The Milwaukee Brewers didn't close the door on the 2026 World Series on Tuesday night, but they will have another chance on Wednesday. Plus, to take it a step further, Milwaukee is turning to its best overall starter to try to end the series.

2026 National League Cy Young Award hopeful Jacob Misiorowski will take the hill on Wednesday night in Game 5 on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays. Brewers manager Pat Murphy confirmed the choice after Game 4 and explained why he didn't use the righty out of the bullpen on Tuesday.

"It's all hands on deck," Murphy said. "You can write it up and hope that they perform like the back of their baseball card, but that doesn't always happen. You go with what you believe is the deal and I trust our guys. They put themselves in a position to win. Credit to Tampa for what they did. ... You can't blow that type of situation [Misiorowski in the bullpen] in a one-run lead on the road. If we were in the 13th inning and had a three-run lead, that might've been a little bit different. But probably still wouldn't have."

The idea of staying away from the flamethrower on Tuesday night made a lot of sense. On one hand, you want to slam the door shut. But the series isn't over and there's no guarantee that it would've ended if Misiorowski took the hill. If the Brewers turned to Misiorowski in extra innings on Tuesday and the Rays came out on top, they wouldn't have had the righty ready to start Game 5.

The Brewers' bullpen has been the best in baseball throughout the postseason so far. Milwaukee bet on it in extra innings and kept Misiorowski as an insurance option if the series continued, which it did.

So, on Wednesday night, the Brewers will have their best pitcher rested and ready to end the series. In extra innings, anything can happen. Milwaukee minimized the variables and put itself in a position to be in a good place if Game 5 became necessary. It's never great to lose, but Milwaukee has Misiorowski ready to go on Wednesday night.

If the Brewers were to lose again, they have Logan Henderson fully ready to go for Game 6. In professional sports, it's easy to be reactive. Fortunately, Milwaukee was not. It still has a 3-1 series lead and for the Rays to get back, they will have to get through Misiorowski and Henderson. The odds are in Milwaukee's favor.