Milwaukee Brewers Finish Off Tampa Bay in Game 5 for First World Series Crown
The Brewers closed out the Rays behind Jacob Misiorowski, capping an 11-2 postseason run and a 96-45 record.
By Lina Lewis ·
St. Petersburg, Fla. The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions after finishing off the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 on Wednesday, taking the title for the first time in franchise history. Milwaukee closed the series with a 96-45 record and an 11-2 mark across the postseason.
The Rays' pitching situation had been stretched thin by Game 4, when Nick Martinez was used. Junior Caminero played through a limitation and Yandy Díaz joined him on the injured list. Milwaukee starter Jacob Misiorowski worked against a full Brewers bullpen, and the Brewers scored run-scoring rallies in three of the first six innings without a home run, stringing together singles, doubles and sacrifice flies.
Milwaukee's season turned after a loss on May 4 dropped the club to 18-16. From that point through the end of the regular season, the Brewers went 85-43. They had dropped a six-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak in April. Including the playoffs, Milwaukee went 26-5 after Sept. 6.
The roster carried established names. Christian Yelich is a former MVP and contributed through the playoffs. Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and Brice Turang filled out the core. Robert Gasser, who began the season in the minors, started Game 3 against former Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta and worked six scoreless innings, facing the minimum on one hit.
Contributions came from across the roster. Cooper Pratt had four hits in Game 4, including a game-tying double, and hit a home run in the 12th inning; he also delivered the go-ahead hit in Game 2, and he had two hits and two RBI in Game 5. Milwaukee has him under contract through 2033. David Hamilton hit a game-tying home run from the nine-hole in Game 4 and added an RBI single in Game 5; he arrived from Boston in the deal that sent Caleb Durbin, Shane Drohan and Kyle Harrison to the Red Sox. Sal Frelick hit a game-tying shot in Game 2 after hitting four home runs during the regular season.
The bullpen leaned on Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, DL Hall, JoJo Romero and Antonio Senzatela. Garrett Mitchell hit the go-ahead home run in Game 4 of the NLCS, which completed a sweep of the Dodgers. Jake Bauers, who had been ready to retire and wanted his family to stay on insurance, won NLCS MVP.
Milwaukee dealt with injuries along the way. Yelich and Chourio missed time, Quinn Priester was lost for the season in spring training, and Brandon Woodruff missed most of the year before joining the World Series roster. Freddy Peralta was traded. Those openings brought Drohan, Gasser and Logan Henderson into the picture.
The Brewers came from behind to win six of their 11 playoff games. Across the postseason, teams that scored first went 27-13, and Milwaukee accounted for six of those losses. In Game 3, the Brewers scored eight runs with two outs. The Rays lost Game 4, and Milwaukee answered in Game 5 with work from Misiorowski.
Milwaukee finished the regular season at 96-45 and went 11-2 in the playoffs.
