The Rays Refused to Get Swept in the 12th Inning, the Brewers Dropped the Ball Literally, and Now Milwaukee Has to Do This History Thing All Over Again

By Dakota Jones
Desk: Society, Culture & Lifestyle, Sports & Athletics (Game Coverage & Stats)

**ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ** Milwaukee was one win from its first championship. Tampa Bay was one loss from going home. Then the 12th inning happened, and the World Series decided it had more plot left.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, after 12 innings and four hours, 20 minutes. The walk-off win cuts Milwaukee’s World Series lead to 3-1 and forces Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The title says the Brewers “dropped the ball.” To be precise: Milwaukee’s decisive mistake was an errant throw by third baseman Joey Ortiz, not a ball slipping out of someone’s hands. The distinction will not make the throw any easier to revisit.

Here’s the game in one sentence: Cooper Pratt gave Milwaukee a lead in the 12th, and Tampa Bay answered with a throwing error, three singles, and a final chopped hit that landed in right field.

Here’s the longer version, because this game lasted four hours and 20 minutes, and apparently felt it had earned the right to use every minute.

What you’ll learn: How a potential clincher turned into another game

Before Tuesday, Milwaukee led the Series 3-0. One more win would have secured the Brewers’ first championship. It also would have made them the first team ever to sweep both a best-of-seven League Championship Series and the World Series.

That was the history on the table. The Rays did not erase the Brewers’ lead, and they did not suddenly make the championship theirs. They did something more immediate: they refused to let the Series end Tuesday.

The 4-3 result leaves Milwaukee ahead 3-1. Game 5 is Wednesday night, October 28, at the Trop, at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

That is the clean scoreboard version. The 12th inning was not clean.

Top of the 12th: Pratt puts Milwaukee one run ahead

Cooper Pratt, Milwaukee’s rookie shortstop, led off the top of the 12th against Ian Seymour. Pratt already had three hits. He added the one that briefly looked like it might be remembered as the final swing of the Series: a go-ahead solo home run.

The homer put Milwaukee ahead, 3-2. It was also the latest go-ahead home run by inning in a potential World Series clincher. A small historical footnote, perhaps. A rather large moment for anyone watching the ball leave the park.

Pratt summed up the hit and the result with admirable economy: “That was probably one of the coolest swings of my life. But it’s over.”

It was not over yet. Jackson Chourio doubled with two outs, bringing the Brewers another chance to widen the lead. His 10 hits tied Babe Ruth’s 1928 mark for the most hits in a player’s first four games of a World Series. Seymour then got NLCS MVP Jake Bauers to pop out.

That out mattered. The Rays entered the bottom of the 12th down one, not more. Seymour had limited the damage after Pratt’s homer and Chourio’s double. Tampa Bay still had to produce a run. First, it needed a baserunner.

Bottom of the 12th: The Rays turn contact into a walk-off

Junior Caminero reached on an errant throw by Brewers third baseman Joey Ortiz. It was Milwaukee’s second costly error at third base that night. David Hamilton had made one in the fourth.

The Rays took the opening. Liam Hicks singled, moving Caminero to third. Cedric Mullins came in as the pinch-runner at third. Jonny DeLuca followed with the game-tying single.

Now it was 3-3.

Chandler Simpson singled next, loading the bases. Then Tampa Bay turned to pinch-hitter Ben Williamson. The 14th and final Rays position player to enter the game. With a chance to end it, Williamson chopped a walk-off single into right field off Shane Drohan.

Ball in play. Run home. Game over.

Williamson’s postgame assessment was short enough to fit neatly on the scoreboard: “Tonight, good things happened.”

That is one way to describe a walk-off hit in the 12th inning. Another is that the Rays found a way through a game that had given them no shortage of chances to fall behind and stay there.

Rays manager Kevin Cash called the inning “maybe the most important inning of our season.” “Maybe” is doing very little work there. The Rays were facing elimination. The Brewers had just retaken the lead. The bases loaded, and Williamson came through. That inning was the game’s hinge.

Why this win belongs in the history book

The Rays’ comeback adds several rare entries to the World Series record book.

It was the 17th World Series walk-off win by a team facing elimination. The most recent before Tuesday was the 2011 Cardinals’ win, delivered by David Freese.
It was only the second World Series walk-off win by a team facing a sweep. The only earlier team to do it was the 1910 Cubs.
Tampa Bay became the 11th team to force a Game 5 after falling behind 0-3. No team has ever even forced a Game 6 from a 0-3 deficit in the World Series.

Those facts do not mean the Rays have completed an historic comeback. They have not. They have forced another game. That is the achievement, and it is enough for tonight.

The mountain in front of Tampa Bay remains steep. The Rays need three more wins to take the championship; Milwaukee needs one. The historical record is stark: no team has even forced a Game 6 in the World Series after trailing 0-3.

So the Rays have not rewritten the ending. They have simply made sure there is another chapter.

Milwaukee’s streak ends, but the pitching record keeps growing

The loss snapped Milwaukee’s eight-game postseason winning streak, which had been one shy of the record. For the Brewers, Tuesday brought a narrow defeat and a missed chance to finish the job. Those are facts, not a prediction about what comes next.

Aaron Ashby’s work offers another striking detail from the game. He became the only pitcher ever to get five or more outs in six or more consecutive postseason appearances without allowing a run. His scoreless streak reached 18 straight innings, breaking the 2016 record.

It is possible to have a record-setting night and still leave with a loss. Baseball is not especially interested in keeping the emotional accounting tidy.

The quotes, without the extra spin

The Rays’ clubhouse was looking toward Game 5 before the game had even finished settling into its place in the record book.

Reliever Ian Seymour put it plainly: “We’ve got one more day. Now let’s make it two more days.”

Pratt had his memorable swing, then turned to the result: “That was probably one of the coolest swings of my life. But it’s over.”

And Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich offered a reminder that the Brewers’ task is not unusual in the abstract, even if the stakes are very much their own: “If you want to win a championship, you’re supposed to survive some hard things. It’s supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to test you.”

Brewers manager Pat Murphy credited Tampa Bay’s approach: “They put it in play when they needed to.”

That is not a complicated description. It is also exactly what happened in the bottom of the 12th: the Rays put the ball in play, kept the inning moving, and made Milwaukee finish the play. The Brewers did not.

Game 5: What you need to know

The next game is Wednesday night, October 28, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Game: World Series Game 5
Matchup: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Network: FOX
Series: Brewers lead, 3-1

The stakes are straightforward. A Milwaukee win gives the Brewers their first championship. A Tampa Bay win would cut the lead to 3-2, sending the Series deeper into territory no team has reached after falling behind 0-3.

Seymour’s line (one more day, then let’s make it two) captures the Rays’ immediate assignment. Not the whole comeback. Not three wins from now. Just the next game.

That is a smaller goal than winning the World Series. It is also the only one the Rays can play next.

FAQ

What was the final score of World Series Game 4?

The Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 in 12 innings.

What happened in the bottom of the 12th?

Junior Caminero reached on Joey Ortiz’s errant throw. Liam Hicks singled, Jonny DeLuca tied the game with a single, Chandler Simpson loaded the bases, and pinch-hitter Ben Williamson delivered the walk-off single.

How does the win affect the World Series?

Milwaukee leads the Series 3-1. Tampa Bay’s win forces Game 5.

Has a team ever come back from 0-3 to win the World Series?

No. No team has even forced a Game 6 in the World Series after falling behind 0-3.

When and where is Game 5?

Wednesday night, October 28, at Tropicana Field. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

Final Thoughts

The Rays did not solve the World Series in one night. They solved one game, one inning, and finally one run. The Brewers still hold a 3-1 lead, and Milwaukee remains one win from its first championship. But Tuesday’s finish changed the immediate question from whether Tampa Bay would be swept to whether it can make the Brewers wait again.

The answer will come Wednesday at the Trop. For now, the verdict is simple: Milwaukee had the lead in the 12th. Tampa Bay had the last hit.

For more coverage, visit the LD3 Productions news desk.

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