Brewers take 2-0 lead in World Series with 5-4 Game 2 win over Rays as Cooper Pratt sparks seventh-inning comeback

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

MILWAUKEE—The Milwaukee Brewers erased a four-run deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in World Series Game 2 on Saturday night, giving Milwaukee a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series as the teams shift to St. Petersburg. The result extended a postseason pattern for the Brewers, who came back from behind in multiple games before completing another late rally to take control of the series.

The comeback included a key moment after rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt made a first-inning error that helped set the Rays on a fast track. Milwaukee then continued to chip away, answering early with RBI singles from William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell, while defensive and offensive swings tightened the game as the Rays’ lead shrank.

According to the game recap, the Rays began strongly against Brewers starter Logan Henderson, taking a 4-0 lead before Milwaukee cut into the advantage. Milwaukee’s first response came in the first inning when Contreras delivered an RBI single following a dropped foul pop by Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda, and Mitchell followed with an RBI single to keep the deficit from growing further.

Milwaukee’s rally accelerated in the middle innings. The Brewers scored again when Aranda muffed David Hamilton’s grounder in the fourth inning, trimming the score to 4-3. Then in the sixth inning, Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer earlier in the night, and later the Brewers tied the game when Sal Frelick hit a fly ball for a home run off Rays reliever Ian Seymour leading off the sixth.

With the game tied, Pratt’s at-bats became the turning point. The recap describes that after striking out to end the first inning, Pratt later walked and scored in the fourth, and he returned in the seventh with one out and Brice Turang in scoring position representing the go-ahead run. The Brewers brought Pratt to the plate in a high-leverage situation after hitting coach Daniel Vogelbach pulled him aside.

Pratt delivered for Milwaukee in the seventh inning, as the recap credits his tiebreaking single as the biggest hit of his life and the deciding play that gave the Brewers the 5-4 lead. The Rays responded by bringing in right-hander Kevin Kelly, but Pratt reached the 2-2 count before lining a sinker to right field to score Turang, moving Milwaukee ahead for good.

The recap notes that Pratt became the second-youngest player with an RBI and a steal in a World Series game since the RBI became an official stat in 1920. It also states that only Juan Soto, at 20 years and 362 days old in Game 1 of the 2019 World Series, was younger than Pratt at the time of that particular accomplishment.

Even with Pratt’s early mistake, the Brewers’ second-inning and late-inning adjustments helped set up multiple runs and a completed comeback. The source frames the Brewers’ October identity around their ability to chip away, noting that in this postseason they have repeatedly fought back from early deficits, including in their most recent win patterns.

The World Series Game 2 setting included a notable crossover moment between the franchise’s past and present. The recap says Hall of Famer Robin Yount attended Saturday’s game, remarking, “Hey, I waited 44 years for this!” and adding, “I am not missing a game.” It also describes Yount as meeting Pratt after Game 1, when Pratt was searching for his family outside the clubhouse and Yount was searching for Pratt.

Pratt described the encounter in the recap, saying, “He enjoyed watching me play,” and that he was “kind of bamboozled” because he “wasn’t expecting it.” The recap further emphasizes that Milwaukee’s fan base includes long-time supporters connected to the team’s last World Series run, including a 71-year-old who was the Brewers’ shortstop the last time Milwaukee reached the Fall Classic in 1982.

Game 2 played out at American Family Field with a full turnout. The source reports that 43,245 fans were at the stadium, and that the Brewers sold 31,000 tickets in advance, capped so that everybody had a view of the scoreboard, at $15 each, with the allocation selling out in minutes. The recap also states that the atmosphere will continue on Tuesday night for Game 3 despite the series traveling 1,200 miles to St. Petersburg.

Milwaukee’s two-games-to-none lead also carried broader postseason context in the source. It states that across best-of-seven postseason series, teams that open with a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 80 of 96 times, or 83%. The recap adds that while comebacks of this nature have occurred recently elsewhere in the postseason, a World Series comeback in a best-of-seven with a 2-0 deficit had not happened in 30 years, dating to the 1996 Yankees rally over the Braves.

The recap places Saturday’s win within a franchise and league-wide comeback history. It references that Milwaukee had previously faced a 4-0 hole in Game 4 against the Cardinals in 1982, trailing 5-1 going to the bottom of the seventh before rallying for six runs in a 7-5 victory. It also notes that in that 1982 rally, Yount delivered a two-run single in the seventh and Paul Molitor walked and scored the go-ahead run.

Back in 2026, the source describes the presence of multiple Brewers legends in a suite, with owner Mark Attanasio watching alongside Yount, Paul Molitor, Bud Selig and Ryan Braun, while describing Molitor’s ceremonial first pitch. The recap states that Attanasio said the icons remained intensely invested, adding that they are “still connected to this team and this city” and that, unlike their playing days, they can no longer directly change outcomes.

As the series now heads to St. Petersburg tied to a new hurdle—Milwaukee seeking to win the World Series without returning immediately—Saturday’s Game 2 outcome sets up another opportunity for Milwaukee to build on its early advantage. The recap frames the next step as Game 3 on Tuesday night, with the Brewers holding the 2-0 lead after Pratt’s seventh-inning go-ahead hit completed a comeback from an early four-run deficit.

The Brewers hope to carry their late-season momentum forward as they attempt to finish a long stretch without a World Series title. The source closes by noting, “The Brewers hope not,” in reference to the idea of needing a final game at American Family Field if the series continues.