William Contreras is Willing the Brewers to a Championship

The Brewers are one win closer to their first World Series championship, and once again, William Contreras was at the center of everything. It was Contreras who helped set the tone early. It was Contreras who kept things under control behind the plate when the Rays threatened in the middle innings. That was the story all October as the Brewers bulldozed their way to their first National League pennant.

"I feel like he's taken his game to another level this postseason with just how locked in he is," Yelich said. "It seems like he's doing whatever it takes to get the job done."

"Contreras was incredible," Pat Murphy said. "He was the player of the game."

It started in the first inning, when Contreras's RBI single capped a two-run frame against Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez. The efficient veteran posted the highest in-zone rate and lowest walk rate among qualified starters this season, so he (and Game 2 starter Drew Rasmussen) posed a challenge for a patient Brewers offense that grinds down pitchers with long plate appearances. They couldn't wait him out, so they had to attack pitches over the plate.

"That's the cat and mouse of the whole game," Murphy said on Friday afternoon before Game 1. "That's Baseball 101. It's not early takes on noncompetitive pitches. It's being ready every single pitch and then really discerning between balls and strikes and discerning between strikes to hit and strikes to be okay with."

The Brewers didn't plan to be mindlessly aggressive, but to react accordingly when Martinez gave them hittable strikes. After running the second-lowest in-zone swing rate in baseball this year, they swung at 80% of his in-zone pitches in Game 1. Four of six hitters in the first inning swung at the first pitch, including Jackson Chourio's leadoff single and Contreras's base hit to plate the second run.

"We didn't want to jump him or anything like that," said Yelich, whose one-out triple drove in Chourio to open the scoring. "It was just make sure that you got a good plan, and you were going to stick to it."

"After being off for some time, I'm pleased we came out in the first inning ready to go," Murphy said.

This was the second time this postseason that Contreras slashed a high-leverage RBI single on the first pitch.

Setting the tone proved critical, as Martinez quickly settled in after that first inning. The Brewers continued to have tough plate appearances for most of the night, being aggressive on strikes and chasing less than most teams against Martinez, but he held them scoreless over his final four innings.

"You know it's going to be a battle," Yelich said. "You have to stay disciplined, do a lot of things right. It was nice to get off to a good start there early. We weren't really able to add on off of him, but guys kept having good at-bats."

Without those insurance runs, Contreras kept the Rays at bay with his defense. In both the fifth and sixth innings, he threw out the tying run on steal attempts. Victor Mesa Jr. made an ill-advised attempt at third base in the fifth, and Contreras fired a dime to David Hamilton's outstretched glove to throw him out and end the inning. That got Jacob Misiorowski through five innings of one-run ball, even as another playoff opponent continued spoiling his fastball. In the sixth, he threw out Jonathan Aranda at second for a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play behind Abner Uribe.

"I know the game, so I know that the two runners that I was able to throw out today meant a lot in the game and could have been a big difference in the game," Contreras said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert.

That at-bat also featured Contreras's second successful ABS challenge of the night, continuing his late-season turnaround after making too many poor challenges during the summer. Both at-bats ended in strikeouts after he flipped a ball to a strike.

"Going through a good moment right now, and I think the ABS is kind of similar to hitting in a season," Contreras said. "You might go through a slump. Right now, I think I'm going through a good moment with it, and I've got to take advantage of that."

Contreras has long possessed the talent and competitiveness to be one of baseball's best players, but has not always lived up to that ability during the regular season, often performing like a good catcher instead of a great one. This October, he's elevated his game when it's mattered the most.

"This guy has been incredible, and he does both sides of the bal—and the side that you can't measure," Murphy said. "I don't know what his numbers are, but he does so much for the team. He's incredible. That's all I could tell you. He's incredible. We wouldn't be in the position we're in without Contreras."

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