Brewers Beat Rays in Game 5 to Win First World Series Title in Franchise History

The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions for the first time. They finished off the Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-1 win in Game 5 at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night, claiming the first title in the franchise's 57-year history in front of thousands of fans who traveled 1,300 miles from Milwaukee.

It was a fitting end for a team that spent much of the season being labeled an underdog. The Brewers won 103 regular-season games, the most in Major League Baseball for the second straight year, yet were widely seen as too young, too inexpensive and too short on power to win in October. They carried the league's 19th-highest payroll and ranked 28th in home runs.

They went 11-2 in the playoffs. Milwaukee survived a tense division series against the San Diego Padres, then overwhelmed the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series before beating the similarly unheralded Rays in the final round.

"I love this team so much," Christian Yelich said. "We're all like brothers. It's the best feeling there is. And, man, we're so happy to get back to the city of Milwaukee and celebrate with them. These fans have been amazing. It feels like almost a home game here on the road."

Jacob Misiorowski set up the clincher by throwing triple-digit fastballs and holding the Rays scoreless through five innings, allowing only four baserunners. He left with a cramp in his right calf with two outs in the sixth, the first time in these playoffs he had pitched past the fifth. Asked how he felt afterward, a tearful Misiorowski said, "Joy. Can't believe it."

Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt, who homered in the 12th inning of Game 4, drove in the first run with a line-drive single in the second against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who was working on three days' rest. Pratt singled again in the fifth, his sixth hit in as many at-bats, and scored on a hit by David Hamilton. Milwaukee added two more runs in the sixth on William Contreras' double and a Pratt sacrifice fly. JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill then closed it out, with Megill covering the final two innings. The trio allowed one run over the last 3⅓ innings, and the bullpen finished October with a 1.34 ERA.

Contreras was named World Series MVP. Yelich is the team's captain and Jackson Chourio its star, with Brice Turang and Contreras serving as linchpins of an offense that kept working counts and punishing mistakes. Misiorowski is a likely NL Cy Young Award winner, Logan Henderson has also emerged as a front-line starter, and Robert Gasser posted a 0.60 ERA in three postseason starts. Aaron Ashby led a relief group that was hard to hit when it mattered most. "I don't have words," Contreras said.

Manager Pat Murphy kept the clubhouse loose while demanding precision, and general manager Matt Arnold led a front office long regarded as one of the best at finding talent, developing players and competing on a limited budget. Rays manager Kevin Cash congratulated Milwaukee, saying the Brewers "showed why they were the best team and world champs now throughout this postseason."

The title ends a long run of near misses. The Brewers made the playoffs seven times in the past eight years but kept falling short, losing to the Dodgers in the NLCS in 2018 and 2025. This year, after a fourth straight NL Central title and a franchise record for wins, they returned to the World Series for the first time since 1982, when the Robin Yount and Paul Molitor-led team came one win short. This time, Milwaukee finished the job.