Liam Hicks homer ends a 44-year Milwaukee drought

The Rays didn't even have to swing the bat to get the first inning going. The 1st ball of Game 2 turned into a gift.

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Throwing error by Cooper Pratt to start Game 2 puts Yandy Diaz on second base

That error put Logan Henderson in the stretch before he'd gotten an out, and Tampa made him pay for it. Chandler Simpson singled in the 1st run, Junior Caminero won a long at-bat for another RBI single, and it was 2-0 with the inning still going. Then Henderson left a cutter belt-high over the middle of the plate to Liam Hicks, and Hicks did not miss it.

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LIAM HICKS GOODBYE 4-0 RAYS

It's a big swing on its own. The history behind it is what makes it wild. The Brewers have played World Series games at home before, in 1982 at County Stadium, and in all that time exactly 1 hitter had ever taken them deep in Milwaukee in the Fall Classic. Willie McGee did it twice in the same game. Hicks is the 2nd guy to do it, 44 years later.

A 4-0 lead in the 1st inning of a World Series game should feel safe. It didn't last half an inning. The Brewers did what they've done all October, putting runners in motion and turning a dropped pop-up into a gift of their own. Jonathan Aranda let one fall, William Contreras got another shot at it, and he slapped a hit-and-run single to get Milwaukee on the board.

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William Contreras with a perfectly executed hit and run RBI after Jonathan Aranda dropped a pop up that gave him an extra life!

Garrett Mitchell drove in another run and the lead was cut in half before the 1st inning was over. 6 runs in 1 inning, and per Jayson Stark, the highest-scoring 1st inning of a World Series game since the 15-14 slugfest in 1993. Nobody knew yet that the Rays wouldn't score again.

That's the tough part for Tampa. Milwaukee chipped away for 5 straight runs, and Pratt, the same guy whose throwing error started the whole mess, came through with the go-ahead single. The Brewers won 5-4 and lead the series 2-0. Hicks has a piece of World Series history, but the Rays have to go win games now, and they'll need a lot more first innings like that one to do it.