Brewers End 57-Year Drought With 4-1 Win Over Rays
Milwaukee’s 12-2 postseason run included a sweep of the Dodgers and a 103-game regular season.
By Petra Murphy ·
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday to secure their first World Series championship in franchise history, ending a 57-year title drought.
Closer Trevor Megill induced a soft ground ball for the final out at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The result gave the Brewers a 12-2 record in the playoffs, a winning percentage of .857 that ranks among the best since the postseason format expanded in 1995. Only the 1999 New York Yankees and 2005 Chicago White Sox posted better records in their respective title-winning runs.
Milwaukee achieved this success despite having the 19th-highest payroll among the 30 Major League Baseball teams. The team trailed nine times across its 12 playoff games but won seven of those contests. During the National League Championship Series, the Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games. They outscored the Dodgers by 10 runs in that series despite spending less than half as much on player salaries.
In the World Series, the Brewers relied on contact hitting rather than power. They recorded just one home run against Tampa Bay in the first three games. In Game 5, the winning runs came from two singles, a sacrifice fly, and a double. Star pitcher Jacob Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in the clinching game. Catcher William Contreras won the Most Valuable Player award after driving in four runs and batting .381 in the series.
The team’s core includes veteran Christian Yelich and reliever Brandon Woodruff, both of whom were part of the 2018 roster that narrowly missed the Fall Classic. Young outfielder Jackson Chourio, 20, provided key hits in the divisional round against San Diego. The Brewers finished the regular season with a franchise-record 103 wins and held the best record in baseball at the All-Star break.
Tampa Bay finished the regular season with the most wins in the American League. However, the Brewers closed the series with a dominant performance. Christian Yelich, the team captain, described the victory as the best feeling ever. Megill, who recorded the save, stated that the win was incredible and that his ten-year-old self would be proud.
