Brewers defeat Rays in 5 games to win first World Series in franchise history

The Milwaukee Brewers are finally World Series champions after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night, taking the series 4-1.

Wednesday’s 4-1 win at Tropicana Field in Tampa gave the Brewers their first title since their founding as an expansion franchise 57 years ago. It was just their second trip to the World Series, with the first appearance coming in 1982, when they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

Young ace Jacob Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball and rookie Cooper Pratt got two more hits and two RBIs to set off a long-awaited celebration among thousands of Brewers fans in attendance at 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 left the game because of a right calf cramp. He got a standing ovation from the Brew-Crew fans, who took over the section behind Milwaukee’s dugout for the last three games.

The 22-year-old Pratt set a Series rookie record with six straight hits before a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Jackson Chourio set 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, also an expansion team, though from 1998, were seeking their first World Series championship as well, but the odds were stacked against the American League champions after falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. They were able to scratch out just one win with a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory in the 12th inning of Game Four on Tuesday to avoid getting swept, but the Brewers finished the job the next night.

Pat Murphy’s team displayed the resilience of the 67-year-old manager, who survived a heart attack in 2020 and was the NL Manager of the Year in his first two full seasons at the helm in 2024 and 2025.

With their flame-throwing, 24-year-old two-time All-Star on the mound, the Brewers rebounded from 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.”

Pitching on four days’ rest for only the fifth time in 34 starts this season, including the playoffs, the Miz had his longest outing since throwing 6 1/3 innings against the Cubs on Sept. 8. Leg cramps also forced him out of two outings earlier in the season.

Misiorowski, who broke the World Series velocity record with a 103.5 mph fastball on the first pitch of the Series last Friday, opened with 12 straight four-seamers between 100.9-103 mph. He topped at 103 twice among his 86 pitches, 58 strikes.

Misiorowski didn’t record a strikeout in the first three innings for the first time in his brief career and finished with two, matching his career low. He was fired up after Yandy Diaz missed a cutter to end the fifth. The Miz pumped his fist twice and punched the air walking off the mound.

The NL Cy Young Award favorite allowed one run over five innings to get his first postseason win as a starter in a 3-2 victory in the series opener. He was 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA in the Series.

JoJo Romero got two outs, Abner Uribe recorded two more and closer Trevor Megill pitched the last two innings, allowing an RBI double to Chandler Simpson with two outs in the ninth.

Megill retired Richie Palacios on a grounder to second to end it, threw his arms in the air and was mobbed by teammates near the mound while Brewers fans celebrated in the stands.

Pratt, who was 4 for 5 with a tiebreaking solo homer in the 12th inning in Game 4, gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead off Rays ace Drew Rasmussen in the second. Pratt singled for his sixth straight hit in the series in the fifth and scored on David Hamilton’s single off Kevin Kelly.

William Contreras hit an RBI double off Garrett Cleavinger in the sixth and Pratt added a sac fly to extend Milwaukee’s lead to 4-0. 

The teams combined to hit just four homers in the series, three for Milwaukee. The Brewers scored a major league-low 32.1% of their runs on homers and Tampa Bay was second-lowest at 34.4%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

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.