MILWAUKEE — Sal Frelick tied the score with his first home run in three months, Cooper Pratt hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers stunned the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night for a 2-0 World Series lead by overcoming a four-run deficit for the second time in the postseason.
asserted
Brewers → tie → postseason
Tampa Bay, which won the AL pennant by forcing opponents into mistakes, committed one error, made two other misplays that could have been charged as errors and had a runner thrown out at the plate.
uncertain
runner → win → plate
Down 4-0 in the first inning, Milwaukee rallied for its seventh comeback win of this postseason.
asserted
Milwaukee → rally → postseason
The Brewers also rebounded from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, completing a four-game sweep.
asserted
Brewers → rebound → sweep
After losing Friday’s opener 3-2, the Rays burst ahead against rookie Logan Henderson but the Brewers started to claw back with two runs in the bottom half against Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen.
asserted
Brewers → lose → Rasmussen
David Hamilton cut the deficit to 4-3 with a run-scoring grounder in the fourth and Frelick capped a nine-pitch at-bat against Ian Seymour in the sixth by driving a fastball over the center-field fence.
asserted
Frelick → cut → fence
Frelick had gone 103 plate appearances without a home run since his July 11 drive off Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft and had not gone deep against a lefty pitcher since opening day against Tyler Gilbert of the Chicago White Sox.
asserted
Frelick → go → Sox
Frelick sped around the bases in 18.72 seconds, half the time of some theatrical trots this postseason.
asserted
Frelick → speed → trots
Screaming fans at the second game of Milwaukee’s first World Series since 1982 were fired up during the seventh-inning stretch, dancing to the “Beer Barrel Polka” played by Mike Schneider, an accordionist from Clinton, Wisconsin.
asserted
fans → scream → Clinton
Brice Turang doubled against losing pitcher Tyler Wells on the second pitch of the bottom half, advanced on Garrett Mitchell’s flyout to right and scored when Pratt, a 22-year-old who debuted in June, looped a sinker from Kevin Kelly into short right field.
asserted
who → double → field
Abner Uribe pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win.
asserted
Uribe → pitch → win
Jonny DeLuca doubled off Aaron Ashby starting the ninth, then Victor Mesa Jr. struck out when he couldn’t check his swing. Pinch-hitter Ben Williamson’s groundout advanced the runner and Yandy Díaz struck out when he couldn’t check his swing on a full-count pitch.
Ashby has three saves in the postseason while not allowing a run.
Milwaukee won its seventh straight game, becoming the fifth team to twice overcome four-run deficits for victories in a single postseason and the first since Philadelphia in 2022.
asserted
Milwaukee → double → 2022
Game 3 of the matchup between teams seeking their first title is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Brewers last played in 2023.
asserted
Brewers → seek → 2023
Of the 57 previous teams to take 2-0 World Series leads, 46 claimed the championship.
asserted
46 → take → championship
Tampa Bay took a 4-2 lead in the highest-scoring Series first inning since 1993’s Game 4 as teams combined for seven hits, tying the most in an opening frame.
asserted
teams → take → frame
Still, Milwaukee improved to 13-0 in games started by Henderson, dating to his 2025 debut.
asserted
Milwaukee → improve → debut
He followed Jacob Misiorowski in the Brewers’ rotation, the first time teammates 24 or younger started the first two games of the Series since Cincinnati’s Gary Nolan and Ross Grimsley in 1972.
asserted
teammates → follow → 1972
Henderson started on 11 days’ rest and struggled as the Rays fouled off 13 of 35 pitches in the first.
asserted
Rays → start → first
He gave up four runs — three earned — in three innings.
asserted
He → give → innings
Given an extra day of rest, Rasmussen allowed three runs and six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his shortest start since July 9.
asserted
Rasmussen → give → July
Pratt made his fourth error of the postseason at shortstop, the Brewers’ ninth in 10 games, bouncing his throw past first baseman Jake Bauers on a leadoff grounder by Díaz.
asserted
Pratt → make → Díaz
Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with RBI singles, and Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer.
asserted
Hicks → follow → homer
Jackson Chourio and Bauers started the bottom half with singles and first baseman Jonathan Aranda allowed Contreras’ one-out foul pop to bounce out of his mitt near netting in front of the seats.
asserted
pop → start → seats
With Bauers running on a full-count pitch, Contreras bounced an RBI single to the left of second baseman Richie Palacios, who had taken a step toward the base.
asserted
who → run → base
Mitchell’s two-out single cut the deficit to 4-2.
asserted
single → cut → 4
Hamilton hit an RBI grounder in the fourth that bounced under Aranda’s legs for an error.
asserted
that → hit → error
Chourio threw out Hicks from left for the final out of the sixth when third base coach Brady Williams waved the slow-footed catcher to try to score from second on Mesa’s single.
asserted
catcher → throw → single
Up next
Rays RHP Freddy Peralta, who became a two-time All-Star when he pitched for the Brewers from 2018-25, starts Game 3.
asserted
he → become → Game
He will be opposed by Brewers LHP Robert Gasser, who allowed one run over nine innings in his first two postseason starts.
asserted
who → oppose → starts
The Aporia
