Brewers beat Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win first World Series title in franchise history

The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions at last. With a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night, Milwaukee captured the first title in the franchise's 57-year history, capping a dominant postseason run by one of baseball's unlikeliest champions.

The clincher was set up by starter Jacob Misiorowski, whose triple-digit fastballs shut out the Rays across five scoreless innings. Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt supplied the decisive power, and the Brewers added two more runs in the sixth on William Contreras's double and Pratt's sacrifice fly off Tampa Bay's bullpen. The bullpen finished the job: JoJo Romero and Abner Uribe bridged to closer Trevor Megill, who jammed Richie Palacios with a 99.1 mph fastball for a game-ending grounder to second baseman Brice Turang, with Chandler Simpson's late double the only blemish.

Contreras was named World Series MVP after posting an .863 OPS, throwing out three would-be base stealers and going 10-for-13 on ABS challenges. The celebration felt like the culmination of years of near misses: the Brewers reached the playoffs seven times in the past eight seasons but consistently fell short, and they parted with stars like Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta as they approached free agency.

This team won 103 regular-season games despite baseball's 19th-highest payroll and ranking 28th in home runs. After downing the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series, Milwaukee overwhelmed the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series before racing past the Rays. "It was unbelievable," owner Mark Attanasio said as midnight neared. For manager Pat Murphy and a group long dismissed as too young and unheralded, the label now changes: champions.

Source: ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50314006/brewers-rays-game-5-first-world-series-title)