Milwaukee is headed to St. Petersburg with a two-game World Series cushion, but the lasting image from Saturday at American Family Field may be rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt turning a brutal beginning into the swing that put the Brewers up 2-0.
| World Series | R |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays | 4 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 5 |
The Rays scored four times before Milwaukee got its first turn at bat. Yandy Díaz reached when Pratt’s throw on a leadoff grounder skipped away for an error against Brewers starter Logan Henderson. Tampa Bay followed with two RBI singles and Liam Hicks’ two-run homer off Henderson for the early 4-0 lead.
That was hardly enough to quiet a Brewers club that has built its October around difficult recoveries. William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell delivered run-scoring singles in the bottom of the first, with Contreras benefiting after Tampa Bay first baseman Jonathan Aranda could not hold a foul pop. Aranda’s error on David Hamilton’s grounder in the fourth trimmed the deficit to one run.
Sal Frelick then tied it in the sixth, taking Ian Seymour deep to lead off the inning. It was Frelick’s first home run against a left-handed pitcher since Opening Day and just the fourth left-on-left homer of his four-year Major League career.
“Our offense is made to keep grinding and put pressure on pitchers,” Frelick said. “We were down four, facing a very good pitcher, and the idea was to make him work, get into their bullpen and give ourselves a chance.”
Pratt answers after early error
Pratt had struck out to finish the first after his defensive mistake, his fourth error of the postseason. The miscues have been unusual for a 22-year-old whose defense helped persuade Milwaukee to give him an eight-year, $50.75 million contract in April, before he had appeared in the Majors.
He recovered with a walk and a run scored in the fourth. Then, in the seventh, Brice Turang was in scoring position with one out and the score even. Hitting coach Daniel Vogelbach pulled Pratt aside with a simple reminder: “You’re made for this moment.”
Pratt admitted his pulse was racing. Kevin Kelly came on for Tampa Bay and quickly got him into a 1-2 count, including a chase at a changeup so far outside that it hit the left-handed batter’s box. Pratt worked back to 2-2, then drove a sinker into right field to bring home the go-ahead run.
He stole second moments later, becoming the second-youngest player to record an RBI and a stolen base in a World Series game since RBIs became official in 1920. Juan Soto, 20 years and 362 days old in Game 1 of the 2019 World Series, is the only younger player.
“There are nine innings for a reason,” Pratt said.
Manager Pat Murphy saw another chapter in a season-long pattern.
“At some point, somebody is going to tell us the season is over,” Murphy said. “But these guys keep believing. They do not quit.”
A postseason built on comebacks
| Brewers postseason comeback notes | Total |
|---|---|
| Postseason games played | 10 |
| Games in which Milwaukee allowed the first run | 7 |
| Wins after allowing the first run | 6 |
| Deficits erased by four or more runs | 2 |
Milwaukee has now won six of the first seven postseason games in which it fell behind, tying the single-postseason record for comeback victories. The Brewers are also the first club to win seven of its first eight postseason games after trailing.
One more comeback win would match the all-time postseason mark of eight, set by the 2015 Royals, 2002 Angels and 1997 Marlins. Each of those teams finished with a World Series title.
The Brewers also rallied from a 4-0 deficit in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. They are the fifth team in postseason history to erase two deficits of at least four runs in one year, joining the 2022 Phillies, 2005 White Sox, 2002 Angels and 1996 Yankees. Every club in that group except Philadelphia won the World Series.
A 2-0 lead carries its own history. Teams that have won the first two games of a best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to take 80 of 96 series, an 83 percent rate. Still, the Brewers know a lead is not a trophy: the Blue Jays overcame a 2-0 hole against the Mariners in the 2025 ALCS, while the D-backs did it against the Phillies in the 2023 NLCS. The last World Series club to rally from 2-0 down was the 1996 Yankees against Atlanta.
Yount sees another Milwaukee October
Robin Yount was in the building for both Milwaukee home games, and the Hall of Fame shortstop has no intention of missing the rest of the ride.
“I waited 44 years for this,” Yount said. “I’m not skipping a game.”
Yount met Pratt for the first time after Game 1, when the rookie was looking for family outside the clubhouse and the former Brewers star was looking for him.
“He said he enjoyed watching me,” Pratt said. “It caught me off guard. I did not expect him to come over.”
Yount played shortstop for the Brewers during their previous World Series appearance in Milwaukee in 1982, when the club carried a 3-2 series lead over the Cardinals before losing the final two games. He also remembers Game 4 of that series, when Milwaukee trailed 4-0 after two innings and was still down 5-1 entering the bottom of the seventh before scoring six times for a 7-5 win. Yount had a two-run single in the rally, while Paul Molitor walked and scored the decisive run.
Now Yount and Molitor are watching from a suite with owner Mark Attanasio, MLB Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig, the Brewers’ founder and Ryan Braun, the franchise home run leader. Molitor threw out Saturday’s ceremonial first pitch. The one unmistakable absence is longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker, who has died.
Attanasio said the franchise’s familiar faces remain locked into every pitch.
“They want this so badly,” Attanasio said. “They are still connected to the club and the city, and they care as if they were playing. Maybe even more now, because they cannot affect the outcome themselves.”
Yount said watching has brought a different kind of pressure.
“I was much more nervous watching than I ever was playing,” he said. “Playing is easier.”
As for the atmosphere at the ballpark he helped bring to life, Yount was not surprised.
“That was what I expected,” he said. “I know how Milwaukee fans respond.”
The response will continue at American Family Field even as the Series shifts 1,200 miles south. Milwaukee sold 31,000 tickets for a Game 3 watch party, charging $15 per seat and limiting capacity so every fan could see the scoreboard. The tickets disappeared within minutes.
Game 3 is Monday night in St. Petersburg, with the Brewers trying to move one win closer to a finish Yount has been awaiting for 44 years.
