MILWAUKEE — All day Friday, the city of Milwaukee was buzzing in anticipation of a long-awaited World Series appearance. Messages on city buses wished the Brewers good luck, the faces of four leverage relievers hung above the public market downtown and people everywhere wore team-branded gear.
Outside American Family Field, the tailgate started early. Once the ballpark’s gates opened, a sellout crowd of 43,250 filtered in, with many rushing to stand in long lines for World Series merchandise. Soon enough, the pre-game festivities began and franchise icons Robin Yount, Bud Selig and Ryan Braun helped welcome fans to the first World Series game this city’s hosted since 1982.
After all that, it would have been a massive letdown if the visiting Tampa Bay Rays had come in and taken Game 1. Instead, the Brewers lived up to the moment, winning the World Series opener 3-2 behind a collective effort from their biggest stars.
“Electric,” said Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski. “It was crazy. It's everything I dreamed of. It's really cool that we got to do it here in Milwaukee. It's been awesome to feel the city and feel just the atmosphere they've been creating. It's been amazing.”
The Rays were threatening until the very last batter, leading to some nervous moments before Brewers closer Trevor Megill locked back in for one last out.
With one out in the ninth inning, Rays catcher Liam Hicks grounded into what was initially called a game-ending double play. Fans applauded and stadium workers started wheeling parts of a portable desk onto the field for FOX’s post-game coverage. But replay showed only one out was recorded, forcing everyone but the players off the field as Megill took the mound again and struck out Jonny DeLuca.
“He kept his composure,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “That was the biggest at-bat of the game.”
On a night no player hit a home run, many contributions were required from the Brewers, who are now 8-1 this post-season and haven’t lost in two and a half weeks.
Big hits from Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and William Contreras ensured the Brewers got just enough offence, Contreras threw out two runners from behind the plate and Misiorowski kept the Rays in check for five innings.
Afterwards, Murphy said the Brewers wouldn’t be where they are without Contreras.
“This guy has been incredible, and he does both sides of the ball,” the manager said. “I don't know what his numbers are, but he does so much for the team.”
Chourio started the game with a single and soon scored on a triple from Yelich, who immediately rewarded Murphy for batting him third for the first time since Aug. 3. Contreras then drove in Yelich to give the Brewers an early 2-0 lead they’d never relinquish.
Later, in the seventh, Chourio drove in Cooper Pratt for an insurance run and that was more than enough offence on a day the Brewers pitching staff combined to allow just two runs on seven hits.
While Misiorowski didn’t dominate, he still lit up the radar gun and it’s hard to argue with one run over five innings even if his strikeout total of three was relatively modest.
The late-inning trio of Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Megill combined for four shutout innings to secure the Brewers’ first World Series win since 1982, a year they’d eventually lose to the Cardinals. Here in 2026, Milwaukee has a real bullpen advantage and it could prove to be pivotal over the course of the series.
Give the Rays credit: they came prepared to hit Misiorowski. Yandy Diaz nearly hit one over the right-field wall to lead off the game and Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson followed with singles before Misiorowski escaped. In the fourth inning, Junior Caminero hit a ball 112.7 m.p.h. for a double to centre.
Yet each time the Rays threatened, the lanky right-hander responded. And pitching on 11 days’ rest, Misiorowski had plenty of velocity to help him through trouble. His first pitch of the game was 103.5 m.p.h., a World Series record. His final pitch of the game was 103. In between, he sat 101.1, half a mile per hour above his regular season average and an absurd amount of velocity for any lineup to handle.
“I thought Miz was great,” Murphy said. “What we're used to seeing in the regular season was Miz just mow through people and have two strikeouts an inning. That's unrealistic. This is the best team in the American League. They proved that during the regular season and proved that in the post-season so far. One of the ways they do that is to make contact better than anybody in baseball.”
Meanwhile, the Rays’ decision to use Nick Martinez in Game 1 worked reasonably well. After some early trouble, the 36-year-old veteran settled in and covered five innings while allowing two earned runs.
That’s a stellar result against the lineup that ranked second in runs scored this past season, and since Martinez pitched Game 1, Rays starters Drew Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta will get additional rest ahead of their World Series debuts.
One game into this series, the pressure now flips to Rasmussen and the Rays, who must win on the road Saturday or face a daunting 2-0 deficit once the series shifts to Tampa.
“This is an extremely confident group,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “They're going to be fine.”
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