In the 2026 MLB World Series, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays squared off in a best of 7 matchup. The Brewers came out as the 4-1 champions with a blowout win.
This World Series was especially unique, as both teams had never won a World Series, and both teams had the best record in their respective league. Both teams are also ranked top five in the MLB Pipeline Farm System Rankings, with payrolls near the bottom of the league.
Coming into the series, Aragon’s community seemed split between the Rays and Brewers. The Rays demonstrated better pitching abilities while the Brewers had a high powered offense.
“Honestly, I thought the Rays were gonna win,” said senior Santiago Corona. “Their pitching staff is good, and I thought they were gonna strike out the Brewers a lot, but it didn’t happen.”
Freshman Keval Bhuta highlighted some key players on the Rays’ lineup.
“I got the Rays winning the World Series,” Bhuta said. “They have a strong pitching staff consisting of Drew Rasmussen, Griffin Jax and Nick Martinez, and a bunch of other guys that can perform, and overall just a strong bullpen too.”
Despite the support for the Rays, the Brewers still had plenty of reason to feel confident heading into the series, as they won 103 games in the regular season and finished with the best overall record in MLB history.
“I paid a little bit more attention to [the Brewers],” said JV baseball head coach Tom Mori. “I liked the way they played baseball, so I thought they had the advantage coming in.”
The Brewers also had great offense, leading the MLB in batting average, on-base percentage and hits. They were also second in total runs scored, trailing the Cubs by just 18 total runs.
“The Brewers just had more hitters on their team,” said junior Emilio Mora. “The Rays were a better defensive team, but the Brewers had better hitters, [so they could] get on base.”
The Brewers jumped out to an early series lead, narrowly winning the first two games by scores of 3-2 and 5-4. These victories were powered by clutch hitting from Jackson Chourio and William Contreras, along with an impressive pitching performance from the Brewers’ bullpen which allowed just one run across ten innings throughout these first two games.
For the third game, down 2-0, and playing in front of their home fans, the Rays weren’t much better, as they were blown out 10-1 while giving up 16 hits.
The fourth game, though, provided a chance for the Rays to turn things around. Both teams traded punches through the first 5 innings, tying the game 2-2. From there, relief pitchers from both teams put forth their best, keeping the game tied at 2-2 and sending it into extra innings. The Brewers finally broke through in the twelfth inning, when rookie Cooper Pratt hit a home run on a hanging sweeper from Ian Seymour. On the brink of elimination and with their home crowd behind them, the Rays rallied in the bottom half of the inning to score two runs off of a fielding error after getting four singles in a row. They walked it off in a dramatic fashion, winning Game 4 4-3.
However, fueled by strong pitching from Misiorowski and the Brewers’ bullpen, the Brewers went on to win Game 5 4-1, ending the Series.
After the conclusion of the final game, catcher William Contreras was voted MVP of the Series. Contreras batted .381 with 4 RBIs over the course of the World Series.
“He was a good hitter,” Mora said. “He gave them good opportunities, and he’s a good all around player. He’s the best catcher in the league right now.”
Overall, some watchers enjoyed the pairing.
“It was a pretty good matchup,” Corona said. “They both deserved to go against each other, and they were both really good during the regular season.”
The next MLB season is scheduled to begin March 24, 2027.
