MILWAUKEE — Brewers closer Trevor Megill wasn’t perfect, but he was good enough to give Milwaukee a one-game advantage in the World Series.
Hard-throwing ace Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run over five gritty innings and Megill stranded the tying run at third base to preserve the Brewers’ 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night in the opening game of the World Series.
Milwaukee, whose only other World Series appearance was a seven-game loss in 1982, scored two runs in the first inning off Nick Martinez and added a run in the seventh on Jackson Chourio’s RBI single to go up 3-1.
The Rays scored one run in the ninth off Megill, who entered to start the inning and conceded consecutive one-out singles to Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson. Pinch runner Jorge Mateo and Simpson executed a double steal, and Junior Caminero walked to load the bases.
Liam Hicks appeared to bounce into a game-ending double play, but a video review showed that shortstop Cooper Pratt was pulled off the bag at second on the throw by second baseman Brice Turang.
Hicks was out on the fielder’s choice as Mateo scored to make it 3-2, leaving runners on second and third. Megill then struck out Jonny DeLuca for his fifth postseason save in five opportunities.
“A lot of times those plays stand during the year, but I’m sure now they have every angle, and they took their time and got it right.” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the review. “Megill kept his composure. We talk about it all the time. When there’s a challenge, do not walk off the mound. Kept his composure, and that was the biggest at-bat of the game.”
Misiorowski (1-0), whose 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts each led the majors during the regular season, allowed one run on four hits in five innings. He fanned three and walked one in a 78-pitch outing.
Misiorowski set the tone by throwing a 103.5 mph fastball to open the game, the fastest pitch in World Series history.
“I thought Miz was great tonight,” Murphy said. “What we’re used to seeing in the regular season was Miz just mow through people and have two strikeouts an inning. That’s unrealistic. This is the best team in the American League. They proved that during the regular season and proved that in the postseason so far. One of the ways they do that is to make contact better than anybody in baseball.”
Afterward, the 24-year-old Milwaukee ace was trying to process his first World Series appearance.
“I still don’t know how I felt. I feel like I’m still trying to take everything in and understand what happened,” Misiorowski said. “Obviously went out and did my best and did enough for the team to get a win. That’s all I can ask for.”
After Misiorowski’s exit, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined for three scoreless innings, striking out five.
“We came up a little bit short, but there’s some benefit maybe from a loss,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We saw Ashby. We saw Uribe. We saw Megill. I’d like to think that’s going to help us moving forward a little bit.”
The Brewers posted two quick runs against Martinez (1-1), who got the start when ace Drew Rasmussen was pushed back to Game 2 for an extra day’s rest.
Chourio singled on the first pitch and scored on Christian Yelich’s one-out triple off DeLuca’s glove on a diving catch attempt in right-center. William Contreras followed with an RBI single to left.
The Rays got a run back in the fourth. Aranda drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third when center fielder Garrett Mitchell misplayed Caminero’s 112.7 mph drive into a double. He scored on Hicks’ groundout.
The Brewers made it 3-1 in the seventh. Steven Matz walked Pratt, who advanced on a groundout and scored on Chourio’s two-out single down the right field line against Kevin Kelly.
Martinez allowed two runs on five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking none.
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
