The Brewers didn’t bulldoze the Rays into submission in the first two games of the World Series. They just kept taking the punch, kept answering back and left American Family Field with a 2-0 stranglehold after a 5-4 win in Game 2 on Saturday night.
That lead carries real weight. In the 55 previous World Series that have been tied this way after two games, the team up 2-0 has gone on to win 80.7% of the time.
Game 2 started with Tampa Bay looking every bit like a club that had its ace and top bullpen arms lined up and ready. The Rays jumped ahead with a four-run first inning against Brewers rookie right-hander Logan Henderson, getting an RBI ground-ball single from Chandler Simpson that scored Yandy Díaz from second, then a Junior Caminero single after Simpson stole second, and finally a 411-foot homer to right-center from catcher Liam Hicks.
But the early burst didn’t stick. Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay’s staff ace, wound up leaving after just 3 2/3 innings, and the Brewers started chipping away immediately.
Milwaukee answered in the bottom of the first when Jackson Chourio and Jake Bauers singled in succession to put runners on the corners. William Contreras then bounced a ball up the middle for an RBI hit-and-run single that scored Chourio, and Garrett Mitchell followed with a two-out single to right that trimmed the deficit to 4-2.
The Brewers kept pressing in the fourth. Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt reached to put men on the corners again, and David Hamilton chopped a low changeup down the first-base line. Jonathan Aranda couldn’t handle it, the ball got through for an error, Pratt scored and Milwaukee was suddenly within one.
Then came the big swing in the sixth. Frelick opened the inning against lefty Ian Seymour, and after working the count full, he jumped on Seymour’s ninth pitch - a four-seamer in the middle of the zone - and launched it to center to tie the game at 4. It was Frelick’s only homer off left-handed pitching in 98 plate appearances during the regular season, but he made this one count in a huge spot.
The Brewers couldn’t cash in further in that inning, with Contreras grounding out to end the threat and leave two runners aboard. But they weren’t done.
In the seventh, Brice Turang doubled off Tyler Wells, then moved to third when Mitchell’s deep fly to right was run down by Victor Mesa Jr. Tampa Bay went to Kevin Kelly, and Milwaukee rookie Cooper Pratt came through with a sinker he pushed into right field for the go-ahead RBI single.
The Rays still had chances late. The Brewers were denied an insurance run in the eighth when Chourio was called out on a collision play at the plate, and Tampa Bay made things tense again in the ninth, getting the tying run within 90 feet before Aaron Ashby finished the job. The final out came on a check swing strike call against Yandy Díaz with the tying run at third.
Now the Series shifts to St. Petersburg, but the Brewers have already done the damage they wanted in Milwaukee. Through two games, they’ve looked confident, opportunistic and just a little relentless - exactly the kind of formula that can turn a quick series lead into something much bigger.
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Springsteen had been watching the Brewers and wanted to connect with Murphy, which made the exchange even more meaningful. Murphy described the conversation as easy, and he spoke about the impact Springsteens music has had on him and his teams over the years. It was a reminder that the Brewers postseason run has started to reach beyond the field, in ways that can surprise even the people closest to it. [Read more 🡒]