World Series Line wrap: Brewers win first title as Contreras takes MVP; our final record 6-7-1 (Oct. 29)
Quick Read
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field to win the World Series 4-1, the first title in franchise history.
Catcher William Contreras was named World Series MVP after going 8 for 21 with four RBIs and throwing out four of nine would-be base stealers, MLB.com reported.
All three of our Game 5 leans won: the Brewers moneyline, Under 6.5 runs and Jacob Misiorowski under 5.5 strikeouts.
That closes our World Series Line at 6-7-1 for the Series.
World Series Line | Final wrap-up
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Brewers are champions
The Brewers won Game 5 4-1 on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in front of 40,489 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, per MLB.com's official box score, and took the Series four games to one. It is Milwaukee's first World Series title as a franchise and the city's first since the 1957 Braves, MLB.com reported. The Brewers went 11-2 this postseason after a franchise-record and major-league-best 103 regular-season wins.
"I can't tell you how many people have told me, 'I've waited my whole life for this,'" Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said, per MLB.com. "I think any time you win a World Series, it changes a place a little bit."
"I'm just really, really grateful, really thankful that we did it. Like who believed it?" Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, per MLB.com. Murphy said last year's playoff loss to the Dodgers "was a blessing, because we learned from it and we grew."
How Game 5 went
Cooper Pratt's RBI single in the second scored Brice Turang for a 1-0 lead, and David Hamilton's single through a drawn-in infield scored Pratt in the fifth, per the MLB.com play-by-play. In the sixth, Contreras doubled home Yelich and Pratt added a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead. The Rays' only run came in the ninth, when Chandler Simpson doubled home Liam Hicks.
Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk with two strikeouts, before calf cramping ended his night in the sixth, MLB.com reported. ESPN noted he finished the postseason 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA. JoJo Romero and Abner Uribe got the Brewers to closer Trevor Megill, who worked the last two innings and got the final out on a grounder to Turang. "Obviously, I don't want to go out that way, but I left it all out there on the field," Misiorowski said, per MLB.com.
Pratt, a rookie shortstop, went 2 for 3 with two RBIs. MLB.com reported he set a World Series rookie record with hits in six straight plate appearances across Games 4 and 5.
The decision that turned it
Rays manager Kevin Cash started Drew Rasmussen on three days' rest after using scheduled Game 5 starter Nick Martinez in relief in Tuesday's 12-inning win, ESPN reported. Rasmussen allowed one run on 48 pitches over four innings without a walk, but Cash went to Kevin Kelly for the fifth, and Kelly gave up three straight singles to the bottom of Milwaukee's order, ESPN's Jorge Castillo wrote. The Rays used seven pitchers in all, per the box score.
The Rays became the fifth team to force a Game 5 after trailing a World Series 3-0, and like the four before them, they could not force a Game 6, based on MLB.com's earlier reporting on that history.
Contreras wins MVP
Contreras became the eighth catcher to win World Series MVP or co-MVP, and the first since Kansas City's Salvador Perez in 2015, MLB.com reported. Behind the plate he threw out four of nine attempted base stealers against a Rays team that had been 11 for 11 stealing before the Series, and Milwaukee's staff posted a 1.91 ERA in the Series. In the first World Series with the automated ball-strike challenge system, 10 of his 13 challenges were overturned, MLB.com reported. The Associated Press reported he hit .381.
"It's just magic," Contreras said of his challenge record, per MLB.com. "He's been incredible, plain and simple," Murphy said.
The Pacific Northwest angle
The Brewers started life as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 before moving to Milwaukee a year later. Before Wednesday, five current franchises had never won a World Series: the Brewers, Mariners, Padres, Rays and Rockies, MLB.com noted. Now there are four, and Seattle is still on the list.
Milwaukee's championship parade is Friday at 10 a.m. CT (8 a.m. PT) through downtown Milwaukee to the Summerfest grounds, MLB.com reported.
Game 5 grades
Odds are the prices we logged in the Game 5 column, from DraftKings via VegasInsider and ScoresAndOdds.
Brewers moneyline (-162): Win. The Brewers won 4-1.
Under 6.5 runs (even): Win. Five total runs.
Jacob Misiorowski under 5.5 strikeouts (about +102 to +110): Win. He struck out two in 5 2/3 innings, per the MLB.com box score.
Game 5 went 3-0-0, our only perfect night of the Series.
Final World Series Line record: 6-7-1
Here is every lean we logged this World Series, graded against final box scores from MLB.com, ESPN and Baseball-Reference.
Game 1, Brewers 3, Rays 2: Under 6.5 runs, win. Misiorowski under 6.5 strikeouts, win. (2-0-0)
Game 2, Brewers 5, Rays 4: Rays moneyline, loss. Under 6.5 runs, loss. Rasmussen over 16.5 outs recorded, loss. (0-3-0)
Game 3, Brewers 10, Rays 1: Rays moneyline, loss. Under 7 runs, loss. Robert Gasser under 3.5 strikeouts, win. (1-2-0)
Game 4, Rays 4, Brewers 3 (12 innings): Brewers moneyline, loss. Over 7 runs, push. Griffin Jax under 10.5 outs recorded, loss. (0-2-1)
Game 5, Brewers 4, Rays 1: Brewers moneyline, win. Under 6.5 runs, win. Misiorowski under 5.5 strikeouts, win. (3-0-0)
By pick type, we went 1-3 on moneylines, 2-2-1 on totals and 3-2 on player props. Backing the Rays twice early cost us, and the props carried the record. The FanDuel lineups were for fun and were not graded. That wraps the World Series Line for 2026. Our NFL Monday Night Line and Thursday Night Line columns continue each week.
Sources
MLB.com: Milwaukee's wait is over (Adam McCalvy)
MLB.com: Contreras honored with World Series MVP (Anthony Castrovince)
MLB.com Gameday: World Series Game 5 box score and play-by-play
ESPN: World Series Game 5 takeaways as Brewers beat Rays, clinch title
Associated Press: Brewers beat the Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win the first World Series title in franchise history
Associated Press: Milwaukee's William Contreras wins World Series MVP
VegasInsider: Brewers vs. Rays odds (logged Game 5 prices)
ScoresAndOdds: Brewers vs. Rays player props (logged Game 5 prices)
Cover photo: William Contreras batting for the Brewers in Anaheim, June 2024, by Sewageboy, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
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