Yandy Diaz’s towering fly ball off Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski in the first inning was caught by Sal Frelick in right field, a play that might have been a home run in most ballparks but instead set the tone for a 3-2 Milwaukee win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the World Series at American Family Field. The Brewers edged out the Rays in a matchup defined by razor-thin margins and a handful of defensive plays that swung the game their way.
The Rays, who had the best record in one-run games during the regular season at 25-14, were unable to capitalize on several scoring chances. After Diaz’s deep fly out, Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson singled, putting Junior Caminero with a chance to break the deadlock early. But Caminero’s liner to shortstop Cooper Pratt resulted in a double play, abruptly ending the inning and denying Tampa Bay an early lead.
Milwaukee struck first when Jackson Chourio led off the game with a single off Rays starter Nick Martinez. Christian Yelich then smashed an 0-2 cutter into the right-center gap. Jonny DeLuca’s diving attempt to make the catch fell just short, allowing Yelich to reach third for his first triple since July. “I thought Jonny covered a lot of ground right there to even make that play close,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash after the game.
The Rays pulled their infield in to contain the damage, but William Contreras greeted Martinez’s first pitch with a 108.4 mph line drive that glanced off shortstop Taylor Walls’ glove and rolled into left field, scoring Yelich and making it 2-0. This marked the first time since September 2 that the Rays had allowed multiple runs in the opening inning.
Martinez recovered to strike out Brice Turang and Garrett Mitchell, but the early deficit lingered. The Brewers’ bullpen then took over after Misiorowski’s 78-pitch outing ended in the fifth inning, preserving the lead through the middle innings.
The Rays’ offense struggled to find consistent traction. Caminero’s 112.7 mph double in the fourth inning, his hardest-hit ball of the postseason so far, set up Liam Hicks’ RBI groundout to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 2-1. Yet Tampa Bay failed to build on that momentum.
A critical moment came in the fifth when Victor Mesa Jr. tried to steal third base with two outs. Contreras threw a perfect strike to third baseman David Hamilton, who applied the tag to end the inning. “Victor is really competing, trying to do something to make something happen, put a little pressure on the defense,” Cash said. “And it didn’t work in our favor.”
Later, in the sixth, with Jonathan Aranda on base, a hit-and-run attempt with Chandler Simpson ended badly. Simpson struck out, and Aranda was caught stealing second, marking a rare misstep for the Rays’ usually patient offense. Simpson, who had struck out just once during the postseason before this game, was retired twice by Misiorowski and Abner Uribe, Milwaukee’s reliever.
Chourio added an insurance run in the seventh to extend Milwaukee’s lead to 3-1. The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Brewers closer Trevor Megill, creating a tense moment that could have shifted the game. Hicks then grounded into a double play, appearing to end the threat, prompting officials and television crews to begin postgame procedures.
The Brewers’ combination of timely hitting and sharp defense earned them the narrow victory in the opening game of the World Series, leaving the Rays to regroup and try to respond in Game 2.
According to Yahoo Sports.
