Brewers Notebook: Frelick, Pratt Bring Team Halfway to Ultimate Prize

The Milwaukee Brewers continue to prove to teams that you just can not take any lead for granted. That’s a bad thing for opposing teams trying to scratch out a win, but it’s a great thing for baseball fans hoping for a second straight thrilling World Series contest.

After surrendering an early lead in Game 1, the Tampa Bay Rays started with a bang in Game 2. After Yandy Diaz reached on a Cooper Pratt throwing error, consecutive one-out RBI singles by Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero gave them an early 2-0 lead.

One batter later, Liam Hicks doubled the lead with a two-run homer off Brewers starter Logan Henderson, making it 4-0 just one out into the game. It was the first time in Henderson’s career, regular season or postseason, that he had given up more than three earned runs in a start.

The Brewers struck back quickly in the bottom of the first on singles by Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers, William Contreras, and Garrett Mitchell that eventually made it 4-2. That’s as close as Milwaukee would get that inning, but it set the stage for yet another 2026 comeback.

In the fourth inning, a one-out fielding error by the Rays’ Jonathan Aranda at first would allow Pratt to score, reducing the gap to just one run. The Brewers would load the bases before reliever Cam Booser came in to get out of the jam.

Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth. After working Tampa reliever Ian Seymour for eight pitches, Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick deposited the ninth just over the center field wall to tie things up at 4-4.

One inning later, the lead was Milwaukee’s. Brice Turang opened up the Brewers’ half of the inning with a double and two batters later, Pratt, who opened the game with the error, knocked a Kevin Kelly sinker to right, giving the Brewers a 5-4 lead.

The Rays did make one final push at the end, as Jonny DeLuca opened the ninth with a double and worked his way over to third. That’s where he would be stranded, though, as Diaz had a questionable check swing called a strike, giving the Brewers a commanding 2-0 series lead in the World Series.

Frelick’s Rare Power Surge Shows Off His “It Factor”

The Vegas odds probably weren’t very high for Sal Frelick to be the first Brewer to hit a home run in the World Series. He had just 21 for his four-year MLB career prior to Saturday night and hit just four of them this season. His most recent one was way back on July 11.

This lack of power for this year in particular could have been injury-related. Frelick spent some time on the IL late in the season with some structural damage in his shoulder. It was something he was playing through before it got to him bad enough where he had to be put on the shelf for a little while.

And yet, that is another detail that explains just the type of gamer that Frelick is. He’ll play through anything and do whatever is asked of him. His manager even took the time to show his appreciation prior to Game 2.

“He’s just the ultimate competitor, winner,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of his right fielder. “He’s got the ‘It Factor.'”

“He just has that grit,” Murphy continued. “he has that belief system that like I’m going to get this done and you’re not going to deny me. It’s a beautiful thing, man.”

Frelick has done a little bit of everything this postseason, leading the team with three steals, tying for fourth with four walks, tying for fifth with four runs scored, and tying for sixth with three RBI. That’s all despite playing in only seven games while platooning with rookie Luis Lara in right field.

In a way, he’s a microcosm of the team as a whole: you don’t need to be the hero, just do whatever needs to be done to get the job done. That is, unless you have the chance to hit a homer to tie a World Series game.

Pratt Digs Deep for Ultimate Redemption

It’s hard enough to make a mistake early in a game that helps put your team in a deep hole and then try to bounce back from it. For rookie Cooper Pratt, there were so many other things to consider as well.

After falling behind 4-0, thanks in part to that error, the Brewers had to not only come back against the AL No. 1 seed Rays, they also had to do it against their ace Drew Rasumssen. And of course, all of this is taking place on national television in the World Series.

So it says so much that the Brewers’ rookie was able to both shake off that error to put up solid defensive plays the rest of the way, but to step up at the plate as well.

Pratt wound up going 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. It was a performance that definitely caught the eye of the other main hero of the night.

“Just to highlight this guy real quick….has a little mistake early in the game, doesn’t slam a glove, doesn’t hang his head, nothing,” Frelick said of Pratt. “Coming off the field and later in the game has a big at-bat and maybe swings at a ball or two, locks it back in. This is a rookie, like people forget.”

A common phrase in sports is that you need to have a short memory after making a big mistake. While that apparently isn’t the case for Pratt, it didn’t stop him from coming up with one of the biggest moments in franchise history.

“I absolutely won’t forget,” said Pratt. “I need to be better defensively, but it’s always awesome when you have an opportunity to kind of redeem yourself and make up for it.”

Brewers Have Rays on the Ropes Heading Back to Tampa

Now with two wins in the books, the Brewers are halfway to winning the first World Series in franchise history. They head to Tampa putting the Rays in a hole that few teams have been able to dig themselves out of.

51 teams have fallen behind 2-0 to start the World Series and only 10 of them have come back to actually win the series. The last team to successfully do it was the Atlanta Braves who came back to win the next four games against the New York Yankees 30 years ago.

It hasn’t been long since a team overcame a 2-0 deficit in any seven-game series, however. Just last year, the Toronto Blue Jays battled back to take the ALCS from the Seattle Mariners in a series that ended up lasting the full seven games.

The Rays didn’t get to the World Series because they were lucky, though. This is a team that led the AL with 98 wins, which was also third in MLB behind the Brewers and Dodgers, and had a +86 run differential that was second in the AL to only the Yankees.

And after getting drowned out by the Milwaukee faithful, Rays manager Kevin Cash is ready for Tampa’s fanbase to return the favor.

“I know our fans are going to be really loud and excited to see us come back and kind of reset ourselves a little bit,” Cash said after Game 2. “A lot of confidence in this club to respond. They’ve done it all season long, and they’ll continue to do it.”