The Milwaukee Brewers put on a masterclass in every facet of the game as they beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 to win their first World Series title in franchise history in five games on Wednesday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In a game that saw both teams’ aces go head-to-head, it was the Brewers’ Cy Young candidate Jacob Misiorowski besting Rays ace Drew Rasmussen.
The NL Cy Young frontrunner went five-and-two-thirds innings, striking out two while only allowing two hits before exiting the game with an apparent cramp in his leg. Rasmussen was pulled after four innings with him being on short rest and a reported pitch count of 60.
The real story was the Brewers offense – especially rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt.
Pratt got the scoring started in the second inning with an RBI single, scoring Brice Turang. And Milwaukee never looked back.
That wasn’t the only notable thing Pratt did – he made a little World Series history with his single. It was his sixth straight at-bat with a hit, the most for a rookie in Fall Classic history.
But it was the sixth inning when things went up a notch. William Contreras’ RBI double scored a run and then he would score on Pratt’s sacrifice fly to build the lead to 4-0.
The Rays bullpen was able to settle in, using seven total pitchers, but the Tampa offense was sound asleep until Liam Hicks and Chandler Simpson both doubled in the ninth for the Rays, making the score 4-1.
Contreras was named the World Series MVP after batting .381 with four RBI.
The Brewers will now bring a World Series title back to Wisconsin.