World Series Game 5: Brewers One Win From First Title as Misiorowski Takes the Ball in Tampa

One win. That is all that stands between the Milwaukee Brewers and the first World Series championship in franchise history, and they get their next chance tonight in the same building where the Tampa Bay Rays refused to die less than 24 hours ago.

Game 5 of the 2026 World Series is set for 8 p.m. ET Wednesday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, airing on FOX. Milwaukee leads the best of seven series 3-1 after Tampa Bay’s dramatic 4-3 win in 12 innings in Game 4 kept the season alive.

How Game 4 slipped away from Milwaukee

The Brewers looked like champions in the top of the 12th. Rookie Cooper Pratt, who already had three hits in the game, led off with a solo home run to left-center to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead. The celebration was short lived.

Tampa Bay opened the bottom of the 12th with a gift, as Brewers third baseman Joey Ortiz threw away a ground ball from Rays star Junior Caminero. Liam Hicks singled, Jonny DeLuca tied the game with a single up the middle, Chandler Simpson loaded the bases, and pinch hitter Ben Williamson ended it with a walk-off single to right field.

It was a gut punch for a Milwaukee club chasing its first title ever. No Milwaukee team has won a World Series since the Braves in 1957, and the Brewers lost their only previous trip, in seven games to St. Louis in 1982.

The pitching matchup: an ace against an unknown

Milwaukee hands the ball to right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, and that is a big reason the Brewers are favored. Misiorowski went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA in the regular season, leading the majors in ERA, WHIP (0.80) and strikeouts (252). He already beat Tampa Bay in Game 1, allowing one run in five innings in a 3-2 Milwaukee win.

Tampa Bay had not officially announced a Game 5 starter as of Wednesday morning. Right-hander Nick Martinez was the expected choice, but he worked two innings of relief in Game 4, and Drew Rasmussen could be an option on short rest. The Rays’ bullpen also absorbed heavy work in a 12-inning game that ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The Caminero question

The biggest injury watch in Game 5 is Caminero, who left Game 4 limping after sprinting from first to third in the 12th inning and was replaced by pinch runner Cedric Mullins. Rays manager Kevin Cash sounded confident after the game, saying Caminero would play Wednesday even on one leg. Bettors should confirm his status in the lineup before locking in any Rays position, because Tampa Bay’s offense runs through him.

One more note for the history books: Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio has 10 hits in the first four games of this series, a feat matched only by Babe Ruth in 1928.

What It Means for Bettors

Milwaukee opened as a road favorite, listed at -148 on the moneyline with Tampa Bay at +126, per FanDuel Sportsbook lines reported Wednesday morning. The run line is Brewers -1.5 at +118, and the total sits at 6.5 runs.

The case for Milwaukee is straightforward: the better starting pitcher, a rested ace against a Rays staff that may be piecing the game together, and a lineup that has scored in bunches all series. The case for Tampa Bay is the price and the moment. The Rays have already survived elimination once, they are at home, and a 12-inning win like Game 4 can swing a series’ momentum fast. If Caminero is in the lineup, the plus money on the home underdog is live.

With two of the four games decided by one run and Game 3 the only blowout, the under on 6.5 is also worth a look in a game where both bullpens may be stretched thin and managers could lean on their best arms early.

Compare odds and get in on the action at BetUS, Bovada, and BetOnline. If the series returns to Milwaukee, Game 6 would be Friday night, with a deciding Game 7 on Saturday.

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