Brewers capture first World Series title with Game 5 win over Rays
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win the first World Series championship in franchise history, a title that follows a 44-year wait since their last Fall Classic appearance.
The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history. Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5, capping a season that saw the club post the best record in Major League Baseball at 103-59.
The Brewers had reached the Fall Classic once before, in 1982, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. It took them 44 years to return to the World Series this season, and this time they finished the job. Their Game 5 victory came one night after Tampa Bay walked off Game 4 with a four-single rally in the bottom of the 13th inning, a result that kept the Rays' season alive and set up the decisive contest.
Rookie Cooper Pratt, 22, drove in the first run with an RBI single in the top of the second inning off Drew Rasmussen, who started on short rest because of the circumstances. Pratt added a sacrifice fly later in the game, while Williams Contreras doubled home Christian Yelich to extend the lead to 4-0. David Hamilton also delivered an RBI single past a diving Rays defender in the fifth inning.
Jacob Misiorowski, widely viewed as the likely National League Cy Young winner, was overpowering through the early innings, throwing triple-digit fastballs that Tampa Bay could not handle. He worked 5.2 innings before cramping in the bottom of the sixth forced manager Pat Murphy to turn to a bullpen that had already been taxed by extra innings in Game 4. Misiorowski allowed two hits and one walk while striking out two. The relief corps held the lead the rest of the way, and fans in Wisconsin watched the final outs with growing anticipation.
The Brewers' championship arrives in an unusual context. Their payroll sat in the middle of the pack at roughly $146 million, 19th among the 30 teams, while the Rays spent about $95.6 million, which ranked 28th. The matchup pitted two clubs far from the top of the league's spending list against one another in the sport's biggest series. Milwaukee's approach, which emphasizes doing the small things needed to win close games, drew praise from across the sport. Former New York Yankees great Derek Jeter said, « Quite frankly, that's how baseball's supposed to be played. »
Milwaukee won Games 1 and 2 against Tampa Bay before a 10-1 blowout in Game 3 at Tropicana Field. The club also knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Team ownership has also drawn attention since the title. Mark Attanasio, a lawyer-turned-financier with an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion, has run the franchise since 2005, and the championship marks the first of his tenure.
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