knocking a starter out after just three innings won't doom them because of how lethal their bullpen is. The Rays will need to score runs late to win games in this series. If they can't hit the trio of Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill, it's hard to envision a comeback.

Another thing the Rays desperately need is to play cleaner baseball. One of the Brewers' runs in Game 2 scored in the bottom of the first inning when Jonathan Aranda dropped a popup in foul territory. It was a tough play, but one that could've been made, and led to a William Contreras RBI single. Another scored when David Hamilton's ground ball went right through Aranda's legs at first base. Additionally, the Rays have been thrown out numerous times trying to take an extra base on a hit or trying to steal a base. This might've worked against the Yankees, but the Brewers are one of the best defensive teams in the sport. Trying to force the issue against that team is going to backfire more than against just about any other team.

A change of scenery to Tropicana Field, where the Rays have been dominant all year, might be what gets this team going. If they can't find ways to hit the Brewers' bullpen and play better fundamental baseball, there's a good chance this series won't even go back to Milwaukee, let alone end in a Rays World Series win.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow