Brewers vs. Rays: 4 Takeaways As Milwaukee Wins First-Ever World Series

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For over four decades, Brewers fans have carried the weight of near-misses, heartbreak, and what-ifs. On Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, it all disappeared.

In Game 5 of the World Series, the Milwaukee Brewers finished the job against the Tampa Bay Rays, winning 4-1, clinching their first championship in franchise history and sending an entire state into pandemonium.

A team that has always been defined by grit, depth, and a refusal to back down proved it not only belonged on baseball’s biggest stage, but it deserved to be remembered forever as one of the greatest teams in history. The Brewers went 11-2 in the postseason after winning 103 games in the regular season. Their October was complete dominance from start to finish.

The Rays, who battled all series long, pushed Milwaukee to the limit. But when the moment demanded it, the Brewers answered. Their pitching rose to the occasion, the lineup delivered key hits, and the defense made every play it had to. By the final out, the result felt almost inevitable, the culmination of a season built on resilience and a clubhouse that never doubted itself.

Across Wisconsin, generations of fans who endured the lean years finally got their payoff. A small-market club had done what so many said it couldn’t.

The Brewers are World Series champions. Milwaukee will never be the same.

Here are my takeaways from Game 5:

The Brewers were asking a lot from their ace, right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, when they gave him the ball for Game 5 on four days’ rest. Misiorowski hadn’t pitched on four days’ rest at all in the second half of the season, and he had only done it twice since the end of April. Pair that with the rest of his high workload — Misiorowski is just one year removed from his rookie season, and he logged 174 2/3 innings this year after pitching just 66 innings last year — and it was easy to see how his Game 5 start could’ve gone sideways.

Instead, Wednesday night was Misiorowski’s best outing of his four postseason starts.

Misiorowski pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rays, allowing just two hits and one walk over 86 pitches. The 24-year-old came out firing, of course, hitting 103 mph on the radar gun twice in his first at-bat against Rays leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz.

Misiorowski was prepared to go the distance until a right calf cramp prematurely ended his night with two outs in the sixth inning. The young star was visibly upset as he tried his best to remain in the game until he reached the dugout and the Brewers reminded him that he gave the club exactly what it needed in Game 5. 

After burning all of their high-leverage arms in Game 4’s 12-inning marathon, it was special that Misiorowski was even able to complete five innings, let alone be one out away from completing six.

Misiorowski couldn’t hear it, but the sold-out crowd at the watch party back home at American Family Field gave their budding ace a standing ovation for his tremendous effort on Wednesday. For all the criticism the Brewers received for keeping Misiorowski out of Game 4 and saving him for Game 5, it ended up being the most important decision of Milwaukee’s clinch. 

Who else but Cooper Pratt got Milwaukee on the board first? 

With runners on first and second in the second inning, the Brewers rookie shortstop singled to center field off Rays right-handed ace Drew Rasmussen, instantly putting pressure on Tampa Bay by giving Milwaukee an early 1-0 lead.

Cooper Pratt scored the Brewers’ second run of the game on David Hamilton’s RBI single. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

The run-scoring base hit marked the sixth RBI of Pratt’s first career postseason. The 22-year-old recorded an RBI in four straight games, tying Juan Soto in 2019 for the longest streak in the World Series before turning 23 years old. Pratt put the Brewers in front in the top of the 12th inning of their Game 4 loss to the Rays on Wednesday, slugging a solo shot to left field that Milwaukee thought would be enough to send them to glory.

Pratt still had more left in the tank.

In the fifth inning, after the Rays made the strange decision to pull Rasmussen after four innings and 48 pitches, Pratt singled to left off reliever Kevin Kelly. It was Pratt’s sixth straight at-bat with a hit, setting a new record for the most consecutive hits by a rookie in the World Series.

“This kid just continues to amaze you,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said ahead of Game 5. “As a young player that just got into the league and quite a bit of pressure on him in terms of a young player who already signed a long-term contract, like so many you see around the league today, (Tigers shortstop Kevin) McGonigle, (Cardinals second baseman JJ) Wetherholt.

“And for him to come up at 21 and do the things he’s doing offensively when he never put up gaudy numbers in the Minor Leagues. But just to see the way he’s become a student of the game and willing to be open to growth, yeah, it’s pretty special.”

The bullpens at Tropicana Field are right in plain view, off to the side of each foul line, and it has to be a dreadful sight for the Rays to see Brewers relievers warming up. The Brewers bullpen has been a wall all series. Milwaukee relievers slammed the door inning after inning, silencing Tampa Bay’s bats late and pitching with slow heartbeats.

Working with a 4-0 lead, right-hander Abner Uribe finished off the seventh inning with the final two outs of the frame against the bottom of the order. After Game 4’s 12-inning test of endurance, the Brewers didn’t have many options left, except the one big arm that was only used for one out on Tuesday.

Brewers closer Trevor Megill easily retired the side in the eighth inning, including two huge outs against Diaz and Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda. The top of the ninth was not going to be any easier, with the Rays’ best hitter, third baseman Junior Caminero, digging into the box.

It was a battle. Caminero didn’t bite at Megill’s knuckle-curveballs, fouling them off or keeping his bat on his shoulder. Finally, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Caminero watched a 99 mph fastball sail by him for strike three. Then he struck out Jonny DeLuca, and suddenly Milwaukee was one out away from history.

While the rest of the Brewers were nervous, Megill stayed calm on the mound and took care of business, securing the final out on a Richie Palacios ground ball to second baseman Brice Turang and sending the team to glory. 

Tampa Bay’s biggest weakness entering the postseason was their lack of lineup depth, particularly in the bottom third of their lineup. There was legitimate concern the Rays wouldn’t be able to generate enough offense against October’s top pitching staffs. Their best path to overwhelming the opponent would be through their Big Three at the top of the lineup: Diaz, Aranda and Caminero. 

The Rays successfully followed that blueprint in the ALDS against the Yankees and the ALCS against the Guardians, but it wasn’t enough against the relentless Brewers.

Through the fifth inning of Game 5, here are the key numbers from the bottom third (Nos. 7-9) of each lineup in the World Series:

Brewers: .288/.328/.508 (.837 OPS), 17-for-59, 4 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 3 BB
Rays: .122/.173/.143 (.316 OPS), 6-for-49, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB

That’s striking.

Ryan Vilade, who hit eighth for the Rays in Game 5, was 0-for-7 in the World Series. (Elsa/Getty Images)

Milwaukee’s 7-8-9 hitters drove in 12 runs and hit all three of the team’s home runs this series (Pratt, Sal Frelick and David Hamilton), compared to just one RBI and zero home runs from Tampa Bay’s 7-8-9 spots.

This isn’t a new critique of the way Tampa Bay has built its lineup. The front office actively tried, and failed, to add key offensive depth at the trade deadline. The Rays were reportedly one of the primary suitors for second baseman Luis Arraez, who seemed like he would be a natural fit in Tampa Bay. 

Ultimately, the San Francisco Giants traded Arraez to the Phillies, and the Rays were left empty-handed in their pursuit of a rental bat.

Nearly three months later, we saw how much that missed opportunity hurt their chances of winning the first championship in franchise history.