Brewers win first World Series title in franchise history

The Milwaukee Brewers won the first World Series title in franchise history on Wednesday night. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 at Tropicana Field. Read more: Brewers win first World Series title in franchise history

It capped a 103-59 regular season, a franchise record and the best mark in baseball this year. Milwaukee beat San Diego in the NLDS, then swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Both series set up the Brewers' World Series run against Tampa Bay.

The championship ends a wait that stretched across 56 seasons in Milwaukee. It finally arrived in the franchise's 57th year. The Brewers' only previous trip to the World Series came in 1982, when they lost Game 7 to St. Louis. The clincher came one night after Tampa Bay's 12-inning walk-off win forced a Game 5.

Jacob Misiorowski carried a shutout into the sixth inning before his legs started cramping. He left after five and two-thirds scoreless innings. He went on to get the win. But his night ended early, in a game Milwaukee still needed to close out.

Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt picked up the offense without him. He drove in Milwaukee's first run with a second-inning single, then hit a sixth-inning sacrifice fly that made it 4-0. He also singled in the fifth and scored on David Hamilton's hit. That gave him a hit in his fifth, then sixth, straight plate appearance of the night. The streak tied, then broke, the World Series record for a rookie.

Megill closes out the ninth

Trevor Megill took over in the eighth and protected the lead through the only trouble Tampa Bay could find. He struck out the first batter he faced in the ninth, then Liam Hicks doubled off the first-base bag. Megill struck out the next hitter. Then Chandler Simpson followed with a double that scored Hicks for the Rays' lone run. Megill finished the game on a groundout to second baseman Brice Turang.

Christian Yelich said he "blacked out" when he saw Brice Turang's throw go to first base for the final out. He said he thinks he ran to find Megill first. Milwaukee has a championship parade planned for Friday morning through downtown to celebrate the Brewers' World Series title.