On a Saturday night in Milwaukee's first World Series since 1982, the Brewers stood four runs down before the first inning had even closed, and yet they found their way back to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It is the kind of turn that baseball remembers because it refuses to let an early verdict stand, and the Brewers now hold a 2-0 Series lead, a position that history tells us usually decides the title. Yet the Rays, who won their pennant by forcing others into mistakes, were undone partly by their own, and the game lingers as a reminder that a long season is still measured one innin
Brewers rally from 4-0 deficit to beat Rays 5-4, take 2-0 World Series lead
Down 4-0 in the first inning, Milwaukee won anyway
Mark
Four-nothing after one inning and the Brewers still won. Why does this one feel different from an ordinary comeback?
Mimi
Because it's the second time this October. They did the same against the Dodgers in the NLCS clincher, and it's their seventh comeback win of the postseason.
Mark
And the Rays gave them help.
Mimi
They did. One error, two plays that could have been ruled errors, and Hicks thrown out at the plate. For a team that won the pennant by forcing mistakes, that's a reversal.
Mark
Frelick's homer seems to be the hinge.
Mimi
It tied the game in the sixth after a nine-pitch at-bat. He hadn't homered in 103 plate appearances, since July 11.
Luke
Careful, though. The homer tied it, but Pratt's single won it, and Pratt also made the error that started the Rays' first inning. Which one is the hinge depends on who you ask.
Mark
Fair. What about the 46 of 57 figure for 2-0 leads?
Luke
It's a historical rate, not a forecast. It says nothing about these two teams, and Game 3 is in the Rays' park.
Mimi
And Peralta, who pitched for Milwaukee through 2025, starts for Tampa Bay with a 1.08 postseason ERA.
Mark
So what's unknown?
Luke
Whether the Brewers' nine errors in 10 games catch up with them. The reporting counts them but doesn't say whether it's a trend or noise.
Il Polso
- Tampa Bay buried Milwaukee under a four-run first inning, turning the Series opener's opening frame into a scramble for survival.
- Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt's throwing error set the disaster in motion, and his later go-ahead single gave the lineup a reason to exhale.
- Sal Frelick's sixth-inning homer tied the game and rekindled a crowd that had been dancing to the Beer Barrel Polka in the stands.
- Milwaukee has now won seven straight games and seven times this postseason after trailing, carrying momentum into Monday's Game 3 in St. Petersburg.
- With a 2-0 lead, the Brewers are favored by history, though Tampa Bay faces Freddy Peralta at Tropicana Field with a chance to answer.
On a Saturday night in Milwaukee's first World Series since 1982, the Brewers stood four runs down before the first inning had even closed, and yet they found their way back to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It is the kind of turn that baseball remembers because it refuses to let an early verdict stand, and the Brewers now hold a 2-0 Series lead, a position that history tells us usually decides the title. Yet the Rays, who won their pennant by forcing others into mistakes, were undone partly by their own, and the game lingers as a reminder that a long season is still measured one inning at a time.
By the time the first inning ended on Saturday night, the Milwaukee Brewers trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 in Game 2 of the World Series. The Rays had attacked rookie Logan Henderson from the start, fouling off pitches and piling on runs through a sloppy inning that featured a throwing error by Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt. It was a rough opening for Milwaukee, but not a final one.
The Brewers answered quickly. Contreras drove in runs with a single that slipped past the Rays' infield, and Garrett Mitchell's two-out hit brought the score to 4-2. Tampa Bay's Drew Rasmussen settled in for a while, but Milwaukee kept pressing, and a Rays error let David Hamilton close the gap to 4-3.
In the sixth, Sal Frelick launched a fastball over the center-field fence to tie the game, his first home run in more than a hundred plate appearances. Later, Brice Turang doubled in the seventh, and Pratt, just 22 and a June debut, looped a sinker into short right field to give Milwaukee the lead. Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby held the Rays through the late innings, and Tampa Bay's ninth-inning rally ended with strikeouts.
Milwaukee now leads the Series 2-0 and has won seven straight games. Game 3 is Monday at Tropicana Field, where Freddy Peralta will face Robert Gasser in a matchup that could shape the Series ahead.
By the time the first inning ended on Saturday night, the Milwaukee Brewers trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 in Game 2 of the World Series. They went on to win 5-4 and take a 2-0 lead in the Series, the second time this postseason they have erased a four-run deficit.
The Rays had come out swinging against rookie Logan Henderson, who started on 11 days' rest. Tampa Bay fouled off 13 of his 35 first-inning pitches. The inning began with a leadoff grounder from Yandy Díaz that Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt threw past first baseman Jake Bauers, Pratt's fourth error of the postseason and the team's ninth in 10 games. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with RBI singles, and Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer. Seven combined hits in the frame tied the record for an opening inning, and it was the highest-scoring first inning in a Series game since Game 4 in 1993. Henderson gave up four runs, three of them earned, over three innings.
Milwaukee answered right away. Jackson Chourio and Bauers opened the bottom half with singles. Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda let Contreras's one-out foul pop bounce out of his mitt near the netting. Contreras then bounced an RBI single to the left of second baseman Richie Palacios, who had taken a step toward the base with Bauers running on a full count. Garrett Mitchell's two-out single made it 4-2. Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen, given an extra day of rest, lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and six hits, his shortest start since July 9.
David Hamilton cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth with a grounder that bounced under Aranda's legs for an error. In the sixth, Sal Frelick tied it. After a nine-pitch at-bat against Ian Seymour, he drove a fastball over the center-field fence. It was his first home run in 103 plate appearances, since a July 11 drive off Pittsburgh's Braxton Ashcraft, and his first against a left-hander since opening day against Chicago's Tyler Gilbert. He rounded the bases in 18.72 seconds. Chourio then ended the inning by throwing out Hicks at the plate, after third base coach Brady Williams sent the slow-footed catcher home from second on Victor Mesa Jr.'s single.
The go-ahead run came in the seventh. Brice Turang doubled off losing pitcher Tyler Wells on the second pitch of the inning and moved up on Mitchell's flyout. Pratt, a 22-year-old who debuted in June, scored him by looping a Kevin Kelly sinker into short right field. The crowd, at Milwaukee's first World Series since 1982, had been dancing during the stretch to the "Beer Barrel Polka," played by accordionist Mike Schneider of Clinton, Wisconsin.
Abner Uribe threw 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win. In the ninth, Jonny DeLuca doubled off Aaron Ashby, who has three saves this postseason without allowing a run. Mesa then struck out when he couldn't check his swing, pinch-hitter Ben Williamson grounded out to move the runner, and Díaz struck out on a full-count pitch, again unable to hold his swing.
It was a rough night for a Rays team that won the American League pennant by forcing opponents into mistakes. Tampa Bay made one error, two other misplays that could have been scored errors, and lost a runner at the plate. Milwaukee, for its part, has now won seven straight and seven times this postseason after trailing. It also came back from 4-0 to beat the Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, completing a sweep. It is the fifth team to twice overcome four-run deficits in one postseason, and the first since Philadelphia in 2022.
Henderson's team record stands at 13-0 in games he has started, dating to his 2025 debut. He followed Jacob Misiorowski in the rotation, the first time teammates 24 or younger started the first two Series games since Cincinnati's Gary Nolan and Ross Grimsley in 1972. History favors Milwaukee: 46 of the 57 earlier teams that took a 2-0 lead won the championship.
Game 3 is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Brewers last played in 2023. Freddy Peralta, a two-time All-Star with Milwaukee from 2018 to 2025, starts for the Rays. He was ALCS MVP and is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in three postseason starts and one relief appearance. Brewers left-hander Robert Gasser, who allowed one run over nine innings in his first two postseason starts, will oppose him.
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