The Tampa Bay Rays avoided elimination in the World Series on Tuesday night, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 13th inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in Game 4 at Tropicana Field.
The win keeps Tampa Bay’s season alive and sends the series to a Game 5 on Wednesday night. The Brewers had been three outs away from their first World Series title in franchise history after 22-year-old Cooper Pratt broke a 2-2 tie with a solo home run in the top of the 13th.
Milwaukee’s lead didn’t last. An error allowed Junior Caminero to reach base to open the bottom of the 13th. Liam Hicks followed with a single that moved Caminero to third, and Jonny DeLuca drove in the tying run with an RBI single to center field.
Chandler Simpson, who had opened the scoring earlier in the game with an RBI double, loaded the bases with no outs. Ben Williamson, the last player left on Tampa Bay’s bench after the Rays had used up their other options to keep the game going, delivered the walk-off hit with a pinch-hit single.
Before the late-inning turnaround, Pratt had been the standout of the night for Milwaukee, going 4-for-5 with an RBI double and the go-ahead home run in the 13th.
A season on the brink for both sides
The Brewers entered the night looking to close out the series after taking a commanding 3-0 lead, hoping to repeat the sweep they pulled off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Milwaukee had the best record in the regular season at 103-59 and had lost just one postseason game all year, Game 3 of the ALDS against the San Diego Padres.
It had been 44 years since the Brewers’ last World Series appearance, a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.
Game 4 carried extra weight for Tampa Bay after a rough Game 3, in which Milwaukee scored eight runs with two outs in the fifth inning to take control of the series.
How the game unfolded
Simpson put the Rays ahead early, doubling down the right field line off Brewers starter Dustin May to score DeLuca for a 1-0 lead. Pratt answered with a two-out double of his own to tie the game.
Tampa Bay regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when DeLuca put the ball in play and Brewers third baseman David Hamilton threw it away, allowing Caminero to score and make it 2-1.
Hamilton made up for the miscue in the top of the fifth, leading off the inning with a solo home run to right-center field off Rays pitcher Griffin Jax, ending an otherwise solid start for Jax.
Both bullpens then held firm, with neither team allowing a run through the rest of regulation, pushing the game into extra innings. Milwaukee reliever Shane Drohan, who hadn’t pitched in a month because of injury issues and had struggled in his last outing, gave up the decisive rally in the 13th.
With the win, the Rays prevented a sweep and set up a Game 5 showdown Wednesday night between the two pennant winners.
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