Brewers, electric in long-awaited World Series, take Game 1. Can they build on this start? New York Times (Online) Will Sammon MILWAUKEE — The World Series finally returned to Milwaukee on Friday, and the Brewers made the most of it, treating 43,250 giddy, towel-waving fans to a baseball bash 44 years in the making. The Brewers struck early against the Tampa Bay Rays and never let go, riding Jacob Misiorowski and three relievers to a 3-2 victory in Game 1 at American Family Field. It was the Brewers' first World Series victory in 16,077 days, since the fifth game in 1982 , when fans stormed the County Stadium diamond to celebrate a title that never came. These Brewers still need three victories to claim the first championship in franchise history, and their first step showed how they plan to do it. They got just enough offense, five strong innings from their starter, Misiorowski, and four from the relief crew of Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill. Christian Yelich, the Brewers' captain, drove in Jackson Chourio with a first-inning triple off Nick Martinez that just eluded a sliding Jonny DeLuca in center field. The Rays pulled the infield in and William Contreras slapped a run-scoring single past third to score Yelich, making it 2-0. Chourio, who had singled in the first, did it again in the seventh to score Cooper Pratt with the Brewers' final run. Of course they will! They're the Rays, and they're not going to change their aggressive style of base running just because of one bad night. But you do wonder if Game 1 might cause just a little bit of trepidation. Contreras threw out Victor Mesa Jr. to end the fifth inning for Jacob Misiorowski, then nailed Jonathan Aranda to end the sixth for Abner Uribe. William Contreras is taking over with his cannon of an arm 💪 A strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play to end the inning! pic.twitter.com/4YzDjxHmHj — MLB (@MLB) October 24, 2026 The last catcher to end back-to-back World Series innings by catching a runner trying to steal? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was Johnny Bench, perhaps the greatest catcher in history, for the Cincinnati Reds against the Baltimore Orioles in 1970. — Kepner The Rays' decision to start Martinez in Game 1 worked out the way Tampa Bay officials envisioned except for one thing that is kind of important: They lost. Martinez did his job, filling up the strike zone, pitching five solid innings and allowing just two runs. But the effort wasn't enough on a night when the Brewers' pitching staff stymied the Rays' bats. Now Tampa Bay is quickly down in the series without first pitching either of their top starters in Drew Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta. The upshot here for the Rays is that both Rasmussen and Peralta are rolling so well that it is not terribly hard to envision Tampa Bay rallying back to take a 2-1 series lead behind them. On the flip side, though, they are one step closer to the doomsday scenario of losing a series without a red-hot Peralta getting two starts. — Sammon They scored two runs in the first inning, just like the Brewers did against the Cardinals in the 1982 opener . That night Milwaukee kept bashing away for a 10-0 win. This time the Brewers didn't score again until the seventh inning, but they provided enough punch for the victory. The Rays have used only righty starters this postseason, and have Rasmussen and Peralta lined up for the next two games. Lineup decisions have to do with a lot of factors beyond just the handedness of the opposing starter. But don't be surprised if Pat Murphy simply rolls out the barrels (bats have barrels, so that works, right?) again for at least Game 2. — Kepner From a pitching perspective this postseason, the Rays' starters and closer Bryan Baker carried them to the World Series. In the middle, however, is where things get dicey. After Martinez, manager Kevin Cash turned to lefty Steven Matz, who walked three batters. The seventh inning started with Matz walking Cooper Pratt, who later scored. Matz is not the Rays' best lefty reliever; there are other options. But the Rays' bullpen is not as strong as the Brewers' unit. It puts pressure on Rasmussen and Peralta to go as long as possible in Game 2 and Game 3. — Sammon