The Milwaukee Brewers continued their postseason habit of refusing to stay down, erasing an early 4-0 deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night at American Family Field and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Series.
Tampa Bay struck immediately against rookie right-hander Logan Henderson. Yandy Díaz reached on an error, Chandler Simpson singled him home, Junior Caminero followed with an RBI single, and catcher Liam Hicks launched a two-run homer measured at 411 feet to right-center for the first home run of the Series. The Rays had a 4-0 lead after one, their biggest offensive outburst of the postseason to that point.
Milwaukee answered right away against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. Jackson Chourio and Jake Bauers singled, William Contreras delivered an RBI hit on a hit-and-run, and Garrett Mitchell’s single cut the deficit to 4-2 before the inning ended. In the fourth, a David Hamilton grounder skipped under first baseman Jonathan Aranda’s glove for an error, allowing Cooper Pratt to score and making it 4-3. Rasmussen’s night ended after 3 2/3 innings.
The tying blow came in the sixth. Sal Frelick, who hit only four home runs in the regular season, worked a nine-pitch at-bat against left-hander Ian Seymour and drove a fastball over the center-field wall for a solo shot that knotted the game at 4-4. It was Frelick’s first homer of the postseason.
Rookie Cooper Pratt provided the decisive hit in the seventh. Brice Turang doubled leading off against Tyler Wells and advanced to third. With Kevin Kelly on the mound, Pratt—who had made an error in the first—looped a sinker into right field to score Turang and give the Brewers a 5-4 lead. Pratt, 22, redeemed his earlier miscue in a game that also saw him walk and score.
Milwaukee’s bullpen sealed it with six scoreless innings. Abner Uribe earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless frames, and Aaron Ashby closed for the save. In the ninth, Jonny DeLuca doubled, but Ashby stranded the tying run at third, striking out Díaz on a check-swing to end it. The Brewers finished with 11 hits to the Rays’ 7.
The victory marked Milwaukee’s seventh comeback win of the postseason and the second time in as many rounds the club has overcome a 4-0 deficit (the previous one coming against the Dodgers in the NLCS). Neither franchise has ever won a World Series title; the Brewers are making their first appearance since 1982. Teams leading 2-0 in a best-of-seven World Series have historically gone on to win the series more than 80 percent of the time.
The Series shifts to Tropicana Field for Game 3 on Monday night, with former Brewer Freddy Peralta scheduled to start for Tampa Bay. Milwaukee is two wins away from its first championship.
