Brewers beat Rays 4-1 in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, October 28, 2026, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Milwaukee is a champion for the first time. The Brewers took the best-of-seven series 4-1, ending a wait that stretched back to the franchise’s first season in 1969 and its only previous World Series trip, a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.
Milwaukee did it the way this team has won all season: with starting pitching that bent without breaking, a rookie who kept delivering in the biggest moments, and a bullpen that closed the door. The Brewers finished the postseason 11-2 after a 103-win regular season, and on Wednesday they never trailed.
How Brewers beat Rays 4-1 in Game 5
The scoring started in the second inning. Brice Turang doubled, and two batters later rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt lined a first-pitch single into center field to bring him home for a 1-0 lead. That run, off Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen, turned out to be all Milwaukee would need, but the Brewers kept adding to it.
In the fifth, Pratt singled again and scored on David Hamilton’s single, making it 2-0. Hamilton has now driven in a run in four straight World Series games. The sixth inning put the game out of reach: Christian Yelich was hit by a pitch, William Contreras doubled him home, and Pratt’s sacrifice fly scored Contreras for a 4-0 lead.
Tampa Bay finally got on the board in the ninth, when Liam Hicks doubled and Chandler Simpson drove him in with a double of his own. But Trevor Megill, who handled the final two innings, got Richie Palacios to ground out to second base for the last out, and the celebration began.
Misiorowski sets the tone, then the bullpen finishes it
Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee’s 24-year-old ace, threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk with two strikeouts. He did not pile up strikeouts the way he did during the regular season, when he led the majors with 252, but he kept Tampa Bay from stringing anything together. He left in the sixth inning with a cramp in his right calf, to a standing ovation from the large contingent of Brewers fans behind Milwaukee’s dugout.
JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Megill covered the rest, with the bullpen allowing only the ninth-inning run. It was a fitting finish for a staff that had been pushed hard the night before, when Game 4 went 12 innings before Tampa Bay won 4-3 to avoid a sweep.
Rasmussen, pitching on three days’ rest for Tampa Bay, allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts in four innings, throwing 48 pitches. He was charged with the loss after Milwaukee scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth against the Rays’ bullpen.
Pratt’s record run and Contreras’ MVP series
Pratt’s night was the latest chapter in a remarkable October for a player who made his major league debut in June. His six consecutive hits across Games 4 and 5 set a World Series record for a rookie, and his sacrifice fly in the sixth was his second run batted in of Game 5. He finished with two hits and two RBIs on the night, after a four-hit performance in Game 4.
Contreras, whose RBI double in the sixth stretched the lead to 3-0, was named World Series MVP. Jackson Chourio set a five-game Series record with 11 hits, another mark of how deep Milwaukee’s lineup proved to be all series.
Captain Christian Yelich, who was embraced on the field by franchise icon Robin Yount after the final out, summed up the feeling afterward, telling reporters: “It’s the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city’s waited a long, long time for this.” Yelich also spoke of late broadcaster Bob Uecker, who died in January 2025 and never got to see the Brewers win it all, saying he wished Uecker could have been there to see it.
What comes next for the champions
The Brewers will celebrate with a parade in downtown Milwaukee on Friday, October 30, Brewers officials told USA Today. The parade is scheduled to begin on Wisconsin Avenue and finish at the lakefront, with an anticipated crowd of at least 400,000.
For Tampa Bay, the loss ends a run to the World Series that fell one step short. The Rays, who fought off elimination in a 12-inning Game 4 win, could not find a second straight comeback against Milwaukee’s pitching. They remain without a World Series title.
For Milwaukee, though, the story is simpler. A franchise that began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, moved to Milwaukee the following year, and waited 44 years between World Series appearances is no longer waiting. The Brewers are World Series champions.
Sources: Reuters, USA Today, NBC Sports and The Associated Press reporting on World Series Game 5. Related coverage on this site: Rays Beat Brewers 4-3 in 12 Innings to Force World Series Game 5, Brewers Rout Rays 10-1 in World Series Game 3, One Win From First Title, Brewers vs. Rays World Series 2026: Three Matchups That Could Decide Game 1.
