MILWAUKEE — Sal Frelick tied the score with his first home run in three months, Cooper Pratt hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers stunned the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night at American Family Field for a 2-0 World Series lead, overcoming a four-run deficit for the second time this postseason.
Tampa Bay, which won the American League pennant by forcing opponents into mistakes, committed one error, made two other misplays that could have been charged as errors and had a runner thrown out at the plate. Down 4-0 in the first inning, Milwaukee rallied for its seventh comeback win of this postseason. The Brewers also rebounded from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, completing a four-game sweep.
Tampa Bay took a 4-2 lead in the highest-scoring World Series first inning since 1993’s Game 4 as teams combined for seven hits, tying the most in an opening frame. Pratt made his fourth error of the postseason at shortstop, the Brewers’ ninth in 10 games, bouncing his throw past first baseman Jake Bauers on a leadoff grounder by Yandy Díaz. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with RBI singles, and Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer against rookie Logan Henderson.
Despite the early struggles, Milwaukee improved to 13-0 in games started by Henderson, dating to his 2025 debut. He followed Jacob Misiorowski in the Brewers’ rotation, marking the first time teammates 24 or younger started the first two games of the Series since Cincinnati’s Gary Nolan and Ross Grimsley in 1972. Henderson started on 11 days’ rest and gave up four runs, three earned, in three innings while the Rays fouled off 13 of 35 pitches.
Jackson Chourio and Bauers started the bottom of the first with singles, and Tampa Bay first baseman Jonathan Aranda allowed William Contreras’ one-out foul pop to bounce out of his mitt near netting in front of the seats. With Bauers running on a full-count pitch, Contreras bounced an RBI single to the left of second baseman Richie Palacios, who had taken a step toward the base, and Garrett Mitchell’s two-out single cut the deficit to 4-2.
After losing Friday’s opener 3-2, the Brewers started clawing back against Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen. Given an extra day of rest, Rasmussen allowed three runs and six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his shortest start since July 9. David Hamilton cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fourth with a run-scoring grounder that bounced under Aranda’s legs for an error.
Frelick then capped a nine-pitch at-bat against Ian Seymour in the sixth by driving a fastball over the center-field fence. Frelick had gone 103 plate appearances without a home run since his July 11 drive off Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft and had not gone deep against a lefty pitcher since opening day against Tyler Gilbert of the Chicago White Sox. Frelick sped around the bases in 18.72 seconds.
Screaming fans at the second game of Milwaukee’s first World Series since 1982 were fired up during the seventh-inning stretch, dancing to the “Beer Barrel Polka” played by Mike Schneider, an accordionist from Clinton, Wisconsin. Brice Turang doubled against losing pitcher Tyler Wells on the second pitch of the bottom half, advanced on Mitchell’s flyout to right and scored when Pratt, a 22-year-old who debuted in June, looped a sinker from Kevin Kelly into short right field.
Abner Uribe pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win. In the top of the sixth, Chourio threw out Hicks from left for the final out when third base coach Brady Williams waved the slow-footed catcher to try to score from second on Victor Mesa Jr.’s single. In the ninth, Jonny DeLuca doubled off Aaron Ashby, Mesa struck out on a check swing, pinch-hitter Ben Williamson grounded out to advance the runner, and Díaz struck out on a full-count check-swing pitch. Ashby earned his third save of the postseason without allowing a run.
Milwaukee won its seventh straight game, becoming the fifth team to twice overcome four-run deficits for victories in a single postseason and the first since Philadelphia in 2022. Of the 57 previous teams to take 2-0 World Series leads, 46 claimed the championship.
Game 3 of the matchup between teams seeking their first title is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Brewers last played in 2023. Tampa Bay will start right-hander Freddy Peralta, who became a two-time All-Star when he pitched for the Brewers from 2018-25. Peralta was the ALCS MVP and is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in three postseason starts and one relief appearance. He will be opposed by Brewers left-hander Robert Gasser, who allowed one run over nine innings in his first two postseason starts.
