MILWAUKEE – The first tailgaters parked their vehicles on the outskirts of the American Family Field grounds and set up their supplies around 9 a.m. local time, six hours before the official lots even opened and 10 hours before the first pitch of the World Series.
“I'm surprised it took them that long, honestly,” joked Brewers captain Christian Yelich.
This was the day they had waited for, these blue-and-yellow-clad Wisconsinites who love their brats and beer and ball.
And boy, did their Milwaukee Brewers roll out a barrel of fun in this one.
Behind instant offense from Yelich, five strong innings from Jacob Misiorowski, the shutdown arm of catcher William Contreras and a high-wire save from Trevor Megill in a ninth inning that technically required two final outs, the Brew Crew’s dream 2026 season continued with a 3-2 victory over the Rays in Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Friday night.
“Electric,” Misiorowski said of the amplified atmosphere. “The fans were -- it was crazy. It's everything I dreamed of.”
In the first World Series game in the Cream City since 1982, the 1980s-style profile of these two pennant winners largely came as advertised. There were no home runs or gaudy strikeout totals. Just two athletic teams trying to get on base and torment each other, right up until Megill retired Jonny DeLuca for the final out with two runners in scoring position after a would-be game-ending double play had been overturned on a replay review.
“Both teams do damn near everything very well,” Rays starter Nick Martinez said. “One thing about my group is that we're fighters, and we know that about that group, too. And this series is gonna be a dogfight.”
Ultimately, in Game 1, the Brewers induced more action and made fewer mistakes. And a dialed-in crowd whose enthusiasm was amplified by the closed retractable roof loved every minute of it.
The spirit of “Mr. Baseball" was in the house. Hall of Famer Robin Yount took the field to throw out a ceremonial first pitch wearing the late Bob Uecker's sport coat and removing it to reveal a "Ueck" jersey with his own No. 19.
But the tributes ended there, because when the Brewers came to bat in the first, they did something Ueck would be the first to admit he rarely did: Hit.
Jackson Chourio led off with a single off Martinez. One out later, Yelich, who entered with the sixth-most career games among active players without a World Series at-bat, made the most of his first one by smacking a line drive that a diving DeLuca could not corral in center. Chourio scored and Yelich motored all the way to third with an RBI triple that had American Family Field in an early frenzy – one that continued when Contreras’ sharp liner scored Yelich to make it 2-0.
So much for any worry about the Brewers looking rusty after a week off.
“Obviously, you can't replicate a playoff atmosphere and an environment, but we kept the guys in the box seeing pitches,” Yelich said. “Everybody took it upon themselves to make sure they were getting their work in. And once you wake up this morning, you're ready to go. You’ve got that adrenaline and you're ready to play.”
That was the early advantage afforded Misiorowski. The Miz’s diminished dominance in two relatively brief postseason outings, to date, had been a major topic going into Game 1. The Brewers used their week between games to address some mechanical issues that had cropped up for their young ace.
What followed was not an overpowering or especially lengthy start for Misiorowski, who tied his fewest swings and misses on the season with only seven. But he set an instant World Series record with a 103.5 mph first pitch, en route to going five full innings for the first time in October in a solid performance (one earned run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts).
“What we’re used to seeing in the regular season was Miz just mow through people and have two strikeouts an inning,” said Brewers skipper Pat Murphy. “That’s unrealistic. This was the best team in the American League. … Miz was great.”
The Rays’ lone run off the Miz came in the fourth. With one aboard, Junior Caminero absolutely smoked a 112.7 mph line drive to center that flew over the head of Garrett Mitchell. That one-out double put two runners in scoring position, and Jonathan Aranda then scored from third on a Liam Hicks groundout to make it 2-1. But Misiorowski escaped further damage by getting DeLuca to fly out to end the inning.
The Miz’s outing ended with the last out of the fifth. Contreras gunned down a streaking Victor Mesa Jr. at third, with Yandy Díaz at the plate. Díaz took a knee in the batter’s box with his head down, knowing an important opportunity had been snuffed out.
“I'm always trying to make something happen,” Mesa said. “Obviously easy to say now, but it was not the best move.”
It happened again in the sixth. Aranda reached on a one-out single off reliever Abner Uribe but was caught stealing second by Contreras just as Chandler Simpson swung through strike three. It was a hit-and-run gone awry and another missed chance by a Rays team trying too hard to deploy its signature speed skillset.
“Contreras was incredible,” Murphy said. “If anybody doesn’t notice the contributions of Contreras, he was the player of the game.”
When Chourio singled Cooper Pratt home from second for a valuable insurance run off reliever Kevin Kelly in the bottom of the seventh, the Brewers were firmly in control. Uribe and Aaron Ashby set it up for the closer Megill, and things got interesting in the ninth.
The Rays loaded the bases off Megill in the ninth before Hicks sent a grounder to the right-hand side. Brice Turang initiated a 4-6-3 double play that set off a momentary celebration. They were even wheeling the postgame MLB Network stage into foul territory and briefly played Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days.”
But upon review, shortstop Pratt’s foot was off the bag, so one of the outs was overturned. A run had come home, and two runners were in scoring position.
“Once I saw the replay a couple times, I felt like it was going to get overturned,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash, “then felt good about Jonny going up there against Megill with two outs.”
But Megill calmly struck out DeLuca for the final out. For real this time. And some 13 hours after those first tailgaters rolled up, the party that began at 9 a.m. was in full swing.
“That's a day,” Yelich joked of the tailgaters. “That's a good day at the ballpark. They put in some time. But they waited a long time for it, and it's just really cool to see all the excitement around the city and just how fired up people are for it.”