MILWAUKEE - The Tampa Bay Rays face a steep climb after Milwaukee’s Brewers rallied from a four-run first-inning deficit Saturday to win Game 2 of the World Series, 5-4, taking a 2-0 series lead in the first Fall Classic games played in Milwaukee in 44 years.
The Brewers, who became the first team in 11 years to win four games they trailed in a best-of-seven set during the National League Championship Series, showed that same resilience against Tampa Bay. Sal Frelick tied the game with a leadoff homer in the sixth inning, capping a methodical comeback that has become Milwaukee’s signature. “Our offense is built to kind of chip away and wear on pitchers, which I think can be good when you’re trying to come back,” Frelick said. “At the same time, if we’re up, it’s the same exact approach. I think just having an offense built like that is really good.”
The win placed Milwaukee alongside the 1996 Yankees, the 2002 Angels, the 2005 White Sox and the 2022 Phillies as the only teams to overcome multiple four-run deficits in a single postseason. The Brewers are also the second team to win six postseason games in which they did not score first, and carry a 41-37 record this season when allowing the first run - a winning mark in such games not matched outside the pandemic-shortened 2020 season since the 2009 Yankees, who won the World Series that year.
Tampa Bay’s primary advantage entering Game 2 was ace Drew Rasmussen, pitching on an extra day of rest, but Rasmussen delivered his briefest and least effective start of an otherwise stellar postseason. The Rays also burned relievers Cam Booser, Kevin Kelly and Ian Seymour in the losing effort, with Kelly pitching on a second consecutive day. “We’re going to have to dig deep, and we’re going to have to compete from here on out,” Kelly said. “I think we understand what’s in front of us and what it’s going to take. Obviously, we would like to be in a better situation.”
Brewers catcher William Contreras continued to anchor Milwaukee across both games. In Game 1, he caught two runners stealing, reached base three times, drove home a run and guided his pitchers through nine effective innings. In Game 2, he collected two more hits and made a crucial tag at home plate, cutting off an ill-advised send of Rays outfielder Liam Hicks - described as one of the league’s slowest players - on a Victor Mesa Jr. single in the sixth. Through two games, Contreras is tied with Jonathan Aranda and Jackson Chourio for the Series hits lead with four. Reliever Aaron Ashby, who recorded five outs in Game 1 and returned to close out Game 2 with five more, offered the clearest assessment of his battery mate. “He has that certain ability to do that in bigger games, and in the postseason, every game’s a big game,” Ashby said. “It’s special to see what he does.” Ashby’s string of 15 2/3 scoreless innings stands one out shy of Andrew Miller’s 2016 mark to begin a postseason.
Tampa Bay’s season now rests with Freddy Peralta, the Trade Deadline acquisition who is 7-0 with a 0.89 ERA over his last 10 outings, including three playoff starts and a relief appearance. The complication: Peralta spent eight seasons with Milwaukee before joining the Rays, and the crowd at American Family Field made that history plain. “It is a little weird,” Peralta said. “I’ve been trying to focus on what I have to focus on, because even when I came out for practice, all the people, all the fans here were showing me some love, screaming my name. Also, when I went to the bullpen last night, they were telling me, ‘We still love you.’ It’s amazing. I just have to be professional and … know my goal.”
Game 3 shifts to St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, where Peralta carries a 1.10 ERA over his last six starts, giving the Rays a narrow but specific reason for optimism as they attempt to become the first team this postseason to recover from a 2-0 series deficit.