Brewers put "rest vs. rust" narrative to bed with Game 1 victory in World Series

What felt like an eternity between the end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series for Milwaukee Brewers fans was really just seven days. However, a week off in Major League Baseball might as well be an eternity. The longest break that MLB teams have during the grueling 162-game regular season is the four-day All-Star Break in mid-July.

As a result, every time that a team experiences a prolonged break in the postseason, like the one the Brewers endured before their long-awaited return to the Fall Classic, the age-old "rust vs. rest" narrative begins. The narrative is a simple one -- will the rest that the team gets from the time off set them up for success in the following series, or will the team build rust during the break and start the series sluggishly?

Three times in the last two postseasons, the Brewers have been the subject of this debate. Pat Murphy's squad earned first-round byes in each of the last two postseasons, meaning they "endured" a five-day break between the end of the regular season and their first playoff game. Such experience should have eased concerns about the Brewers' ability to avoid building rust during their week-long layoff before the World Series, but the time off was consistently cited as a reason to be worried about Milwaukee in the Fall Classic.

However, those concerns were once again quickly put to bed during Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. The Brewers, who have now won three straight playoff games after a layoff of five or more days, came out of the gates hot in the franchise's first Fall Classic game since 1982. In theory, that consistent ability to avoid the rust that so many fear will build during a break in the postseason should finally put to bed the "rust vs. rest" narrative for Pat Murphy-led teams.

Brewers' set World Series tone with three first-inning hits en route to Game 1 victory over Rays

There was added pressure for the Brewers to get off to a hot start in the World Series after Rays' manager Kevin Cash elected to save his ace, Drew Rasmussen, for Game 2. With Jacob Misiorowski matching up against Tampa Bay's No. 3 starter, Nick Martinez, Game 1 felt much closer to a must-win for the Brewers than it otherwise would have.

Thankfully, the trio of Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras got the Brewers off to a hot start in the top of the first inning. Chourio laced a single to right field on the first pitch of the game. Two batters later, Yelich, who was moved up to the third spot in the lineup for the World Series Opener, roped an 0-2 triple into the right-center gap that scored Chourio and gave the Brewers an early lead. Then, Contreras, who followed Yelich in the lineup, ripped a first-pitch single off the glove of Rays' shortstop Taylor Walls that brought the Captain home and doubled the Brewers' lead.

Just like that, the Brewers had a two-run lead, and the concerns about them building rust during the time off were out the window. When asked about the hot start after the game, manager Pat Murphy said, "We had three good hits in the first inning off Martinez, who then settled in and pitched unbelievably. I mean, he was great...But after being off for some time, I'm pleased we came out in the first inning ready to go. And our fans, that's what made the difference."

Not only was it apparent that the Brewers weren't "rusty" in Game 1 of the World Series, but they also looked rested, flipping the concerns resulting from the long layoff on their head. Abner Uribe bounce back nicely after his shaky performance in Game 3 of the NLCS, which was the seventh consecutive game he pitched in. Aaron Ashby, who covered a whopping 12.1 innings in the NLDS and NLCS combined, tossed 1.2 scoreless on Friday night after earning some much-deserved rest over the last eight days.

The offense looked sharp, the pitching staff looked well-rested, the Brewers jumped out to an early lead, and as a result, it's apparent that Milwaukee's seven-day layoff between the NLCS and World Series was a benefit, not a hindrance. There's obviously plenty of work still left to be done, but those concerned about rust preventing the Brewers from jumping out to an early 1-0 series lead can now put those worries to rest.

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