The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions at last, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday night to capture the first title in franchise history.
Milwaukee sealed the championship with a 4-1 victory at Tropicana Field in Tampa, ending a 57-year wait for the expansion club. The Brewers had reached the World Series only once before, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in 1982.
Rookie ace Jacob Misiorowski delivered 5 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing only two hits, and fellow rookie Cooper Pratt added two hits and two RBIs. Their performances sparked a long-awaited celebration among the thousands of Brewers supporters who filled Tropicana Field. Â
“It’s the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city’s waited a long, long time for this,” Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich said. “We’re so happy to bring it home to them. I can’t wait to get back there and celebrate.” Â
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Misiorowski exited with a right calf cramp and received a standing ovation from Brewers fans, who had taken over the seats behind Milwaukee’s dugout during the final three games.
Pratt, 22, established a Series record for rookies by collecting six consecutive hits before hitting a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Jackson Chourio also made history, setting a five-game World Series record with 11 hits.
“This is one of the greatest moments of my life. Oh my gosh. It doesn’t even feel real,” Pratt said. “This is surreal. It only took four months!” Â
The Rays, another expansion franchise founded in 1998, were also chasing their first championship. But after Milwaukee opened a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, Tampa Bay had little room for error. The Rays avoided a sweep with a stunning 4-3, 12-inning comeback win in Game 4 on Tuesday, only for the Brewers to finish the series one night later.
Manager Pat Murphy’s club reflected the determination of its 67-year-old leader. Murphy survived a heart attack in 2020 and went on to win NL Manager of the Year honors in each of his first two full seasons, 2024 and 2025.
Milwaukee responded in Game 5 with its electric 24-year-old two-time All-Star on the mound.Â
“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.”
Working on four days’ rest for just the fifth time in 34 starts this season, including the postseason, Misiorowski recorded his longest outing since throwing 6 1/3 innings against the Cubs on Sept. 8. Leg cramps had also cut short two earlier appearances.
Misiorowski, who set a World Series velocity record with a 103.5 mph fastball on the opening pitch last Friday, began Wednesday’s game with 12 consecutive four-seam fastballs ranging from 100.9 to 103 mph. He reached 103 mph twice while throwing 86 pitches, 58 of them for strikes.
For the first time in his young career, Misiorowski did not strike out a batter during the opening three innings. He finished with two strikeouts, tying the lowest total of his career. After Yandy Diaz swung through a cutter to end the fifth, Misiorowski pumped his fist twice and punched the air as he left the mound.
The NL Cy Young Award favorite allowed one run over five innings in the Brewers’ 3-2 victory in the series opener, earning his first postseason win as a starter. He finished the World Series 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA.
JoJo Romero recorded two outs, Abner Uribe followed with two more, and closer Trevor Megill handled the final two innings. Megill surrendered an RBI double to Chandler Simpson with two outs in the ninth.
Megill ended the game by getting Richie Palacios to ground out to second. He raised both arms before teammates surrounded him near the mound as Brewers fans erupted in the stands.
Pratt, who had gone 4 for 5 with a go-ahead solo homer in the 12th inning of Game 4, put Milwaukee ahead 1-0 against Rays ace Drew Rasmussen in the second. He singled for his sixth consecutive Series hit in the fifth and came home on David Hamilton’s single off Kevin Kelly.
William Contreras doubled home a run against Garrett Cleavinger in the sixth, and Pratt followed with a sacrifice fly that pushed Milwaukee’s advantage to 4-0.Â
The clubs combined for only four home runs during the Series, with Milwaukee accounting for three. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Brewers scored a major league-low 32.1% of their runs via home runs, while Tampa Bay ranked second-lowest at 34.4%.
Milwaukee finished the regular season with an MLB-best 103 wins and went 11-2 in the postseason. The Brewers recorded seven comeback victories and swept the powerhouse Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
Milwaukee’s only previous MLB championship came in 1957, when the Braves won before relocating to Atlanta for the 1966 season. Brewers fans have waited for this moment since 1970: the franchise began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee one year later.Â
Murphy’s team completed the mission that Harvey Kuenn’s celebrated 1982 squad could not. That American League champion featured five future Hall of Famers — Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton and Rollie Fingers — though Fingers missed the postseason with a forearm injury. Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker also called the games from the booth.
The Rays fell to 0-3 in World Series appearances after previous losses in 2008 and 2020. The only other teams to lose their first three World Series appearances were the Brooklyn Dodgers, who went 0-7, and the Detroit Tigers, who went 0-4, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Milwaukee’s championship arrives as owners push the players’ association to consider a salary cap, arguing that small-market clubs cannot compete consistently under the current system. A management lockout is expected to begin Dec. 2 and could put the 2027 season at risk.
This marked the first World Series since 1991 contested between teams ranked in the bottom half of MLB payrolls. As of Aug. 31, the Brewers ranked 19th and the Rays 25th.
