Game result and context
Brewers 5, Rays 4: Milwaukee erases four-run first, takes 2-0 World Series lead
The Rays scored four runs before Milwaukee batted, then never scored again. Sal Frelick tied it with a homer, Cooper Pratt singled home the go-ahead run, and the Brewers lead the World Series 2-0.
Cooper Pratt lined a single to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Brice Turang came home with the go-ahead run. That hit gave the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-4 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the World Series at American Family Field, and the lead held. Milwaukee's win probability rose to 79 percent on the play. It was Pratt's first RBI of the postseason.
The Brewers had trailed 4-0 before they came to bat. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero each singled in a run in the top of the first, and Liam Hicks followed with a two-run homer to right center, his first of the postseason. Milwaukee starter Logan Henderson lasted 3.0 innings and was charged with 3 earned runs.
Tampa Bay did not score again. JoJo Romero, Dustin May and DL Hall each pitched a full inning and allowed one hit apiece. Abner Uribe, who got the win, threw 1.1 hitless innings. Aaron Ashby finished with 1.2 innings and three strikeouts for the save. Ashby has now pitched 15.2 postseason innings without allowing an earned run, with 17 strikeouts.
The Rays had one more chance. Jonny DeLuca doubled to right in the ninth, and Milwaukee's win probability dropped 20 points to 64 percent. Victor Mesa Jr. then struck out swinging, and the game ended when Yandy Díaz struck out swinging. Díaz went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and is hitless in the Series after an 0-for-4 in Game 1. Tampa Bay left 14 runners on base.
Milwaukee chipped away. William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell drove in runs with singles in the first. In the fourth, Pratt scored when David Hamilton reached on an error by first baseman Jonathan Aranda. Sal Frelick tied the game in the sixth with a homer to center, his first of the postseason. Frelick hit .230 with 4 home runs and a .614 OPS in 111 regular-season games; he went 2-for-4 tonight. The Brewers stranded 25 runners and still won.
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who had gone 8.0, 6.0 and 7.0 innings in his first three postseason starts, was removed after 3.2 innings and 89 pitches. He allowed 6 hits and 3 earned runs. Tyler Wells took the loss after giving up Pratt's single, allowing 1 earned run in 0.2 innings. His postseason ERA is 11.25.
Both Series games have been decided by one run, 3-2 and 5-4, both in Milwaukee's favor. The Brewers are 9-1 this postseason with seven straight wins and a 5-1 record in one-run games. Tampa Bay, 5-0 in one-run games in September, is 2-3 in them this October and has lost two in a row. The Series stands at 2-0 Milwaukee.