The Milwaukee Brewers came within three outs of their first World Series championship Tuesday night before the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning to win Game 4 and keep the series alive.
Milwaukee entered the inning with a 3-2 lead after rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the 12th, capping an eight-game winning streak through the playoffs against the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. The Brewers, who won 100 games in the regular season, had led the series 3-0 and needed just one more win to clinch.
Manager Pat Murphy sent Antonio Senzatela to the mound to start the 12th before turning to reliever Shane Drohan, who had not pitched in a competitive game since Oct. 15. The inning unraveled quickly: Junior Caminero reached on an error, Liam Hicks singled him to third, Jonny DeLuca tied the game with a single to center, and Chandler Simpson loaded the bases with another single. Ben Williamson then hit a ground ball that took a high bounce over first base, driving in the winning run.
Murphy had other late-inning relievers already spent by that point, including Aaron Ashby, who threw more than two innings, Trevor Megill, DL Hall, Abner Uribe and JoJo Romero. One option Murphy did not use was Jacob Misiorowski, the likely National League Cy Young Award winner, who was scheduled to start Game 5 on Wednesday.
According to Brewers beat reporter Curt Hogg, Murphy said after the game that he did not want to use Misiorowski in a one-run extra-innings game while Milwaukee still held a 3-0 series lead.
“Yeah, it’s all hands on deck,” Murphy said of Game 5. “You can write it up and hope that they perform like the back of their baseball card, but that doesn’t always happen. You go with what you believe is the deal. I trust our guys. I trust them. They put themselves in a position to win.”
The Brewers remain favorites to close out the series, particularly with Misiorowski set to start Game 5. But with the bullpen largely used up and Ashby’s velocity reportedly dipping late in his outing, Milwaukee may have less in reserve if the game turns into another late-inning battle. A loss would send the series back to Tampa Bay for a potential Game 6.
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