MILWAUKEE – There was no doubt that he had caught the mask at the top. His 13 challenges lead all birders to this station. He dictates the timing of the game, sensing when the pitchers need a blow or an arm around the shoulder. And the baserunners would be wise not to tempt him.
He was just born with feathers.
Patina, first of all a base, is an ungrateful virtue for all great things.
The Brewers set their sights on October baseball. Friday’s 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the 2026 World Series was just the latest example.
But behind the plate and being beaten in the box, Guillaume Contreras was nothing short of tyrannical.
“If people didn’t notice Contreras, he was like maybe the MVP of the Dodgers series,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after the game. “He should have been co-MVPS. He was probably the Padres’ MVP series. I don’t think he wanted to do it, did he?”
They do not.
But Contreras this October asked why not. Because on this stage, in these environments, his presence changed the results. His extremity became contagious, his concentration woven into the framework of the team, which he never lacked.
And that’s what makes October so amazing. Brewers don’t need to carry them. He produced the offense, the scorers were out, the defense was relentless. But somehow, in all that common excellence, Contreras found a way to distinguish himself.
Not by doing what his teammates can’t do, but by making an already formidable team that much harder to beat.
It is all in the middle.
In Game 1, Contreras collected two hits, including a first-inning RBI hit that knocked in the second run of the game and set the tone for the Brewers’ victory.
But the man behind the plate made the difference in his work.
Victor Mosa Jr. He opened the fifth with a single by Jacob Misiorowski, giving Tampa Bay a threat. Trailing by a steady pace, and with Misiorowski finally showing signs of vulnerability after surrendering in the fourth inning, the Rays had an opportunity to turn to a familiar weapon: their speed.
Misiorowski retired the next two laps, but Mosa advanced to the second race. Then, with Yandy Díaz at the plate, two outs and an 0-2 count, Mesa singled for third.
Bad idea.
Contreras fired a shot at the third, killing him instantly.
The Rays tried their sixth chance again, with Abner Uribe on the mound. With one out, Chandler Simpson twisted through a dirty slide on the back foot for a three as Jonathan Aranda broke for second. The pitch had great depth, diving to the dirt and presenting the kind of challenge that can either take practice and do something other than throw.
You will meet with No.
He swatted a pitch and fired to second, napping Aranda to complete the inning-ending double play.
The Rays entered the World Series a perfect 11 for 11 in scoring efforts this season. In the span of two innings, Contreras showed them something that hadn’t happened all October.
“I thought in today’s game I took the defense against the offense,” Contreras said through the team’s interpreter. “Some of the plays there, I think in the third quarter, were close plays for the runners, but they had scoring opportunities.”
“God was able to give me one today, a complete game on both sides. But my goal is to go out there and find a way to win the game, whether that’s offensively or defensively.”
Perhaps the most obvious command of Contreras’ game is how he handles his pitchers. At 28, with age and experience, he developed a sense of when his staff should hear his voice, and when silence could serve them better.
He said that it is a common effort to come at this time. He wanted to be more of a leader. More vocal. For the slow game, it would be necessary with slowness. Fixing the breath of life on the staff, he threatened to drain it at a moment’s notice.
His hand is steady.
In the eighth inning, with Aaron Ashby stepping up to the mound for the second inning of work and lifting with his left hand, Contreras felt something was off. Ashby, nearly untouched this post, was driven under by a ball that sailed behind Victor Mesa Jr. and returned to the bones.
Contreras had seen enough.
He knew it was time.
The visit to the mound tonight between us was quite frankly a one-way conversation,” said Ashby. “I would do the listening. I needed to hear what he had to say. He knows when to speak and what to put down. It was incredible.”
Ashby ended the inning with a hit and a walk.
Incredible. This is what this Brewers team has been like since Opening Day. Shoot, they won 103 games. And they took that streak into October, their last loss to the Padres coming in the NLDS on Oct. 6.
The Brewers are now three wins from the World Cup title. Facing them on Saturday evening will be Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen, with Logan Henderson taking the mound for Milwaukee.
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But what does a brewers’ club have to do with this, anyway?
They gave up three of them against the Dodgers in Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell. In Game 4, they started Tyler Glasnow as a big reliever.
Nothing shook this team.
Not the Padres, with their sea of superstar talent and a roster that has yet to deliver on their promise. Not the Dodgers, who once figured out how to turn star power into balls. They didn’t shine in Game 1, on a team whose identity is so closely intertwined.
Brewers have always proven that they can beat you in many ways.
And Contreras impressed everyone.
“It’s incredible,” Murphy said. “That’s all I could say. It’s incredible.”