The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers will play in the 2026 World Series, which will begin Friday, October 23. Tampa Bay clinched its place by eliminating Cleveland in six games and completed the matchup for the Major League title, with Mexican player Jonathan Aranda among the Rays.
The Rays wrapped up the American League Championship Series on Monday. Waiting for them on the other side was Milwaukee, which won the National League pennant with a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That set Tampa Bay’s next challenge and one for Tijuana-born first baseman Jonathan Aranda.
For Tampa Bay, this will be its third appearance in the Fall Classic and its first since 2020. Milwaukee, meanwhile, will return to this stage for the first time since 1982: that appearance came when the franchise was still competing in the American League, before its move to the National League.
The series schedule
The championship will be decided in a best-of-seven series: the first team to win four games will take home the trophy. The Brewers will open at home at American Family Field in Milwaukee, where Games 1 and 2 are scheduled for Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24.
The series will then move to Tropicana Field for Games 3 and 4, scheduled for Monday, October 26, and Tuesday, October 27. Tampa Bay would also host Game 28 on Wednesday if neither team has yet reached four wins.
If the series requires a sixth or seventh game, both will be played in Milwaukee: Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, respectively. This format guarantees the first four games; the remaining three will depend on how the series unfolds.
Image: Jonathan Aranda in a Rays uniform, in a file photo from April 2026. Erik Drost / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
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