BREWERS TAKE GAME 1 OF A WORLD SERIES NEITHER TEAM HAS EVER WON

Baseball is guaranteed a new champion this year, and the Milwaukee Brewers have the first word. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3 to 2 in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night, October 23, at American Family Field, and held on through a ninth inning that ended with a replay review, the bases loaded and one last strikeout. Neither franchise has ever won it all, and this is the first World Series since 1980 in which both teams are chasing their first title.

Two Franchises Still Waiting

The Brewers last played in the World Series in 1982, when they were still an American League team, and lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Milwaukee moved to the National League in 1998, and this October it won its first National League pennant. That makes the Brewers only the second club after the Houston Astros to win pennants in both leagues.

The Rays are here for the third time. They lost the 2008 World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies and the 2020 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a series played in a neutral site bubble in Texas. Yandy Díaz is the only player left from that 2020 roster. One of these two teams will finally lift the trophy by Halloween.

Milwaukee Won 103 Games Without the Long Ball

The Brewers won 103 games, the most in baseball and a franchise record, and took a fourth straight National League Central title. They did it in an unusual way. They finished in the top three in runs scored and the bottom three in home runs, something no team had done since the 1960 Chicago White Sox, and they led the league in batting average and on base percentage.

Jacob Misiorowski led the majors in ERA and strikeouts, and catcher William Contreras joined him on the All Star team. Pat Murphy's club also traded Freddy Peralta last winter, a move that now matters more than anyone in Milwaukee expected.

The Brewers beat the San Diego Padres in four games in the Division Series, with Jackson Chourio ending Game 2 on a two run walk off hit against Mason Miller. Then they swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two time defending champions who had swept Milwaukee in last year's National League Championship Series. The Brewers outhomered Los Angeles 7 to 1, came back from four runs down to win Game 4 at Dodger Stadium, and Jake Bauers was named series MVP. Six of their seven wins before the World Series were comebacks.

"You have to have that faith, and you have to have, like, the belief that you know this group can get it done," Christian Yelich, the team captain, said after the sweep.

Tampa Bay Turned 77 Wins Into a Pennant

The Rays spent 2025 in a borrowed ballpark. Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field, the team played at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and it finished 77 and 85. This year it came home to the Trop under new owner Patrick Zalupski, won 98 games for a 21 game turnaround, and took the American League East.

Junior Caminero led the club with 42 home runs and 101 RBI and was one of five Rays All Stars, the most in the league, along with Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, Bryan Baker and Díaz. At the deadline Tampa Bay picked up Peralta from the New York Mets after a rough half season there, and he won seven of his 13 starts with a 3.25 ERA.

The Rays swept the New York Yankees in the Division Series and beat the Cleveland Guardians in six games. In the October 19 clincher, Caminero and Díaz each hit two run homers, Díaz a day after guaranteeing a win, and Peralta went five and a third innings, allowed one run and was named ALCS MVP.

Game 1 Came Down to a Replay

Misiorowski set the tone with his first pitch. It was clocked at 103.5 miles per hour, the fastest pitch in World Series history, ahead of the 103.2 Aroldis Chapman threw in 2016. He escaped a first inning jam with a double play, and the Brewers jumped ahead in the bottom half when Chourio singled, Yelich tripled him home and Contreras singled in Yelich.

Tampa Bay got one back in the fourth on a Caminero double and a Liam Hicks groundout, and Chourio answered in the seventh with an RBI single for a 3 to 1 lead. Misiorowski went five innings, allowed one run and became the youngest pitcher to win a World Series Game 1 since 1997. Martinez, who started over Rasmussen, allowed two runs in five innings.

Then came the ninth. Trevor Megill loaded the bases, and a Hicks grounder looked like a game ending double play until the Rays challenged and replay showed Cooper Pratt had come off second base before the ball arrived. The call became an RBI groundout that scored Jorge Mateo, and Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca to end it. Contreras was the quiet star, with two hits, an RBI and two runners caught stealing. He also won the first automated ball strike challenge in World Series history in the second inning.

Rasmussen Faces the Team That Drafted Him

Game 2 is tonight, October 24, at 7 p.m. Central in Milwaukee on Fox. Rasmussen starts for Tampa Bay against the organization that drafted him in the sixth round in 2018. He has a 1.29 ERA over 21 innings in three postseason starts, including a near no hitter into the eighth against the Yankees. Logan Henderson starts for Milwaukee after a rough outing against the Dodgers.

The series then moves to St. Petersburg for Games 3, 4 and 5 on October 26, 27 and 28. Game 3 will be the first World Series game at Tropicana Field since 2008. If it goes the distance, Game 7 is Halloween night in Milwaukee.

Small Markets on the Biggest Stage

People around the game are calling this the Small Market World Series, and the payrolls back it up. These are the lowest payrolls for World Series teams since the strike of 1994 and 1995. Milwaukee's luxury tax payroll is $192 million, 17th of 30 teams, and Tampa Bay only secured its future in August, when Hillsborough County approved funding for a new stadium.

It also lands weeks before the labor deal between the league and the players expires on December 1, with a lockout widely expected over the league's push for a salary cap. Whatever comes next, two franchises built on drafting, trading and patience are about to prove that model can still win a ring.