Brewers erase 4-0 deficit, beat Rays 5-4 to take 2-0 World Series lead

Milwaukee — The Milwaukee Brewers erased a four-run deficit and beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night at American Family Field, taking a 2-0 lead in the World Series. Rookie Cooper Pratt drove in the winning run in the seventh inning.

The Rays jumped ahead 4-0 in the first inning: Yandy Díaz reached second on Pratt's errant throw, Chandler Simpson drove him in with a single, Junior Caminero added another RBI single and Liam Hicks capped the rally with a two-run homer off starter Logan Henderson. But Milwaukee answered immediately with two runs in the bottom of the first, on RBI singles by William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell, and pulled within 4-3 in the fourth, when Pratt scored on first baseman Jonathan Aranda's error.

The tie came in the sixth, when Sal Frelick hit a 408-foot homer off left-hander Ian Seymour — his first postseason home run. In the seventh, Brice Turang led off with a double, advanced on a flyout and scored on Pratt's single off Kevin Kelly, making it 5-4 for good.

Milwaukee's bullpen threw six scoreless innings after Henderson's short start, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) in three innings. JoJo Romero, Dustin May and DL Hall each threw a scoreless frame, Abner Uribe earned the win and Aaron Ashby recorded his third save of the postseason. For the second straight night, Tampa Bay left the tying run at third base in the ninth: Jonny DeLuca led off with a double, advanced on a groundout and Yandy Díaz struck out on a checked swing that first base umpire James Hoye ruled valid on appeal.

It is Milwaukee's seventh straight postseason win and its second four-run comeback, after the 6-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the Championship Series. History favors the Brewers: of the 57 teams that took a 2-0 World Series lead, 46 went on to win the title, and nobody has come back from 2-0 since the 1996 Yankees. Game 3 will be Monday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, with Freddy Peralta — a former Brewer — starting for Tampa Bay and Robert Gasser for Milwaukee, which is chasing the first title in franchise history: its only other World Series appearance was in 1982, lost to St. Louis.

Photo: Getty Images

Source: Reuters