Pratt atones, Brewers erase 4-0 deficit to beat Rays 5-4 and take 2-0 World Series lead

A comeback sealed in the seventh

Rookie Cooper Pratt turned a night that began in the worst way into the defining moment of World Series Game 2, singling in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Milwaukee Brewers completed another comeback. Milwaukee, trailing 4-0 in the first inning, beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 at American Family Field on Saturday evening and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Brewers are now two wins from a championship.

A nightmare first inning

The game could hardly have started worse for the home side. Pratt, playing shortstop, made a throwing error on the opening play, allowing Yandy Díaz to reach and then advance. Tampa Bay wasted no time punishing the mistake. Chandler Simpson drove in Díaz, Junior Caminero drove in Simpson, and Liam Hicks followed with a two-run home run to put the Rays 4-0 ahead before many in the crowd had settled.

Milwaukee, however, has made a habit of refusing to accept that script this postseason, and the response began immediately. In the bottom of the first inning, the Brewers bunched four singles and scored twice, with William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell driving in runs to cut the deficit in half. The comeback continued in the fourth inning. Pratt, battling back from an 0-2 count, drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on a single by Sal Frelick and scored when Jonathan Aranda made an error.

Frelick levels the score

The decisive blow for the tie came from one of the least likely power sources in the Milwaukee lineup. Frelick, who had hit only four home runs in 339 regular-season at-bats, led off the sixth inning against Ian Seymour and lined a 3-2 fastball 408 feet to centre field to level the score at 4-4. It was his postseason homer, delivered at exactly the moment Milwaukee needed it, and it capped a disciplined climb back from the early hole.

Pratt atones in the seventh

The seventh inning then belonged to Pratt, and to the idea of atonement that has run through so much of Milwaukee's postseason. Brice Turang doubled to open the inning off Tyler Wells, who fell to 0-2, and advanced on a flyout. Pratt then greeted Kevin Kelly with an RBI single to right field, scoring Turang and giving Milwaukee its first lead of the night at 5-4. Pratt had gone from the cause of Milwaukee's trouble to the author of its lead.

That lead was protected by a bullpen that has become the backbone of this Brewers postseason run. Starter Logan Henderson allowed four runs, three of them earned, in three innings, but the relievers who followed threw six scoreless innings. JoJo Romero, Dustin May and DL Hall each delivered a scoreless inning, Abner Uribe got four outs to earn the win and improve to 1-0, and Aaron Ashby finished the game for his third save. The bullpen's win was its eighth in Milwaukee's nine postseason victories, matching the 2015 Kansas City Royals for the most reliever wins in a single postseason. Ashby, meanwhile, has not allowed a run in 15 and two-thirds innings across eight postseason appearances.

Late drama and a disputed final out

Milwaukee also had to survive two moments in the field in the late innings. In the sixth, Jackson Chourio prevented a run with a perfect throw home from left field to cut down Hicks trying to score from second, a play that was upheld after review. In the eighth, Milwaukee threatened again, but Chourio was out at home trying to score from third on an infield bouncer, another close play that was upheld upon review.

The ninth inning delivered the most controversial finish of the series so far. Jonny DeLuca doubled to open the ninth off Ashby, putting the tying run in scoring position immediately. Victor Mesa Jr. struck out and DeLuca advanced to third on a groundout, leaving Tampa Bay one productive out away from levelling the score. Díaz then came to the plate with a full count and two outs, and the game ended on a check-swing strikeout. Home plate umpire Jim Wolf initially did not think Díaz had gone around, but Brewers catcher William Contreras won his appeal to first base, where umpire James Hoye ruled that Díaz had indeed swung. The strikeout ended the game, and with it, Tampa Bay's chance to escape Milwaukee with a split.

Díaz did not hide his disagreement after the game, while also accepting the decision. He said that in the moment he disagreed, but that the umpire had said it was a swing and it was what it was, adding that his team had lost. The call will be debated for as long as this series is discussed, particularly because Tampa Bay also stranded the tying run at third in the ninth inning of Game 1, for the second consecutive game.

What Game 3 now means

The series now moves to St. Petersburg, Florida, for Game 3 on Monday, and history offers Tampa Bay only limited comfort. Only 10 teams have ever overcome a 2-0 deficit to win the World Series, the last being the 1996 New York Yankees. The Rays will need to find a way to hold a lead, to quiet a Milwaukee bullpen that has been unhittable when it matters most, and to prevent another early advantage from slipping away. The Brewers, by contrast, will arrive in Florida believing that no deficit is too large and no moment too big, a belief that Game 2 did nothing to shake. After trailing 4-0 in the first inning and winning 5-4, they have every reason to feel that way.