Milwaukee established early control during the opening frame when Jackson Chourio singled and came home on a Christian Yelich triple, followed immediately by William Contreras knocking in Yelich on a hard line drive off Taylor Walls’ glove. Tampa Bay answered during the fourth inning as Jonathan Aranda walked, Junior Caminero doubled, and Liam Hicks grounded out to trim the home side’s lead to 2-1. The hosts expanded their cushion in the seventh frame when Chourio singled to bring Cooper Pratt across home plate, providing a key insurance run. Milwaukee ultimately preserved this advantage in a 3-2 triumph before 43,250 spectators gathered at American Family Field.
Starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski earned the win for Milwaukee after surrendering merely one run across five innings, highlighted by throwing a 103.5 mph pitch—the fastest velocity ever recorded in World Series history. During the fifth inning, catcher Contreras wiped away potential trouble by throwing out Victor Mesa Jr. as he attempted to swipe third base. Rays manager Kevin Cash praised the opposition starter while searching for silver linings, stating, “He’s so talented. He’s such a special pitcher,” and adding, “I felt like for him to be out of the game at five innings, there’s a small win in that.”
An uncanny turn of events occurred during the ninth inning after back-to-back singles from Aranda and Chandler Simpson, along with a walk to Caminero, packed the bases for Tampa Bay. When Hicks chopped a ball toward the right side, Brice Turang handled it cleanly and tossed to Pratt, who threw to Jake Bauers to initiate an apparent game-ending double play that sparked premature celebrations and stadium fireworks. However, video review revealed Pratt’s foot hovered off second base, causing officials to overturn the call and prolong the contest. “We were kind of like, ‘Hey, good win, boys,'” stated Pratt, the team’s first-year shortstop, adding, “It would’ve been a lot cooler if we did that. A little less stress.”
Remaining unfazed on the mound, 32-year-old reliever Trevor Megill warmed his arm during the lengthy review while mentally preparing for potential danger. “You got to think worst-case scenario there,” Megill remarked, explaining, “I thought the challenge was at first base, maybe a bobble or something. But it was pretty clear once the replay went up that it was on the play at second base and, zoomed in, didn’t look too good.” Megill quickly recovered from a 2-1 count by dropping a filthy 90 mph curveball into the strike zone, then coaxed Jonny DeLuca to swing through another breaking ball in the dirt to seal the victory.
The dramatic opening victory capped off a seven-day rest period for Milwaukee, who arrived after sweeping the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Franchise faithful had waited 44 years for World Series action, dating back to 1982 when Robin Yount and Paul Molitor led Harvey’s Wallbangers to a seven-game defeat against St. Louis. Misiorowski expressed his excitement regarding the home crowd’s energy, sharing, “It’s everything I dreamed of,” before continuing, “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.”
Milwaukee’s formidable relief corps maintained their autumn dominance, featuring four outs from Abner Uribe and five scoreless outs from Aaron Ashby, who extended his streak of unearned runs to 14 postseason innings. Tampa Bay starting pitcher Nick Martinez recognized the grueling battle ahead, asserting, “Both teams do damn near everything very well,” before adding, “One thing I’m certain about my group is that we’re fighters. We know that about that group, too. This series is going to be a dogfight.” Looking toward Game 2, Tampa Bay will send postseason standout Drew Rasmussen to the hill against rookie Logan Henderson, while Megill reflected, “It’s good to get the first win out of the way,” noting, “That’s where all the nerves are at in this first game. A lot of anticipation and buildup to where we’re at right now. To get that first one out of the way with a win is a big step in the right direction there
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