ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night to take the World Series 4-1 and claim the first championship in the franchise's history.

Jacob Misiorowski allowed two hits across 5 2/3 scoreless innings before a cramp in his right calf forced him out. Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt drove in two runs, and catcher William Contreras, who hit a run-scoring double, was named the series' most valuable player.

The franchise played its first season in 1969 in Seattle as the Pilots, moved to Wisconsin a year later and has now won in its 58th year. It had reached the World Series once before, in 1982, and lost Game 7 to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 after leading 3-1 in the sixth inning. The city's only other baseball championship belongs to the 1957 Braves, who left for Atlanta in 1966.

"It's the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city's waited a long, long time for this," said Christian Yelich, the Brewers captain. "We're so happy to bring it home to them. I can't wait to get back there and celebrate."

Mark Attanasio, the club's principal owner, told the crowd from a stage on the field: "Milwaukee has waited 44 years, and Milwaukee, you have your world championship."

Milwaukee scored first when Pratt lined a single to centre field to bring in Brice Turang. Pratt singled again in the fifth and came home on David Hamilton's single off reliever Kevin Kelly. In the sixth, Contreras doubled in a run off Garrett Cleavinger and Pratt added a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead. Kelly and Cleavinger were charged with three runs between them across those two innings.

Tampa Bay's only run came late, when Liam Hicks doubled and scored on a Chandler Simpson double down the line off closer Trevor Megill with two outs in the ninth. Megill ended it by getting Richie Palacios to ground out to second base before an announced crowd of 40,489. Brewers fans had filled the seats behind their team's dugout for the last three games. In Milwaukee, MLB.com said about 31,000 people watched on the scoreboard at American Family Field.

Pratt, who is 22 and reached the majors in June, had two hits and two runs batted in, and his six consecutive hits were a World Series record for a rookie. Jackson Chourio's 11 hits are the most by any player in a World Series that lasted five games.

Misiorowski, the favourite for the National League Cy Young Award, opened the game with 12 four-seam fastballs clocked between 100.9 and 103 miles per hour, the Associated Press reported, and reached 103 twice among his 86 pitches, 58 of them strikes. He walked one and struck out two, equalling the fewest of his career, and went 2-0 with a 0.84 earned run average in the series. His first pitch of Game 1 last Friday was measured at 103.5 mph, the fastest thrown in a World Series.

"I don't even have words," Misiorowski said. "It's amazing, just watching my guys celebrate. And the city — I know they're going crazy in Milwaukee. It's awesome."

JoJo Romero and Abner Uribe each recorded two outs after Misiorowski left, and Megill pitched the last two innings.

Drew Rasmussen started for Tampa Bay on three days' rest and allowed one run on two hits over four innings, striking out four on 48 pitches, NBC Sports reported.

Contreras went 8-for-21 in the series, a .381 average, with four runs batted in. ESPN said he is the eighth catcher to be voted World Series MVP. He tried to share the trophy with reliever Aaron Ashby, who declined. "He's our bulldog, and we love this dude," Ashby said of Contreras.

Milwaukee led the major leagues with 103 regular-season wins, a club record, and had the 19th-highest payroll as of August 31, according to ESPN, which described the city as the smallest market in the majors. The Brewers beat the San Diego Padres in the division series, swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series and went 11-2 in the postseason.

They came within three outs of the title on Tuesday before the Rays scored twice in the 12th inning to win Game 4 by 4-3 and force a fifth game.

Pat Murphy, 67, who recovered from a heart attack in 2020 and has twice been voted National League Manager of the Year, in 2024 and 2025, said the squad would be remembered as a group rather than as individuals.

"This group of guys right here, the 2026 team, will be remembered forever — and they deserve that because they were a team," Murphy said. "They care about coming together and winning tonight."

Tampa Bay, an expansion club that began play in 1998, has now lost all three of its World Series appearances, after 2008 and 2020. "It's as close-knit of a group as I've ever been around," manager Kevin Cash said of his players.

A victory parade in Milwaukee is still to be held. Attention in the sport then turns to labour talks: ESPN reported that owners are pressing for a salary cap the players' association has not accepted, and that a management lockout is likely to start on December 2 and could threaten the 2027 season.