The Milwaukee Brewers were set to party like it was 1982 until it wasn’t on Friday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Brewers relief pitcher Trevor Megill gave Tampa Bay Rays catcher Liam Hicks the right pitch to place the ball in play for what looked like a game-winning double play amid bases loaded. Instead, the call got overturned, and Megill had to shut the door the hard way with five pitchers to secure a 3-2 win.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy addressed the Rays successfully overturning the double play call, which put a run on the board. The Brewers, which led 2-0 early, had a 3-1 lead going into the top of the ninth inning.
“The rule is you can challenge,” Murphy told reporters afterward. “And they [officials] got it right probably.”
“A lot of time those plays stand during the year, but now I’m sure they have every angle, and they took their time and got it right,” Murphy added. “And Megill kept his composure. We talked about it all the time: when there’s a challenge, do not walk off the mound.”
Megill’s poise helped the Brewers secure a World Series game win for the first time since 1982, the last time Milwaukee made it to the Fall Classic.
Trevor Megill: ‘That’s Baseball’
Megill, who earned the save, saw it as business as usual to go out a finish a hotly-contested game in his first World Series appearance.
“That’s baseball. You got three more games to play, three more wins [to go],” Megill told reporters in the locker room. “And we gotta go out there and just keep doing what we’re doing.”
Megill came in for the ninth inning and gave up two hits and one earned run, and he struck out one batter and walked one. His walk of third baseman Junior Caminero loaded the bases with one out, and Megill bounced back after the failed double play to strike out right fielder Jonny DeLuca.
Megill and company will look to keep the momentum going in Game 2 on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Brewers Manager Pat Murphy Gets Honest on Wild Game 1 Finish