Balls glancing off gloves, runners thrown out trying to steal sink Rays in World Series opener

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A few inches here and some smarter baserunning by Victor Mesa Jr. there, and the Tampa Bay Rays might have won the World Series opener.Mesa and Jonathan Aranda were caught stealing in consecutive innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers got a pair of run-scoring hits in a two-pitch span when hard-hit balls glanced off the gloves of center fielder Jonny DeLuca and shortstop Taylor Walls in the first.Milwaukee came away with a 3-2 win Friday night, winning on the margins and taking advantage of the types of mistakes the Rays usually pounce on to beat opponents.“Definitely have to be smart. We talked about that coming in,” Tampa Bay outfielder Chandler Simpson said. “They just played the game better than us today.”DeLuca missed his attempt at a diving catch on Christian Yelich’s one-out drive in the first inning with Jackson Chourio on first base. Yelich hit an 0-2 cutter to the right-center gap and DeLuca sprinted 85 feet and sprawled. The ball bounced off his glove in front o