The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday night in Game 5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, to win the World Series four games to one and claim the first World Series title in franchise history.1,3,4,5,6,7,8
The clincher on Oct. 28, 2026, ended a wait dating to 1970, when the team played its first season in Milwaukee after one season as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, and avenged its only previous World Series appearance, a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. Milwaukee, baseball's smallest market with a payroll ranked 19th of 30 teams, finished with a major league-high and franchise-record 103 regular-season wins.1,4,6,7,8
Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Brice Turang doubled and scored on rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt's single to center off Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen, after Sal Frelick was hit by a pitch. Pratt singled again in the fifth off Kevin Kelly and scored on David Hamilton's single for a 2-0 lead, and the Brewers made it 4-0 in the sixth on William Contreras's RBI double off Garrett Cleavinger and Pratt's sacrifice fly. Tampa Bay scored in the bottom of the ninth on Chandler Simpson's two-out double that drove in Liam Hicks to make it 4-1, before Trevor Megill retired Richie Palacios on a grounder to second baseman Turang, who threw to Jake Bauers for the final out before a sold-out crowd of 40,489.1,3,4,5,6,7
Jacob Misiorowski, the 24-year-old right-hander, threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball before leaving with a right calf cramp, his longest outing since Sept. 8. He threw 86 pitches, 58 strikes, struck out two, opened with 12 straight four-seam fastballs between 100.9 and 103 mph, and topped at 103 twice after breaking the World Series velocity record with a 103.5 mph fastball on the first pitch of the Series last Friday. JoJo Romero got two outs, Abner Uribe recorded two more, and Megill pitched the final two innings.3,4,5,6,7
Pratt, 22, who made his major league debut in June, had two hits and two RBIs in Game 5 and set a Series rookie record with six straight hits before his sixth-inning sacrifice fly. The reports said Jackson Chourio set a five-game Series record with 11 hits, and Pratt's seven RBIs matched the rookie World Series record set by Gil McDougald with the 1951 New York Yankees. Contreras was named Most Valuable Player after batting.381 with four RBIs in the Series, including a.381/.435/.429 line cited by one account, becoming the eighth catcher to win the award and the first since Salvador Perez in 2015.1,3,4,5,6,7,8
Milwaukee won the first two games 3-2 and 5-4, including a Game 2 comeback after falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, then won Game 3 10-1 after Christian Yelich's stolen base in the fifth inning was upheld on review and Milwaukee scored eight runs with two outs without a home run. Tampa Bay avoided a sweep with a 4-3 win in 12 innings in Game 4 on Tuesday, when Milwaukee was three outs from a sweep before its bullpen gave way and Ben Williamson delivered the winning hit, before Milwaukee closed the series less than 24 hours later.1,3,4,6,7
Milwaukee's run included a division-series win over San Diego, in which 20-year-old outfielder Chourio hit a late two-run homer in the opener and a walk-off single in the next game, followed by a National League Championship Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time reigning champions. Milwaukee scored 10 more runs than Los Angeles in the sweep even though the Dodgers' payroll was more than double the Brewers'. The accounts differed on the final postseason mark, with NBC News putting Milwaukee's record at 12-2 and other outlets at 11-2, including seven comeback wins.1,4,6,7,8
Tampa Bay, an expansion team that began play in 1998, was also seeking its first championship after winning the most games in the American League and fell to 0-3 in the World Series after defeats in 2008 and 2020. Rasmussen, pitching on three days' rest, allowed one run and two hits in four innings in Game 5 after lasting 3 2/3 innings in Game 2. Tampa Bay's best early chance came in the fourth with runners at second and third and two outs after Hicks was hit by a pitch, Simpson singled and an error left two aboard, but Williamson grounded out to leave them stranded.1,3,4,5,6,7
"It's the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city's waited a long, long time for this," captain Christian Yelich said. "We're so happy to bring it home to them. I can't wait to get back there and celebrate." Brewers fans took over the section behind Milwaukee's dugout for the last three games and filled the infield for the trophy presentation, chanting "Let's go Brewers!" almost two hours after the final pitch. "This is one of the greatest moments of my life," Pratt said. "Oh my gosh. It doesn't even feel real. This is surreal. It only took four months!"3,4,6,7
"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." "This is just incredible," Megill said. "Ten-year-old me would be so proud." Contreras, speaking through a translator, said, "I don't have words to say," and added, "I don't want to offend any of the other catchers in the league. But sitting up here today, champion of the world, I feel like I'm the best catcher in the league."1,3,4,6,7
The 2026 team finished what Harvey Kuenn's 1982 club did not, when Milwaukee lost Game 7 6-3 after leading 3-1 in the sixth inning. That team included Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton and Rollie Fingers, who missed the postseason with a forearm injury, and broadcaster Bob Uecker, who died in January 2025 at age 90 after 54 years announcing Brewers games. The current club blends Yelich, 34, and 33-year-old Brandon Woodruff, the only players left from the 2018 roster that fell one win short of the World Series, with young players such as Misiorowski, Pratt and Chourio, under 67-year-old manager Pat Murphy, who survived a heart attack in 2020 and was NL Manager of the Year in 2024 and 2025.1,4,6,7
Both clubs relied little on home runs, combining for four in the Series, three by Milwaukee. Milwaukee scored a major league-low 32.1% of its runs on homers and Tampa Bay was second-lowest at 34.4%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. This was the first Series since 1991 between teams in the bottom half of payrolls, with Milwaukee 19th and Tampa Bay 25th as of Aug. 31, at a time when owners are seeking a salary cap and a management lockout is likely to start Dec. 2 and could threaten the 2027 season. "Milwaukee has waited 44 years, and Milwaukee, you have your world championship," owner Mark Attanasio said from the postgame stage, while Murphy said, "Cooperstown will remember the 2026 Brewers."4,6,7,8
