ST. PETERSBURG, FL — William Contreras threw out four runners in the first four games of the World Series. Then he drove in a run in the clincher.
The Milwaukee Brewers catcher was named World Series MVP on Wednesday night after Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win the first championship in franchise history. Contreras hit .381 with four RBIs in the series. He is the first World Series MVP the Brewers have ever had.
His sixth-inning double off Garrett Cleavinger scored Christian Yelich and made it 3-0.
He hurt the Rays just as much from behind the plate, too.
Contreras was the first catcher since Lance Parrish in 1984 to throw out four runners in the first four games of a World Series. In Game 3, he challenged four ball-strike
calls under the new ABS system and won all four.
He also turned the new automated ball-strike system into a weapon.
This is the first season MLB has used ABS. Contreras led the majors with 185 challenges in the regular season and won 105 of them. He was even better in October. With one challenge Wednesday night, he had challenged 30 and won 66.7%.
With his bat, he set a franchise record with 19 postseason hits.
He opened the World Series 7-for-13, with three hits in the Game 3 rout. He came into Game 5 hitting .383 this postseason, 18-for-47 with three home runs, eight RBIs and seven walks.
The 28-year-old hit .270 with 18 homers and 94 RBIs in the regular season.
His older brother Willson, who was in the stands wearing his younger brother’s jersey, won the 2016 World Series with the Chicago Cubs. William won the World Baseball Classic with Venezuela in March. He, Jackson Chourio and Antonio Senzatela join Alex Bregman and Luke Gregerson (2017) as the only players to win the WBC and the World Series in the same year.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: William Contreras named World Series MVP after leading Brewers to first title
