Brewers Beat Rays in 5 Games to Win First World Series Title

The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions at last, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday night to claim the first title in franchise history.

Milwaukee completed the championship run with a 4-1 victory at Tampa’s Tropicana Field, ending a 57-year wait dating to the franchise’s expansion beginnings. The Brewers reached the World Series for only the second time; their previous appearance came in 1982, when they lost a seven-game classic to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Twenty-four-year-old ace Jacob Misiorowski held Tampa Bay scoreless for 5 2/3 innings while allowing only two hits. Rookie Cooper Pratt added two hits and two RBIs, fueling a long-awaited celebration among the thousands of Brewers supporters who filled Tropicana Field.

“It’s the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city’s waited a long, long time for this,” Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich said. “We’re so happy to bring it home to them. I can’t wait to get back there and celebrate.”

Misiorowski departed with a right calf cramp and received a standing ovation from Brewers fans, who had taken over the section behind Milwaukee’s dugout during the final three games.

Pratt, 22, established a World Series rookie record with six consecutive hits before contributing a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Jackson Chourio also made history, setting a five-game Series record with 11 hits.

“This is one of the greatest moments of my life. Oh my gosh. It doesn’t even feel real,” said Pratt, who made his major league debut in June. “This is surreal. It only took four months!”

The Rays, an expansion club founded in 1998, were chasing their first World Series title. Their task became even tougher after Milwaukee took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven matchup. Tampa Bay avoided a sweep with a dramatic 4-3, 12-inning comeback in Game 4 on Tuesday, but the Brewers closed out the championship one night later.

Pat Murphy’s club reflected the toughness of its 67-year-old manager, who survived a heart attack in 2020 and won National League Manager of the Year in each of his first two full seasons leading the team, 2024 and 2025.

With their hard-throwing, 24-year-old two-time All-Star on the mound, the Brewers quickly recovered from the drama of Game 4.

“I don’t even have words,” Misiorowski said. “It’s amazing, just watching my guys celebrate. And the city — I know they’re going crazy in Milwaukee. It’s awesome.”

Misiorowski was working on four days’ rest for only the fifth time in 34 starts this season, including the playoffs. It was his longest outing since he threw 6 1/3 innings against the Cubs on Sept. 8. Leg cramps had also shortened two of his earlier appearances.

The pitcher, who set a World Series velocity record with a 103.5 mph fastball on the opening pitch last Friday, began Wednesday’s game with 12 consecutive four-seamers clocked between 100.9 and 103 mph. He reached 103 mph twice among his 86 pitches, 58 of which were strikes.

For the first time in his brief career, Misiorowski failed to record a strikeout during the opening three innings. He finished with two, tying his career low. After Yandy Diaz missed a cutter to end the fifth, Misiorowski pumped his fist twice and punched the air as he left the mound.

The NL Cy Young Award favorite surrendered one run over five innings to earn his first postseason victory as a starter in Milwaukee’s 3-2 win in the Series opener. He finished the championship with a 2-0 record and a 0.84 ERA.

JoJo Romero recorded two outs, Abner Uribe followed with two more, and closer Trevor Megill handled the final two innings. Megill did give up an RBI double to Chandler Simpson with two outs in the ninth.

Megill ended the game by getting Richie Palacios to ground out to second. He raised both arms before teammates swarmed him near the mound as Brewers fans erupted throughout the stands.

Pratt opened the scoring against Rays ace Drew Rasmussen with a second-inning solo homer, just a day after going 4 for 5 and hitting the tiebreaking home run in the 12th inning of Game 4. He collected his sixth consecutive Series hit with a fifth-inning single, then scored on David Hamilton’s base hit off Kevin Kelly.

William Contreras doubled home a run against Garrett Cleavinger in the sixth, and Pratt followed with a sacrifice fly to push Milwaukee’s advantage to 4-0.

Power hitting was not a defining feature of the Series, as the teams combined for only four home runs, including three by Milwaukee. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Brewers scored a major league-low 32.1% of their runs via homers, while Tampa Bay ranked second-lowest at 34.4%.

The Brewers led the majors with 103 wins in the regular season and went 11-2 in the postseason, including seven comeback wins and a sweep of the mighty Dodgers in the NLCS.

Milwaukee’s only other MLB championship was won in 1957 by the Braves, who moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season.  Brewers fans have been waiting for this moment since 1970 — the franchise began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee a year later.

Murphy’s team finished what Harvey Kuenn’s star-studded crew couldn’t accomplish 44 years ago as the AL champions. Harvey’s Wallbangers had five Hall of Famers: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton and Rollie Fingers. But Fingers missed the postseason with a forearm injury. They also had Hall of Famer Bob Uecker in the broadcast booth.

The Rays dropped to 0-3 in the World Series after defeats in 2008 and 2020. The only other clubs to lose in their first three Series appearances were the Brooklyn Dodgers (0-7) and Detroit Tigers (0-4), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Brewers won the World Series at a time when owners are pushing for a salary cap from the players’ association because they maintain small-market teams can’t regularly succeed. A management lockout is likely to start Dec. 2 and could threaten the 2027 season.

This was the first Series since 1991 between teams in the bottom half of payrolls. The Brewers ranked 19th as of Aug. 31 and Rays were 25th.