Brewers close out Rays to capture first World Series title in franchise history

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  Alden GonzalezOct 28, 2026, 11:23 PM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- They were deemed too young and unheralded, dismissed as punchless and inexpensive, defined more so by what they lacked than what they possessed. They won 103 regular-season games, the most in Major League Baseball for a second straight year, and yet when October arrived, the Milwaukee Brewers were generally portrayed as underdogs, a moniker to which they've grown accustomed.

Now, for the first time ever, they warrant a different label: champions.

The Brewers dispatched the Tampa Bay Rays and capped a dominant run through the postseason with a 4-1 victory at Tropicana Field in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, cementing the first title in the franchise's 57-year history in front of thousands of fans who made the 1,300-mile trek from Milwaukee.

A Brewers team that carried baseball's 19th-highest payroll, ranked 28th in home runs and was widely viewed as the type of club that could not thrive this time of year went 11-2 in the playoffs, surviving a tension-filled wild-card series against the San Diego Padres before overwhelming the two-time-defending-champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series and racing past the similarly unsung Rays in the final round.

The clincher was set up, fittingly, by Jacob Misiorowski hurling triple-digit fastballs and overwhelming Rays hitters through five scoreless innings, during which he recorded two strikeouts but also allowed just four baserunners. Misiorowski exited with a cramp in his right calf with two outs in the sixth inning, marking the first time he had pitched beyond the fifth inning in these playoffs -- but by then, the damage had been done.

Cooper Pratt, the rookie shortstop who hit what could have been the championship-winning homer in the 12th inning of Game 4, drove in the first run in the top of the second with a line-drive single off Rays ace Drew Rasmussen, who was starting on three days' rest. Pratt notched another single in the fifth, his sixth hit in as many at-bats, then came around to score on another by David Hamilton. The Brewers got two more runs off the Rays' bullpen in the sixth on William Contreras' double and Pratt's sac fly, and the bullpen took it from there.

It went JoJo Romero to Abner Uribe to, for the last two innings, Trevor Megill, a trio that allowed one run over the last 3 1/3 innings, putting the bullpen ERA at 1.34 in October. The Brewers' relievers proved to be massive contributors in this championship run, but they were far from alone.

On this team, that list is exhaustive.

Christian Yelich is the captain, Jackson Chourio is the star, Brice Turang and Contreras are the lynchpins, but the Brewers' entire offense proved to be relentless throughout this postseason, continually working counts, punishing mistakes and eviscerating deficits. Misiorowski is the ace, a shoo-in for the NL Cy Young Award, and Logan Henderson has clearly developed into one. But Robert Gasser put up a 0.60 ERA in three postseason starts behind them, and a devastating group of relievers -- led by Megill, Uribe and, most notably, Aaron Ashby -- was unhittable when it mattered most.

It was all held together by manager Pat Murphy, the baseball journeyman with a football coach's sensibilities, a man who somehow kept things loose while demanding perfection. It was built by Matt Arnold, the leader of a front-office group that has long been considered among the industry's best at procuring talent, developing players and contending on a tight budget.

The Brewers reached the playoffs seven times in the past eight years but consistently fell short. They went all the way to the NLCS in 2018 and 2025 but lost to the Dodgers both times, first in seven games and later in four. When another October arrived, on the heels of a fourth straight NL Central title and a franchise record for wins, the Brewers once again carried hopes of reaching the World Series for the first time since 1982 and avenging the Robin Yount- and Paul Molitor-led team that fell one win short. As the month progressed, it became clear that this was the right group to do it.

They were savvy and overlooked, potent and invaluable, significantly greater than the sum of their parts -- underdogs nevermore.