Jackson Chourio's Seventh-Inning Single Wins World Series Game 1 for the Brewers, 3-2 Over the Rays — After Jacob Misiorowski Opens With a Record 103.5 mph First Pitch

Jackson Chourio bookended the night Milwaukee had waited 44 years for. He led off the bottom of the first with a single and scored the game’s first run; six innings later, with two outs in the seventh, he singled home Cooper Pratt with the run that decided it. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3–2 on Friday night at American Family Field in Game 1 of the World Series — the franchise’s first World Series win since 1982 — and they got there behind a first pitch that broke a record and a ninth inning that nearly broke the building.

The fastest first pitch the World Series has ever seen

Before Chourio’s second act, Jacob Misiorowski authored the night’s first headline. His first pitch of the game — a four-seamer to Yandy Díaz — was clocked by Statcast at 103.5 mph, the fastest pitch tracked in a World Series since pitch tracking began in 2008. The Associated Press, USA Today and Sports Illustrated all verified the number, which passed the 103.2 mph Aroldis Chapman threw in the 2016 World Series.

It held up as more than a radar-gun stunt. Misiorowski threw 37 of his 78 pitches at 100 mph or harder, his four-seamer averaged 101.2 mph per USA Today and Statcast, and he worked five innings — the longest postseason start of his career — allowing one run on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He left with the lead, and he left with the win.

Two runs in the first, and then a long hold

Milwaukee’s offense struck before Tampa Bay settled in. Chourio’s leadoff single opened the first, Christian Yelich tripled to drive him in with the game’s first run, and William Contreras followed with an RBI single for a 2–0 lead. Contreras kept shaping the game from behind the plate, throwing out two Rays runners on the bases.

Tampa Bay scored its first run off Misiorowski, and Jonathan Aranda went 3-for-3 for the Rays, but the 2–1 score held into the seventh — close enough that one swing could still flip the night.

Chourio, with two outs, again

The insurance run arrived in the seventh, and it belonged to the same name as the first run. With two outs, Chourio singled to score Pratt and push the lead to 3–1. He finished 2-for-4 on the night, and neither of his hits was decoration: the first one started the scoring, and the second one finished it.

The ninth inning, survived

Tampa Bay’s final chance turned chaotic. Trevor Megill loaded the bases in the ninth, and a potential game-ending double play was overturned on replay review, extending the inning. Liam Hicks followed with an RBI groundout that scored the Rays’ second run and cut the lead to 3–2 — the sequence theScore’s game story and Sportradar’s play-by-play both record.

That left the tying run at third, one hit from scoring or one strike from staying put. Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca for the final out, stranding the run where it stood and closing a 3–2 win that had been 2–1, then 3–1, and for a few minutes entirely up for grabs.

The win is Milwaukee’s first in a World Series game since 1982 — a 44-year wait, as USA Today and theScore both noted — and it extends the Brewers’ postseason winning streak to six straight, with an 8–1 record this October. Game 2 is Saturday at American Family Field, with Drew Rasmussen scheduled to start for Tampa Bay against Logan Henderson for Milwaukee. One game into the Series, the team that waited the longest owns the lead.

Full box score, linescore and play-by-play: Gamecast — Rays at Brewers. More: MLB hub · Stats Hub