We Speak Baseball
Frelick and Pratt Lift Brewers to 5-4 Comeback Win Over Rays and 2-0 World Series Lead
Sal Frelick hit a game-tying home run in the sixth inning and rookie Cooper Pratt delivered the go-ahead single in the seventh as the Milwaukee Brewers erased a four-run deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night and take a 2-0 lead in the World Series.
Tampa Bay stormed to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, capitalizing on a throwing error by Pratt, the Brewers’ rookie shortstop. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero hit RBI singles before Liam Hicks launched a two-run home run off Logan Henderson. The six combined first-inning runs were the most in a World Series first inning since 1993.
Milwaukee answered immediately. William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell hit RBI singles in the bottom of the first to halve the deficit, and Pratt scored in the fourth on an error by first baseman Jonathan Aranda to make it 4-3.
The Brewers’ bullpen took over from there, throwing six scoreless innings. JoJo Romero, Dustin May and DL Hall each worked a scoreless frame, and Jackson Chourio preserved the one-run deficit in the sixth with a perfect throw from left field to nail Hicks at home plate for the final out of the inning.
Moments later, Frelick tied it. He capped a nine-pitch at-bat by driving a 3-2 fastball from Ian Seymour 408 feet to center field, his first home run in three months. In the seventh, Brice Turang doubled off Tyler Wells, moved to third on Mitchell’s flyout, and scored when Pratt greeted Kevin Kelly with an RBI single to right — atoning for the error that had opened the game with the biggest hit of his young career.
Abner Uribe (1-0) earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings. Aaron Ashby recorded the final five outs for his third save of the postseason and has not allowed a run in 15 2/3 innings this October. For the second straight game, Tampa Bay stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth: Jonny DeLuca doubled and advanced to third, but Ashby struck out Yandy Diaz on a controversial appealed check swing to end it.
Both clubs are seeking the first World Series championship in franchise history. Of the 57 previous teams to take a 2-0 World Series lead, 46 went on to win the title. Game 3 is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, with Rays right-hander Freddy Peralta — the ALCS MVP and a former Brewer — facing Milwaukee left-hander Robert Gasser. First pitch is 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run over five gritty innings and closer Trevor Megill stranded the tying run at third base to preserve the Milwaukee Brewers’ 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night in the opening game of the World Series.
Milwaukee, whose only other World Series appearance was a seven-game loss in 1982, scored two runs in the first inning off Nick Martinez and added a run in the seventh on Jackson Chourio’s RBI single to go up 3-1, in front of 43,250 fans at American Family Field. Both clubs are seeking the first World Series championship in franchise history.
Misiorowski (1-0), whose 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts each led the majors during the regular season, allowed one run on four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking one in a 78-pitch outing. He set the tone by throwing a 103.5 mph fastball to open the game, the fastest pitch in World Series history.
The Brewers posted two quick runs against Martinez (1-1), who got the start when ace Drew Rasmussen was pushed back to Game 2 for an extra day’s rest. Chourio singled on the first pitch of the bottom of the first and scored on Christian Yelich’s one-out triple, which came off Jonny DeLuca’s glove on a diving catch attempt in right-center. William Contreras followed with an RBI single to left for a 2-0 lead.
Tampa Bay cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth on a groundout by Liam Hicks, but the Rays could never break through against Milwaukee’s pitching and the catching of Contreras, who reached base three times and threw out two would-be basestealers. Contreras cut down Victor Mesa Jr. trying to steal third in the fifth and Jonathan Aranda at second in the sixth, ending both innings. Tampa Bay, which had been 10-for-10 on stolen-base attempts this postseason entering the game, finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined for three scoreless innings after Misiorowski, striking out five. Ashby ran his scoreless postseason streak to 14 innings by setting down the Rays in order in the eighth.
Milwaukee added its insurance run in the seventh. Rookie Cooper Pratt worked an eight-pitch walk to lead off the inning, moved to second on a groundout, and scored when Chourio greeted reliever Kevin Kelly with a first-pitch RBI single down the right-field line to make it 3-1.
The insurance run proved to be the difference. The Rays scored once in the ninth off Megill, who entered to start the inning and conceded consecutive one-out singles to Aranda and Chandler Simpson. Pinch runner Jorge Mateo and Simpson executed a double steal, and Junior Caminero walked to load the bases. Hicks appeared to bounce into a game-ending double play, but a video review showed that shortstop Cooper Pratt was pulled off the bag at second on the throw by second baseman Brice Turang. Hicks was out on the fielder’s choice as Mateo scored to make it 3-2, leaving runners on second and third, before Megill struck out DeLuca for his fifth postseason save in five opportunities.
Game 2 is Saturday night in Milwaukee, with first pitch at 8:00 p.m. ET. The series then moves to Tampa Bay for Game 3 on Monday.
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