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Rays walk it off
There will be a Game 5. The Rays win, 4-3, with an incredible come back in the 12th.
The Tampa Bay Rays have lived to fight another day. The Rays avoided the sweep and forced a World Series Game 5 thanks to pinch-hitter Ben Williamson's walk-off chopper in the 12th inning Tuesday (TB 4, MIL 3 in 12 innings). The Milwaukee Brewers still hold a commanding 3-1 series lead, though there will be a Game 5, and the Rays now have life and a little momentum.
"Can't get too far ahead of yourselves," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the Game 4 win. "I want them to enjoy tonight for sure. It was a long day at the ballpark, a lot of excitement, but they're going to enjoy it. They're going to come back focused, ready to do everything they can to put some good at-bats together against a good pitcher like (Jacob) Misiorowski."
Game 4 was much more like the tightly contested Games 1 and 2 than the high-scoring Game 3. David Hamilton's second home run of the postseason made it a 2-2 ballgame in the fifth inning, and the score remained tied until the 12th inning, when Cooper Pratt launched a go-ahead solo home run. The Brewers were three outs away from the World Series title.
The Rays then rallied in the bottom of the 12th thanks to Joey Ortiz's leadoff throwing error. Jonny DeLuca then singled in the tying run, and Williamson won it with a single that hopped over Jake Bauers at first base. Here is the swing that saved Tampa's season:
"Kind of the mindset of the team is to be ready when your name's called, and that's what's made us good the whole year," Williamson said after the game. "And to be able to come through in a spot like that felt good."
The Rays are the first team to avoid elimination in the World Series with a walk-off win since David Freese's heroics for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 in 2011. Tampa used Game 1 starter Nick Martinez and All-Star closer Bryan Baker for two innings apiece out of the bullpen in Game 4, which leaves plenty of question marks for Game 5. It was Baker's first two-inning appearance since July 9, 2024.
Nick Martinez, bullpen save the Rays from World Series elimination, but Game 4 win merely a stay of execution
Matt Snyder
The Brewers, meanwhile, failed to secure the first World Series sweep since the San Francisco Giants over the Detroit Tigers in 2012, and their record-tying eight-game postseason winning streak is over. They remain one win away from the first World Series championship in franchise history and are still in the driver's seat despite Tuesday's loss.
"I think the guys understand it's going to be hard," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Game 4. "It's going to be hard. You're playing the best team in the American League. They proved it all year long, and they came up big today. It's going to be hard. When you're achieving something like this, it's going to have its adversity."
Milwaukee was the 26th team to take a 3-0 series lead in the World Series, and the Rays are only the fifth team to force a Game 5 out of that group, joining the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics, 1937 New York Yankees, 1970 Baltimore Orioles, and 2024 Yankees. No team down 3-0 has ever forced a World Series Game 6. Tampa will try to do that on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.
Only one team, the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, has ever erased a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Here now are our winners and losers from Game 4.
Winner: Tampa's resilience
Give the Rays credit. It would have been easy to fold after going down 3-0 in the World Series, and especially after Pratt launched his go-ahead home run in the top of the 12th inning. Rather than roll over, the Rays rose to the occasion in the bottom of the 12th, with a little help from Ortiz, who short-hopped a throw to first base to begin the inning.
Ortiz nudged the door open, then the Rays kicked it down. Liam Hicks singled. DeLuca singled in the tying run. Chandler Simpson singled to load the bases. Then Williamson hit a Baltimore Tampa Chop that went clear over first base. The Rays had five hits in the first 11 innings, then four consecutive hits in the 12th inning to save their season.
"It says a lot about them," Cash said of the comeback. "I think they've shown that throughout the course of the season. Maybe not in this actual World Series to date, but we can start showing a lot more moving forward. Innings like that can create a lot of momentum for a team. That's a really good team."
Loser: Cooper Pratt
Through no fault of his own, of course. Pratt was the best player on the field for the Brewers. He went 4 for 5 in Game 4 and hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 12th. His teammates went 4 for 38 (.105) in Game 4. The rookie shortstop, who signed an eight-year extension three months before making his MLB debut, has been awfully impressive this postseason.
Here is Pratt's go-ahead homer, which ultimately went for naught:
Pratt provided the biggest swing in Brewers history, then the Rays ripped it away with their 12th-inning comeback. That makes him a loser here. His legacy swing, what should've gone down as the defining moment in what figures to be a long career, will instead go as a footnote. That's a tough pill to swallow. Pratt and the Brewers must shake it off and come back ready to play Game 5.
"This kid responds to everything," Murphy said. "He had some hiccups on defense, and he responded with a huge walk-off hit. He also almost had a winning hit tonight. He had a great night at the plate, the best of anybody at the plate. He was really locked in."
Winner: Tampa's bullpen
The bullpen has been a sore spot for Tampa all postseason. Entering Game 4, their relievers had a 4.32 ERA this postseason, and keep in mind that this has been a very low-scoring postseason (Game 3 excluded, but even that outburst was mostly contained to one inning). The postseason average is a 3.42 ERA. Bridging the gap between starter and Baker has been a real challenge for Cash these last few weeks.
On Tuesday night, though, six relievers combined to throw eight innings of one-run ball to keep Tampa's season alive. The only run was Pratt's homer off lefty Ian Seymour. This is hero's work with the season on the line:
| IP | H | R | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Nick Martinez | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Bryan Baker | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1 ⅔ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
⅓ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Ian Seymour | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Seymour's had a very tough postseason, but he was basically the last guy left in the bullpen for the Rays, and his teammates picked him up after Pratt's home run. The overall body of work was excellent. Tampa's bullpen has been anything but reliable this month and the relievers turned in their best performance of the postseason with the season on the line Tuesday.
"I can't say enough about Nick Martinez and the contributions he's made all season long. Then coming in on short rest and giving us two really solid innings," Cash said. "Also Bryan Baker, those of you that follow us know that we generally keep Bake to one inning. We knew we have to win this game. His two innings were very helpful."
How the Rays will navigate Game 5 pitching-wise, I do not know, but you have to get to Game 5 before you can worry about it, and the Rays will play a Game 5 thanks to Seymour & Co. Steven Matz and probably Seymour can give the Rays multiple innings, if needed, then they can figure it out from there. It is a problem the Rays are happy to be facing.
"We're going to get together after this [media] session and sit down and talk about pitching," Cash said after Game 4. "Going to check who's available. I'm going to guess most guys are going to say they're capable of an inning or more given it's Game 5 of the World Series, but nothing has been decided yet."
Winner: Aaron Ashby's scoreless streak
At this point in the calendar, two days off must feel like two weeks off for a reliever, and Aaron Ashby certainly looked well-rested in Game 4. Milwaukee's relief ace went seven up, seven down on an efficient 31 pitches spanning the ninth, tenth, and 11th innings on Tuesday. He's up to 18 scoreless innings this postseason. That's a new record for a reliever in a single postseason:
- Aaron Ashby, 2026: 18 and counting
- Andrew Miller, 2016: 16
- Andy Hawkins, 1984: 15 ⅓
- Goose Gossage, 1981: 14 ⅓
- Tom Hall, 1972: 14 ⅓
Ashby has surrendered five hits and three walks in those 18 innings. He's struck out 20, which feels about 10 light. These aren't empty-calorie innings at the end of blowouts either. Ashby has gotten at least five outs in his last seven appearances, and they were all super high leverage. I know he's a reliever, but Ashby is the best pitcher in the world right now.
"He was disappointed he was coming out," Murphy said about Ashby. "But I said we've got to be mindful of your health, and we've got to be mindful of winning the whole thing. If you're going to win the whole thing, you have to understand that we can't drain you today or risk injury today. He's thrown a lot."
Alas and alack, Milwaukee's seemingly impenetrable bullpen finally cracked in the 12th inning. Ortiz's error opened the door, then lefty Shane Drohan failed to retire a single batter. He faced four hitters, threw 15 pitches, and allowed four hits to lose the game.
"We thought Drohan could come in and face the lefties there. It seems like the ball was up a little bit," Murphy said.
If the Brewers have a chance to win Game 5, I'm certain Ashby and Abner Uribe (Uribe threw two innings in Game 4) will be available, but you have to wonder if their effectiveness will wane given their workloads on Tuesday. Murphy did the right thing and put the pedal to the floor in a winnable game, but it wasn't enough. The bullpen finally had an off-night.
