Brewers Survive Ninth-Inning Replay to Beat Rays 3-2 in World Series Game 1

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in World Series Game 1 at American Family Field on Friday, October 23, 2026, surviving a ninth-inning replay reversal before Trevor Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca with the tying run at third. Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Christian Yelich brought the finish to the MLB on FOX postgame desk, where he joined Kevin Burkhardt, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. Asked where he had watched the apparent game-ending double play, Yelich explained that teammates had blocked his view from the dugout. Their reaction initially told him the Brewers had won. The replay told him they would have to get another out.

Yelich said “it’s a big credit to Trev for locking back in right there.” Megill’s response preserved five innings of one-run pitching from Jacob Misiorowski, an early two-run lead and a seventh-inning insurance run that proved essential.

Final Game Center and gamecast · Complete box score

How Milwaukee built its lead

Tampa Bay threatened before Milwaukee batted. Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson singled in the first inning, but Junior Caminero lined to third baseman David Hamilton, who doubled Aranda off second. The Brewers then scored twice against Nick Martinez. Jackson Chourio singled, Yelich tripled him home and William Contreras followed with an RBI single.

Martinez kept Milwaukee scoreless over his remaining four innings. He finished with five hits, two runs, five strikeouts and no walks in five innings, allowing Tampa Bay to remain within reach despite the early damage.

The Rays cut the deficit in half in the fourth. Aranda walked and Caminero doubled, putting two runners in scoring position. Liam Hicks’s groundout brought Aranda home, but Misiorowski retired DeLuca with Caminero still at third. Misiorowski allowed four hits and one walk, struck out three and finished his five innings on 78 pitches.

Milwaukee added its third run with two outs in the seventh. Cooper Pratt drew a leadoff walk against Steven Matz, advanced on Hamilton’s groundout and scored on Chourio’s single off Kevin Kelly. The run was charged to Matz, who had put Pratt aboard. Chourio finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

X means Milwaukee did not bat in the ninth. R: runs; H: hits; E: errors; LOB: runners left on base.

RISP: hits and at-bats with runners in scoring position. Team LOB is the official team total, rather than the sum of each hitter’s individual LOB.

A reversed double play and one more out

Megill entered the ninth with a 3-1 lead. After Yandy Díaz grounded out, Aranda collected his third hit and Simpson followed with another single. Jorge Mateo replaced Aranda as a pinch runner. Mateo and Simpson then stole third and second during Caminero’s plate appearance, and Caminero walked to load the bases.

Hicks hit a grounder to second baseman Brice Turang. Turang threw to Pratt, whose relay reached first baseman Jake Bauers for what was initially ruled a game-ending double play. Tampa Bay challenged both ends. Replay overturned the force at second while upholding the out at first, leaving Hicks out and Caminero safe.

Mateo’s run counted, making it 3-2. Simpson stood at third as the tying run, with Caminero at second and two outs. Megill struck out DeLuca to end the game. The final official scoring credited Hicks with an RBI groundout, not a double play.

Chourio’s seventh-inning single had given Megill a two-run margin when Tampa Bay began its final rally. The Rays finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position; both of their runs scored on Hicks groundouts.

The FOX desk, the catcher and the reset

In the released FOX desk interview, Yelich also described how Milwaukee had prepared during its layoff: intense intrasquad games against its own pitchers, with players running and stealing bases. He praised Contreras’s handling of the pitching staff and his postseason at-bats.

Contreras’s contributions extended across the game. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, threw out two runners and won two ball-strike challenges. Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy singled him out in his postgame availability: “Contreras was unbelievable. The two caught stealings, the ABS, the hits, calling the game.”

Asked separately about the reversal and Megill’s response, Murphy said: “Megill kept his composure.” He supported replay’s purpose and thought the officials probably reached the correct decision, while acknowledging that he could not personally be certain.

In the players’ released availability, Contreras placed particular value on the defensive part of his night: “what I was able to do defensively today I think means a little bit more to me.”

The running game and the bullpen decisions

Contreras ended two Tampa Bay innings with caught stealings. Victor Mesa Jr. was thrown out trying for third in the fifth. In the sixth, Simpson struck out while Aranda was caught stealing second, completing a double play. Those outs protected a 2-1 lead before Milwaukee added its insurance run.

Rays manager Kevin Cash rejected a hit-and-run description of the sixth-inning play. “No, it was just a 3-2 pitch that we just — that’s on me ultimately,” he said in his released postgame transcript. Cash said he had trusted Simpson to put the pitch in play, but Simpson encountered a difficult offering.

Cash said Contreras’s throwing would not change the Rays’ aggressive approach. Tampa Bay kept running in the ninth, and the Mateo-Simpson double steal moved both runners into scoring position before Caminero’s walk. The final totals were two successful steals and two caught stealings for Tampa Bay.

Milwaukee handed a one-run lead from Misiorowski to Abner Uribe in the sixth. Uribe recorded four outs and Aaron Ashby followed with five, combining for three scoreless innings, one hit, five strikeouts and no walks before Megill took over. Misiorowski said in his postgame availability that he wanted to continue but accepted the bullpen handoff and trusted the staff’s decision.

Cash also explained why he stayed with DeLuca for the last at-bat: he trusted the matchup, and Milwaukee had left-hander DL Hall ready in the bullpen. DeLuca finished 0-for-4. Aranda reached in all four of his plate appearances, collecting three singles and a walk; Simpson had two of Tampa Bay’s other four hits.

Game 2 is Saturday in Milwaukee

The teams return to American Family Field for Game 2 on Saturday, October 24, with the scheduled first pitch at 6 p.m. MDT. Milwaukee leads the series 1-0. The probable starters are Drew Rasmussen for Tampa Bay and Logan Henderson for Milwaukee.

Complete Game 1 statistics

Batting rows include every participating batting-order player, including pinch-runners and defensive replacements with no plate appearance. Pitchers who did not bat are listed in the pitching tables only. Pos: position; DH: designated hitter; PH: pinch-hitter; PR: pinch-runner; C: catcher; 1B, 2B, 3B: first, second and third base; SS: shortstop; LF, CF, RF: left, center and right field. PA: plate appearances; AB: at-bats; R: runs; H: hits; RBI: runs batted in; BB: walks; SO: strikeouts; 2B, 3B and HR in statistical columns: doubles, triples and home runs; HBP: hit by pitch; SB: stolen bases; CS: caught stealing; SH: sacrifice bunts; SF: sacrifice flies.

IP is baseball innings notation: 1.2 means one inning and two outs, or five outs. ER: earned runs; P: pitches; S: strikes; BF: batters faced; IR: inherited runners; IRS: inherited runners who scored. An inherited run remains charged to its responsible pitcher. Misiorowski earned the win, Martinez took the loss and Megill recorded the save.

Substitutions, fielding and unused players

• Tampa Bay: Jorge Mateo pinch-ran for Jonathan Aranda in the ninth; Ryan Vilade pinch-hit for Taylor Walls in the eighth.
• Milwaukee: Gary Sánchez pinch-hit for Sal Frelick in the eighth. Luis Lara entered in right field and Joey Ortiz replaced David Hamilton at third base for the ninth.
• William Contreras threw out Víctor Mesa Jr. attempting third base and Aranda attempting second. Mesa had an outfield assist on Hamilton at third. Neither team committed an error.

Tampa Bay Rays unused: Bench: Nick Fortes, Cedric Mullins, Richie Palacios. Pitchers: Bryan Baker, Cam Booser, Griffin Jax, Freddy Peralta, Drew Rasmussen, Ian Seymour, Tyler Wells.

Milwaukee Brewers unused: Bench: Andrew Vaughn. Pitchers: Shane Drohan, Robert Gasser, DL Hall, Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela, Brandon Woodruff.

Official game notes record a Misiorowski pitch-timer violation. Contreras won two automated ball-strike challenges, changing balls to strikes; Hicks’s challenge confirmed the ball call.

Source: MLB’s final Game 1 box score and official final game feed. Statistics are from this game, not season totals.

Postgame videos

FOX postgame: Christian Yelich joins the MLB on FOX crew

Christian Yelich’s FOX postgame discussion with the MLB on FOX desk. 4:04. Watch the original video on YouTube.

ESPN reaction: World Series Game 1

ESPN’s separate Game 1 reaction, featuring Buster Olney, Jon Sciambi and Eduardo Pérez. 11:06. Watch the original video on YouTube.

Official video and sources

• Watch Yelich’s FOX postgame desk interview (4:04, edited segment).
• Watch Misiorowski’s on-field FOX interview with Ken Rosenthal (1:38).
• Watch Yelich’s first-inning RBI triple.
• Watch Misiorowski’s 103.5 mph pitch to Díaz.
• Official MLB final play-by-play and box score data.

Manager and player press-conference comments are from released ASAP Sports FastScripts transcripts. FOX remarks are from the network’s released interview captions. The FOX and ESPN videos above are separate programs; the original links provide access on YouTube. IP uses baseball notation: .1 is one out and .2 is two outs. RISP means at-bats with runners in scoring position; team LOB means runners left on base.