The Rays come home down 2-0 after two games of errors, drops and outs on the bases

The Tampa Bay Rays play World Series Game 3 tonight at Tropicana Field down 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers, and they mostly have themselves to blame. First pitch is 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Game 2 was the worst of it. The Rays scored four runs in the first inning Saturday and still lost 5-4. According to the Associated Press, first baseman Jonathan Aranda made an error and misplayed a foul pop, left fielder Chandler Simpson dropped a fly ball, and catcher Liam Hicks was thrown out at the plate by Jackson Chourio. Cooper Pratt, who had made an error of his own earlier, singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh.

Game 1 had its own problems. Victor Mesa Jr. was caught stealing third to end an inning, and the Rays ran into a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play, as ESPN's Jeff Passan pointed out. Passan defended the third-base coach's send of Hicks, saying two outs and a .133 postseason hitter on deck justified it. He was less forgiving about the rest.

"The game's speeding up," center fielder Jonny DeLuca said after the second loss, per ESPN. That's a strange thing to hear from a team that won 98 games by playing clean, pressure-heavy baseball.

Now they need Freddy Peralta to slow it back down. The ALCS MVP has a 0.89 ERA since Aug. 26, best in the majors, and ESPN's Jorge Castillo said his fastball plays better at the Trop than anywhere else. Milwaukee counters with left-hander Robert Gasser, who has allowed one run in nine postseason innings. Tampa Bay was tied for 25th in OPS against lefties this season.

The Brewers are not slowing down. They have won seven straight and lost four of five only twice since April, according to ESPN's David Schoenfield. They also have seven comeback wins among their nine postseason victories, so even an early lead hasn't been safe for anyone.

Home might help. The Rays went 55-26 at the Trop, tied with Milwaukee for the best home record in the majors.

What to watch: Aranda isn't in tonight's lineup, with Ryan Vilade starting at first base, and Simpson bats third. If Tampa Bay loses again, it has to win four straight to take the title, and that starts with not handing Milwaukee extra outs.