Brewers win first World Series, beat Rays 4-1 in Game 5; Contreras named MVP

The Milwaukee Brewers are world champions for the first time. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 of the World Series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Wednesday night, October 28, 2026 (Thursday morning in Pakistan), to take the series four games to one and end a wait that had lasted all 57 seasons of the franchise's history.

Starter Jacob Misiorowski shut the Rays out for 5 2/3 innings, rookie Cooper Pratt drove in two runs and closer Trevor Megill got a soft ground ball from Richie Palacios for the final out. Catcher William Contreras was named the series' Most Valuable Player.

How Game 5 was won

Milwaukee built the lead slowly and never gave it back. The Brewers went ahead 1-0 in the second inning against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who was pitching on three days' rest and allowed only that run and two hits in four innings.

The game turned in the fifth and sixth. After Rasmussen left, reliever Kevin Kelly gave up back-to-back one-out singles, and Pratt scored on David Hamilton's single to make it 2-0. In the sixth, Contreras doubled in a run off Garrett Cleavinger, and Pratt's sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 4-0.

Misiorowski left in the sixth with a cramp in his right calf after 86 pitches, to a standing ovation from the travelling Milwaukee fans. JoJo Romero and Abner Uribe each got two outs before Megill took the ninth. Tampa Bay finally scored when Chandler Simpson doubled home Liam Hicks with two outs, but Megill closed it out.

Game 5	Result
Final score	Brewers 4, Rays 1
Venue	Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Winning pitcher	Jacob Misiorowski — 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K
Rays starter	Drew Rasmussen — 4 IP, 1 R, 2 H
Key hits	Hamilton RBI single (5th), Contreras RBI double (6th), Pratt sac fly (6th)
Final out	Trevor Megill, ground ball by Richie Palacios

The series game by game

Game	Venue	Result
Game 1	Milwaukee	Brewers 3, Rays 2
Game 2	Milwaukee	Brewers 5, Rays 4 (from 4-0 down)
Game 3	St. Petersburg	Brewers 10, Rays 1
Game 4	St. Petersburg	Rays 4, Brewers 3 (12 innings)
Game 5	St. Petersburg	Brewers 4, Rays 1

Contreras finished the series 8-for-21 (.381) with four RBI. Over the whole postseason the catcher hit .373 with a .588 slugging percentage and threw out six of 13 runners trying to steal. Outfielder Jackson Chourio set a record for a five-game World Series with 11 hits, and Pratt, 22, set a rookie Series record with six hits in a row, including a solo home run in the 12th inning of Game 4.

Background: 57 years of waiting

The franchise started life as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee a year later. Its only previous World Series, in 1982, ended in a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, a team of future Hall of Famers including Robin Yount and Paul Molitor that the city still calls "Harvey's Wallbangers". The last Major League title won by a Milwaukee team came in 1957, when the Braves played there before moving to Atlanta.

This year's team was the best in baseball from the start. It won a franchise-record 103 regular-season games, swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series and went 11-2 in the postseason, coming from behind in seven of those wins. Manager Pat Murphy, 67, who survived a heart attack in 2020, was named National League Manager of the Year in both 2024 and 2025.

For Tampa Bay, it was a third World Series defeat after 2008 and 2020. The Rays had won Game 4 in 12 innings to stay alive and were trying to become the first team ever to come back from 3-0 down in a World Series.

Reactions

The Brewers players struggled to find words on the field. "This is one of the greatest moments of my life," Pratt said, while Misiorowski said he did not even have words. Christian Yelich, who has played in Milwaukee since 2018, called it the best feeling ever, and Megill said his ten-year-old self would be proud.

Why it matters

Milwaukee is one of baseball's smallest markets, and this was the first World Series since 1991 between two teams from the bottom half of the league in payroll. The title shows that clubs without the biggest budgets can still win, at a time when the sport's finances are under the spotlight.

What happens next

Milwaukee is expected to hold a victory parade in the coming days; the club has not yet announced the date or route. Attention will then turn to the off-season, which is clouded by labour talks: owners and players have not agreed a new labour deal, and a possible lockout from December 2 could threaten the 2027 season if no deal is reached.