Jorge Castillo Oct 29, 2026, 02:57 AM ET

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ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Sadness, as expected, tinted the home clubhouse at Tropicana Field after midnight Thursday morning. The Tampa Bay Rays were still coming to terms with losing the World Series to the Milwaukee Brewers in five games. An eight-plus-month journey that started with a celebrated return to their home ballpark and that was spent defying expectations and becoming as tight-knit as a professional ballclub can become was suddenly over with a 4-1 loss Wednesday .

There was heartache. There were tears. But, above all, there was pride.

"I'm really just proud," Rays All-Star closer Bryan Baker said.…