Brewers win the World Series in five, ending Yandy Díaz and Víctor Mesa Jr.'s title run

October 29, 2026

The first World Series for Cuban players Yandy Díaz and Víctor Mesa Jr. ended without a ring. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, to take the Fall Classic four games to one and win the first championship in the franchise's 57-year history.

Starter Jacob Misiorowski held Tampa Bay scoreless for 5 2/3 innings before leaving with a calf cramp, rookie Cooper Pratt drove in two runs, and Venezuelan catcher William Contreras, named World Series MVP, delivered a key double in the sixth. According to EFE and AP, Misiorowski broke Díaz's bat in the third inning and struck him out to end the fifth, on a night when the Cuban slugger appeared to be playing through physical discomfort. The Rays avoided a shutout only in the ninth.

Tampa Bay had forced Game 5 with a 4-3, 12-inning win on Tuesday, a game in which Mesa Jr. was lifted for pinch-hitter Ben Williamson, who then delivered the walk-off single. Díaz, who sent the Rays to the World Series with a two-run homer against Cleveland, had two of his team's three hits in the Game 3 loss.

For Mesa Jr., son of Cuban baseball legend Víctor Mesa, and for Díaz, a native of Sagua la Grande, the season closes with their first taste of the World Series, with a Rays team that reached the Fall Classic as American League champions.