Brewers win World Series Game 1 3-2 over Rays; Contreras and Chourio shine

Milwaukee — The Milwaukee Brewers won Game 1 of the 2026 World Series on Friday night, 3-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. It was Milwaukee's first World Series game victory since 1982.

The Brewers struck first in the opening inning: Venezuela's Jackson Chourio led off with a single, Christian Yelich drove him in with a triple to right-center, and William Contreras brought Yelich home with a single clocked at 108.4 miles per hour, according to StatCast. Tampa got on the board in the fourth on a Liam Hicks groundout that scored Jonathan Aranda, and Chourio made it 3-1 in the seventh with another RBI single plating Cooper Pratt. In the ninth, Dominican Jorge Mateo scored to cut it to 3-2 on a Hicks groundout, but closer Trevor Megill recorded the final out.

Starter Jacob Misiorowski made history with his very first pitch: a 103.5-mph fastball, the fastest ever recorded by a starting pitcher in a World Series game (the previous record was 101.1 mph). He worked five innings of one-run ball with four hits and three strikeouts, throwing 37 of his 78 pitches at 100 mph or harder. Contreras was also key with his arm, throwing out Víctor Mesa Jr. trying to steal third in the fifth and Jonathan Aranda at second in the sixth. Abner Uribe struck out Dominican Junior Caminero on a 90-mph slider in the seventh, and Aaron Ashby extended his postseason scoreless streak to 14 innings.

For the Rays, Nick Martínez, 36, pitched five innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts; he is the oldest pitcher to start a World Series opener since Justin Verlander in 2022. Both clubs are chasing the first championship in franchise history: Milwaukee posted the majors' best record (103-59) and beat the Padres and Dodgers, while Tampa eliminated the Yankees and Guardians on the way to its third World Series since 2008.

Game 2 is Saturday, October 24, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern in Milwaukee. Photo: MLB.

Source: USA Today / AP — Game 1 live coverage and AP report.