Brewers hold on for 3-2 win over Rays in Game 1

It isn’t often that we are treated to a World Series matchup featuring the two best teams in the league. The Brewers won an NL-best 103 games during the regular season while the Rays paced the AL with 98. The matchup lived up to its billing in Game 1 with a thrilling finish.

Milwaukee carried a 3-1 lead into the ninth with closer Trevor Megill on the mound. Milwaukee’s relievers entered the series with a 1.33 ERA in 40 2/3 postseason innings. Megill got Yandy Diaz to ground out to start the frame but then allowed back-to-back singles to Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson. With Junior Caminero representing the go-ahead run at the plate, the Rays stayed aggressive and pulled off a double steal to put the tying runs into scoring position.

Megill walked Caminero to load the bases to bring up Liam Hicks and that is when things got interesting. Hicks grounded the first pitch he saw into what appeared to be a game-ending double play. However, the Rays challenged and the replay showed that shortstop Cooper Pratt’s foot was off the bag at second when he received the throw from Brice Turang.

Pinch runner Jorge Mateo scored on the play to cut the lead to 3-2. Having thought the game was over, Megill had to come back out with the tying run at third but struck out Jonny DeLuca with a nasty curveball to seal the win.

Catcher William Contreras played a big part in the win for the Brewers. He followed Christian Yelich’s RBI triple with a 108 mph single off of shortstop Taylor Walls’ glove to stake the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

He also had an impact behind the plate. With the Brewers leading 2-1 in the fifth, Contreras gunned down Victor Mesa Jr. who was trying to steal third with a perfect throw to end the inning.

He also threw out Aranda in the sixth on a failed hit-and-run attempt that ended another threat. Contreras finished the game with two hits, a walk and was also successful on two ABS challenges rounding out an all-around effort.

Jacob Misiorowski got the start for the Brewers on the mound and needed just one pitch to set a World Series record. His 103.5 mph fastball to Diaz to start the game was the fastest recorded pitch in World Series history dating back to 2008 when pitch tracking began.

It wasn’t Misiorowski’s sharpest performance, but he did what he needed to do to keep the Brewers in front. He worked out of a jam in the first inning where Aranda and Chandler Simpson reached with back-to-back singles. However, Misiorowski got Caminero to line into a double play to end the inning. He allowed a single run in the fourth and exited after the fifth having allowed four hits to go along with three strikeouts.

The Brewers added an insurance run in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Jackson Chourio that pushed the lead to 3-1. Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined for three scoreless innings in relief before turning things over to Megill in the ninth. Ashby has been one of the best pitchers in the postseason running his streak to 14 scoreless innings across seven appearances.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday for Game 2 of the series. Logan Henderson will get the start for Milwaukee while Tampa will go with righty ace Drew Rasmussen.