World Series Game 2: Brewers Take Commanding Series Lead After Big Comeback

No lead is safe against the Milwaukee Brewers this postseason. For the second time in three games, they overcame an early 4-0 deficit to win Game 2 of the World Series, 5-4.

This is a big win for the Brewers. MLB's Sarah Langs provides the historical context for teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series. Teams that win the first two games win the series 83% of the time (80 of 96). In the context of winning at home in a 2-3-2 format, they win 81% of the time (47 of 58). So history overwhelmingly favors the Brewers in this series now.

For the third consecutive postseason series, the Brewers have taken a 2-0 lead on their home field. In both cases, they never let either series go back to Milwaukee. The Rays are definitely in a uphill battle in Game 3 to try to get their way back in the series.

Here are the two takeaways from the Brewers' win in Game 2.

Brewers Win Battle of the Bullpens

The Brewers entered Game 2 with perhaps the worst on-paper starting pitching matchup for the series. That didn't help when Logan Henderson surrendered four runs in the first inning to put Milwaukee in a big hole early.

Despite the big deficit early and facing one of the best pitchers in MLB, the Brewers never relented. They answered with two in the bottom half, cutting the deficit in half immediately. They then knocked out Drew Rasmussen in the fourth, making it the first time the former Brewer didn't go six innings this postseason.

From there, it was a battle of bullpens, a matchup that heavily favors the Brewers. Milwaukee's bullpen fired six scoreless innings to swing the tide in their favor. Meanwhile, the Brewers scored the tying and winning runs against a Rays bullpen asked to go longer than typical in a Rasmussen start.

JoJo Romero, Dustin May, and DL Hall each contributed a scoreless inning, forming a bridge between a short Henderson start and the back of their bullpen. While Abner Uribe got the win and Aaron Ashby got the save, they would not have won Game 2 without their middle relief stepping up in a huge spot.

Contrast that with the Rays bullpen. Cam Booser did a good job of escaping a bases-loaded jam and preserving the lead in the fourth. However, the game got out of hand late. Ian Seymour served up a game-tying home run to Sal Frelick in a left-on-left matchup. Milwaukee took the lead in the seventh, as Cooper Pratt singled home Brice Turang, who doubled to lead off the frame off Tyler Wells.

Rays Mistakes Costly in Another Tight Game

The Rays are a team that plays relatively mistake-free baseball. But that hasn't been the case so far in the World Series. In Game 2, they had a costly defensive miscue that led to a run scoring and had a runner thrown out at home on a questionable send.

The error came in the fifth inning. With runners on the corners and one out, David Hamilton hit a ground ball that went right through Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda. Hamilton was credited with an RBI on the play.

The more critical mistake came in the sixth. With Liam Hicks, the runner at second, Victor Mesa Jr. punched the ball through the left side against Hall. Rays third base coach Brady Williams made a questionable send to try to get Tampa Bay up by two runs. Hicks had yet to round third by the time Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio fielded the ball and was easily thrown out at home.

It was another case of a Rays baserunner making a critical out on the bases. Hicks became the third runner the Brewers defense erased on the basepaths in the series through two games. That proved to be a pivotal moment in the game, as the Brewers tied it in the bottom half of the inning.

Next Game

The two teams will have a travel day before playing Game 3 at Tropicana Field on October 26. The Rays are in a tight spot in what's essentially a must-win game to avoid going down 3-0.