Brewers Win First World Series as Misiorowski Shuts Down Rays in Game 5

The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history after beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday, October 28, at Tropicana Field. Jacob Misiorowski delivered 5 2/3 scoreless innings, rookie Cooper Pratt drove in two runs and Milwaukee closed the best-of-seven series 4-1.

The clincher ended a wait that stretched across the Brewers’ first 57 seasons. Milwaukee’s only previous World Series appearance came in 1982, when the club lost Game 7 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Misiorowski controls the Rays

Misiorowski gave Milwaukee the calm start it needed one night after Tampa Bay’s 12-inning walk-off victory denied the Brewers a sweep. The right-hander held the Rays to two hits and one walk while striking out two before leaving with a right calf cramp in the sixth inning.

The Brewers had already built a 4-0 lead by then. Pratt opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second, David Hamilton added a run-scoring single in the fifth and William Contreras doubled home Christian Yelich in the sixth. Pratt followed with a sacrifice fly for his second RBI.

Pratt’s two hits extended his run to six consecutive World Series at-bats with a hit, setting a rookie record. The 22-year-old shortstop had collected four hits in Game 4, including a 12th-inning home run that briefly put Milwaukee three outs from the title.

JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill carried the lead through the final 3 1/3 innings. Tampa Bay avoided the shutout when Chandler Simpson doubled home Liam Hicks in the ninth, but Megill induced the final groundout to start Milwaukee’s celebration.

Contreras named World Series MVP

Contreras was selected as World Series MVP after batting .381 with an .864 OPS and four RBIs across the five games. The catcher also threw out four attempted base stealers and repeatedly used the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system to turn close calls in Milwaukee’s favor.

His RBI double in the clincher gave the Brewers breathing room, but his larger contribution came from directing a pitching staff that held Tampa Bay to 10 runs in the series.

A 103-win season ends with a championship

Milwaukee entered October after a franchise-record 103-win regular season, the best record in Major League Baseball. The Brewers defeated the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series, swept the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and finished the postseason 11-2.

The Brewers won the first three games of the World Series before the Rays forced Game 5 with their dramatic extra-inning victory. Misiorowski and Milwaukee’s defense ensured the comeback went no further.

The championship is the first for the franchise that began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee a year later. It is also the city’s first World Series triumph since the Milwaukee Braves defeated the New York Yankees in 1957.