John Romano: How do you blow a 4-0 lead in the World Series? One blunder at a time.

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 25, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MILWAUKEE — The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers battled for nine innings — and 263 pitches — in Game 1 and scored a total of five runs.

One inning — and 61 pitches — into Game 2, the two teams had already combined for six runs.

It was a different kind of game, but just as dramatic as the World Series opener 24 hours earlier.

Here’s a look at the most defining and devastating pitches in Milwaukee’s come-from-behind 5-4 win in Game 2 on Saturday night:

Logan Henderson, Pitch No. 23, changeup, 84 mph

With one run in and one runner on in the first inning, Henderson jumped ahead of Junior Caminero with back-to-back changeups that he took for strikes. Caminero worked the count full when Henderson tried to throw back-to-back changeups again. Caminero fouled off the first and lined the second into left to drive in Chandler Simpson for a 2-0 lead.

Henderson, Pitch No. 25, cutter 87 mph

As if back-to-back RBI singles weren’t bad enough, Henderson threw a cutter in the heart of the plate that Liam Hicks hit 411 feet into the second deck of right field. By the time the first inning had ended, Henderson had thrown 35 pitches and the Rays were up 4-0.

Drew Rasmussen, Pitch No. 12, fastball, 97 mph

Technically, the two runs Rasmussen gave up in the first inning were both earned. Realistically, they were both unearned. The Brewers had two on and one out when William Contreras popped up this 1-0 fastball near the screen by the Milwaukee dugout. Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda was in position to make the catch, but the ball bounced out of his glove. Four pitches later, Contreras knocked a single through the hole on the right side of the infield when Richie Palacios covered second on a hit-and-run. The Brewers had their first run and scored another on a two-out single by Garrett Mitchell.

Dustin May, Pitch No. 12, cutter, 95 mph

The Brewers may have an elite bullpen, but May is their weak link. In his first inning of work, he gave up a one-out double to Aranda, who moved to third on Simpson’s groundout. Getting Caminero to the plate against May with a runner on third looked like a prime opportunity for the Rays. But on a 1-1 pitch, Caminero grounded out to short to end the inning.

DL Hall, Pitch No. 11, sinker, 96 mph

Even with a 4-3 lead, the Rays were playing for one run in the sixth inning. When Hicks was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Palacios bunted him to second base. After Jonny DeLuca struck out, Victor Mesa Jr. lined a single to left field. Third base coach Brady Williams waved Hicks home, but he was thrown out easily by Jackson Chourios.

Ian Seymour, Pitch No. 9, fastball, 92 mph

The long man in the bullpen, Seymour had struggled in his past two appearances. He faced only 10 hitters and allowed six to reach base. Making his World Series debut in the sixth inning, he got a 2-2 count on Sal Frelick but struggled to put him away. Frelick fouled off three pitches before hitting a center-cut fastball 408 feet to dead center for the tying home run. How rare was that? In 270 plate appearances against left-handers since 2025, Frelick had hit one home run.

Kevin Kelly, Pitch No. 5, sinker, 90 mph

Tyler Wells gave up a leadoff double to Brice Turang in the seventh, and it was the beginning of the end for the Rays. Garrett Mitchell followed with a drive to the wall that was caught by Mesa, but allowed Turang to advance to third. That meant Rays manager Kevin Cash had to bring in ground-ball specialist Kevin Kelly to hopefully avoid a sacrifice fly. Kelly worked a 2-2 count on Cooper Pratt before the Milwaukee shortstop lined a single over the drawn-in infield to give the Brewers the lead.

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