Pratt’s Go-Ahead Single and Six Scoreless Relief Innings Lift Brewers Past Rays, 5–4

Cooper Pratt singled home Brice Turang in the seventh inning, and Aaron Ashby protected the lead with a five-out save as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5–4 in World Series Game 2 on October 24, 2026, at American Family Field. The Brewers lead the best-of-seven series 2–0.

Milwaukee recovered from a four-run first inning, tied the game on Sal Frelick’s sixth-inning homer and finished with six scoreless innings from five relievers. Ashby struck out Yandy Díaz with the tying run at third base to end the game.

A Four-Run First, Then a Slow Climb

A throwing error by Pratt put Díaz at second base to open the game. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with RBI singles, and Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer to right-center off Logan Henderson. Tampa Bay had a 4–0 lead before Milwaukee came to bat.

William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell answered with RBI singles in the bottom of the first. The Brewers cut the margin to 4–3 in the fourth when David Hamilton reached on first baseman Jonathan Aranda’s fielding error and Pratt scored. MLB’s final record credits Hamilton with an RBI on the play.

Drew Rasmussen allowed three runs and six hits in 3⅔ innings. Cam Booser inherited three runners in the fourth and allowed none to score, then completed the fifth. Frelick’s solo homer off Ian Seymour in the sixth finally erased Tampa Bay’s lead.

Scoring Summary

Chourio’s Throw Holds the Margin at One

The Rays had a chance to add to their lead in the sixth. Hicks was hit by a pitch, advanced on Richie Palacios’s sacrifice bunt and tried to score on Victor Mesa Jr.’s two-out single to left. Jackson Chourio threw to Contreras, who retired Hicks at the plate for the third out.

The call at the plate was upheld after Tampa Bay challenged the tag and the home-plate collision ruling. The play kept Milwaukee within 4–3. Frelick led off the bottom half with the homer that tied it.

Turang’s Advance Sets Up Pratt

Turang doubled off Tyler Wells to begin the bottom of the seventh and advanced to third on Mitchell’s flyout to right. Kevin Kelly then replaced Wells, and Pratt’s single to right drove in Turang for the 5–4 lead.

Kelly surrendered the hit, but Wells was responsible for Turang and received the loss. That distinction matters when reading the pitching lines: Kelly’s one inherited runner scored, while his own runs-allowed column remained zero. Abner Uribe earned the win.

Six Scoreless Innings From Five Relievers

Milwaukee replaced Henderson after three innings and 64 pitches. JoJo Romero, Dustin May and DL Hall each supplied a scoreless inning before Uribe and Ashby handled the final three. Across all five relief appearances, the Brewers allowed four hits and one walk in six innings, with six strikeouts.

The sequence gave Milwaukee a way to recover without allowing the margin to grow. It also required the defense to finish important outs: Chourio and Contreras stopped Hicks in the sixth, and the Brewers converted the ground balls around Ashby’s late strikeouts.

Ashby entered after Uribe recorded the first out of the eighth. He struck out pinch hitter Ryan Vilade and got Palacios to ground out. Jonny DeLuca opened the ninth with a double, giving Tampa Bay a runner in scoring position with nobody out.

Ashby struck out Mesa, then Ben Williamson’s groundout moved DeLuca to third. Díaz struck out swinging to strand the tying run. Ashby faced six batters, allowed the double and recorded three strikeouts without a walk.

Postgame Comments

Brewers manager Pat Murphy pointed to the work Milwaukee’s first-inning hitters made Rasmussen do. Asked about Contreras’s early at-bat in MLB’s postgame conference, Murphy said: “We got his pitch count up and got him out of there.” Rasmussen threw 89 pitches while recording 11 outs.

Asked whether repeated comebacks reinforce each other, Murphy credited his players’ persistence. “They believe and they don’t give up. They just keep going.” He also called Tampa Bay a great club, keeping the praise for Milwaukee’s response in the context of its opponent.

Rays manager Kevin Cash defended the decision to send Hicks home in the sixth. “That’s kind of been our MO all season long, put pressure on the defense,” he said in his postgame availability. Cash credited Chourio’s quick release and accurate throw to Contreras.

Pratt described a specific hitting approach to his decisive plate appearance. “I stayed inside and went over first base,” he said in MLB’s released edited interview. His single through the right side scored the runner Milwaukee had moved to third with one out.

In his released MLB interview, Ashby said he left a curveball up on DeLuca’s double and then needed to execute his pitches. He credited Contreras’s familiarity with his pitches and the ease of following the catcher’s plan.

The official pitch record shows Ashby returning to the curveball to finish Díaz. After three consecutive changeups left the count at 3–1, a curveball produced a called strike. Ashby threw another curveball at 3–2, and Díaz swung through it for the final out.

Player Statistics

Official MLB game totals. IP uses baseball notation: .1 is one out and .2 is two outs. PA: plate appearances; AB: at-bats; R: runs; H: hits; RBI: runs batted in; BB: walks; K: strikeouts; HBP: hit by pitch; SB/CS: stolen bases/caught stealing; SAC/SF: sacrifice bunts/flies; BF: batters faced; P–S: pitches–strikes; IR/IS: inherited runners/inherited runners scored; PO/A/E: putouts/assists/errors. A dash means unavailable or not applicable.

Tampa Bay Rays Batting

Tampa Bay Rays Pitching

Tampa Bay Rays Fielding and Unused Players

Unused position-player bench: Jorge Mateo, Cedric Mullins. Pitchers listed as unused: Bryan Baker, Garrett Cleavinger, Griffin Jax, Nick Martinez, Freddy Peralta, Cole Sulser. These players are not included among game participants above.

Milwaukee Brewers Batting

Milwaukee Brewers Pitching

Milwaukee Brewers Fielding and Unused Players

Unused position-player bench: Luis Lara, Joey Ortiz, Gary Sánchez, Andrew Vaughn. Pitchers listed as unused: Shane Drohan, Robert Gasser, Kyle Harrison, Trevor Megill, Jacob Misiorowski, Antonio Senzatela, Brandon Woodruff. These players are not included among game participants above.

Team Comparison

What Comes Next

Game 3 is scheduled for Monday, October 26, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, with first pitch at 6 p.m. MDT. MLB lists Robert Gasser for Milwaukee and Freddy Peralta for Tampa Bay as the probable starters. Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, at the same venue and time; its probable starters were not listed in the checked schedule.

Video and Sources

• MLB report: Game 2 and Milwaukee’s 2–0 series lead
• Official MLB Game 2 box score and play-by-play
• MLB video: Pratt’s go-ahead single
• MLB video: Frelick’s tying home run
• MLB video: Chourio throws out Hicks
• MLB video: Ashby records the final out
• MLB schedule: October 26

Statistics and scoring decisions follow MLB’s final Game 2 record. Hamilton’s fourth-inning play remains a fielding error with an RBI in that record. Video destinations are links to the original MLB coverage.