Rays opt for Nick Martinez to open World Series vs. Brewers - ESPN

MILWAUKEE — In a bit of a curveball, the Tampa Bay Rays will start Nick Martinez, and not staff ace Drew Rasmussen, in Game 1 of the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, manager Kevin Cash announced Thursday.

Rasmussen would've pitched on regular rest Friday after starting Sunday in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians, but Cash said the club prioritized giving him an extra day between starts given Rasmussen's heavy usage in the postseason thus far.

The right-hander has logged at least six innings in each of his playoff starts, giving up three runs over 21 total innings.

«He's had a pretty thick workload here,» Cash said Thursday. «We've relied on him heavily. We know when he takes the ball, we're trying to get the full pitch allotment out of him.»

Martinez, who had never started a postseason game before this year, will get the ball on five days' rest after holding the Guardians to one run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings in Game 4 of the ALCS. He will start opposite Brewers fireballer Jacob Misiorowski.

Martinez said Cash informed he would start Game 1 on Thursday after Martinez, who has arranged team dinners at every road city this season, organized one at a local steakhouse Wednesday night.

«It's exciting,» Martinez said. «I think as a team, as a staff, we're confident in whoever we call up to the mound. It fell on me, and my job is just to rack up as many outs as we can and keep us in this ballgame.»

The 36-year-old right-hander is nearing the end of a career season that began when he signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Rays days before the start of spring training. After dreadful results in meaningless Grapefruit League games, Martinez emerged as one of