MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays ace Drew Rasmussen had sailed through his first three postseason starts while working at least six innings in each of them.
He couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning Saturday night against a Milwaukee Brewers lineup that specializes in driving up pitch counts and grinding starters into submission.
“They put together good at-bats,” Rasmussen said after the Rays lost 5-4 to the Brewers in Game 2 of the World Series. “Kudos to them. They fouled off some really good pitches. They took some really quality pitches. They just fought, they scrapped and they just put pitches in play.”
Tampa Bay’s inability to protect an early 4-0 lead caused the Rays to fall behind 2-0 in this World Series featuring two franchises seeking their first championship. Rasmussen gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings, his shortest start since lasting just 2 1/3 innings in a 12-4 loss to the New York Yankees on July 9.
The Rays scored four runs in the first against Milwaukee rookie Logan Henderson. That lead seemed pretty secure, considering Rasmussen entered the World Series having allowed three runs in 21 playoff innings against the Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.
Milwaukee’s lineup proved tougher to solve.
“I thought early on my command wasn’t very good,” Rasmussen said. “I felt like I was falling behind far too often to expect good results. And then from there, they found themselves in some hitters’ counts and were able to find holes.”
Rasmussen also didn’t get much help from his defense.
Jackson Chourio and Jake Bauers opened the bottom of the first with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. After Christian Yelich struck out swinging, William Contreras hit a high foul pop that went off the glove of first baseman Jonathan Aranda as he positioned himself near the netting in front of the stands.
Given new life, Contreras singled home Chourio. Garrett Mitchell added an RBI single later in the inning to cut Milwaukee’s deficit to 4-2.
“There’s a lot of respect there,” Mitchell said. “We know how great of a pitcher he is. … For us, it’s chipping one at-bat after another, passing it from one guy to the next, because it’s not going to be done in one pitch or one swing. It’s going to be quality at-bat after quality at-bat and kind of just trying to get his pitch count up.”
Even when Rasmussen retired the side in order in the second, Milwaukee took something out of him. Chourio ended that inning by grounding out on an 11-pitch plate appearance.
In the fourth, Rasmussen walked Cooper Pratt, who scored from third when David Hamilton’s RBI grounder to first went through Aranda’s legs for an error. Rasmussen left after issuing a two-out walk to Bauers on his 89th pitch.
Tampa Bay still led 4-3 when Rasmussen left the game, but the Rays made too many mistakes to stay in front.
Liam Hicks got thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on Victor Mesa Jr.’s sixth-inning single to shallow left field. Rays reliever Ian Seymour allowed Milwaukee to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth on a solo shot by Sal Frelick, whose last regular-season homer had come on July 11. Yandy Díaz, who has gone 0 for 9 the last two games, ended this one by striking out to strand the potential tying run at third.
Rays third baseman Junior Caminero screamed in the dugout after Milwaukee had rallied to tie the game.
“Just trying to create some energy and get some life back into us,” Caminero said through an interpreter.
The Rays still have some life left in them, but they blew a golden opportunity to even this series with a four-run lead and their ace on the mound. They understand what’s at stake as the series heads to Tampa Bay.
“Obviously, we’re excited to head back home,” said Rasmussen, who went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA during the regular season. “I mean, it would be really nice to have won today. Our offense, I would say they’re pretty confident when they spot our pitching staff a four-run lead, that we’re going to go ahead and get the job done.”
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Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen throws during the first inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen looks away before leaving the game during the fourth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen leaves he game during the fourth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Four-run deficits don't discourage the Milwaukee Brewers this October, not with those orange Life Savers.
Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt, two of the under-the-radar Brewers manager Pat Murphy thinks of with his nickname for less-appreciated candy, combined for a sweet World Series comeback.
Frelick tied the score with his first home run in three months, Pratt hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning to make up for his earlier error and the Brewers stunned the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night for a 2-0 World Series lead.
“I would think I’m in that orange Life Saver category,” Frelick said, turning to Pratt. “Do you? Maybe you’re a red.”
Down 4-0 in the first inning, Milwaukee rallied for its seventh comeback win among nine postseason victories. The Brewers also rebounded from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, completing a four-game sweep.
Milwaukee has won seven straight games and became the fifth team to twice overcome four-run deficits for victories in a single postseason, the first since Philadelphia in 2022.
“They believe and they don’t give up,” Murphy said. “They just keep going.”
Tampa Bay first baseman Jonathan Aranda committed one error and misplayed a foul pop, left fielder Chandler Simpson dropped a flyball and slow-footed catcher Liam Hicks was thrown out at the plate by Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio.
“We’ve had moments like these throughout the regular season and we’ve been able to flip the page,” Aranda said. “So we just have to do that here.”
Abner Uribe pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win, and the game ended when Aaron Ashby struck out Yandy Díaz on a checked swing, stranding Jonny DeLuca at third after a leadoff double in the ninth.
Game 3 of the matchup between teams seeking their first title is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Of the 57 previous teams to take 2-0 World Series leads, 46 claimed the championship.
“We got beaten in all phases of the game,” DeLuca said. “We love playing at the Trop. It’s a unique place.”
After losing Friday’s opener 3-2, the Rays burst ahead in the first against rookie Logan Henderson.
Pratt made his fourth error of the postseason at shortstop, the Brewers’ ninth in 10 games, bouncing his throw past first baseman Jake Bauers on Díaz's leadoff grounder. Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with RBI singles, and Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer.
Milwaukee started to claw back with two runs in the bottom half off Rays ace Drew Rasmussen.
Chourio and Bauers started with singles and Aranda allowed Contreras’ one-out foul pop to bounce out of his mitt near netting in front of the seats.
With Bauers running on a full-count pitch, Contreras bounced an RBI single to the left of second baseman Richie Palacios, who had taken a step toward the bag.
“It’s a huge at-bat," Murphy said. “That first inning meant something that we bounced back against a pitcher that good.”
Garrett Mitchell’s two-out single cut the deficit to 4-2 in the highest-scoring Series first inning since 1993’s Game 4. Hamilton hit an RBI grounder in the fourth that bounced under Aranda’s legs for an error.
Frelick capped a nine-pitch at-bat against Ian Seymour in the sixth by driving a fastball over the center-field fence. The 5-foot-9 No. 8 hitter sped around the bases in 18.72 seconds, half the time of some theatrical postseason trots.
“I don’t think he knows what it’s like to hit a home run to dead center, so I don’t think he knew if he got it or not,” Bauers said.
Frelick had gone 103 plate appearances without a home run since his July 11 drive off Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft and had not gone deep against a lefty pitcher since opening day against Tyler Gilbert of the Chicago White Sox.
“He’s got the `it factor,'” Murphy said before the game. “You think of Joe Montana. You think of people that have — Larry Bird — that have the it factor. I’m not saying he’s at that level of talent or has been in a position to do those things, but he has that `it factor.' He can take a team down the field.”
Caminero reacted by yelling at teammates in Tampa Bay’s dugout.
“Just trying to create some energy and get some life back into us,” he said through a translator.
One of the 12-year-old kid reporters from Wisconsin working the Series pointed out to Frelick that his home run caused Bernie Brewer, Milwaukee's mascot, to slide down his 75-foot slide beyond the left-field fence for the first time in World Series history.
“That’s really cool,” Frelick said. “I only made him go down four times this whole year.”
Screaming fans in the crowd of 43,245 at Milwaukee’s first World Series since 1982 were fired up during the seventh-inning stretch, dancing to the “Beer Barrel Polka” played by Mike Schneider, an accordionist from Clinton, Wisconsin.
“It’s mayhem, and I’ve never experienced anything like it before,” Frelick said. “It’s been motivating for all the players.”
Brice Turang doubled against losing pitcher Tyler Wells on the second pitch of the bottom half, advanced on Mitchell’s deep flyout to right and scored when Pratt looped a 2-2 sinker from Kevin Kelly into short right field.
“My heart was racing,” Pratt said. “You saw me chase the 1-1 pitch in the other batter’s box.”
A 22-year-old who debuted in June, Pratt has had a season of learning. Murphy removed him from an Aug. 25 game at the New York Mets when he didn't run hard on a bloop single.
Pratt thought of that as he spoke with Frelick.
“I sat there next to this guy, and he’s like, `Hey, man, I’ve been there, I’ve done that. I’ve been pulled a couple times. Just don’t let it happen again. There’s standards here,'” Pratt said.
Rays RHP Freddy Peralta, a two-time All-Star while pitching for the Brewers from 2018-25, starts Game 3. He was the AL Championship Series MVP and is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in three postseason starts and one relief appearance. He will be opposed by Brewers LHP Robert Gasser, who allowed one run over nine innings in his first two postseason starts.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt runs on his RBI base hit during the seventh inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Milwaukee Brewers' Cooper Pratt celebrates a RBI-single during the seventh inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Milwaukee Brewers' Sal Frelick celebrates his home run during the sixth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Milwaukee Brewers' Sal Frelick celebrates his home run during the sixth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Milwaukee Brewers' Sal Frelick watches his home run during the sixth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
