Rays Walk Off Brewers 4-3 in 12 Innings, Dodge a World Series Sweep

The Milwaukee Brewers were one swing from a champagne celebration. Instead, the Tampa Bay Rays strung together five straight baserunners in the bottom of the 12th and walked off with a 4-3 win in World Series Game 4 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. Milwaukee still leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.

How Game 4 unfolded

It was a tight, back-and-forth night in St. Petersburg:

• 2nd inning: Chandler Simpson doubled in the first run for Tampa Bay.
• 4th inning: Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt tied it with an RBI double, and the Rays went back in front on a throwing error.
• 5th inning: David Hamilton led off with a 391-foot solo homer to make it 2-2.

Then the bullpens took over. Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, stretching his run to 18 straight scoreless postseason innings, the most ever by a reliever, according to MLB.com.

The 12th inning

In the top of the 12th, Pratt sent a sweeper from Ian Seymour over the left-field wall for a 3-2 lead. It was his first playoff homer and his fourth hit of the night, and MLB.com notes it was the first extra-inning World Series homer ever hit by a rookie.

The Rays answered right away. Junior Caminero reached on an error to lead off, and Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca and Simpson followed with singles, DeLuca's tying the game. Pinch hitter Ben Williamson, who was 1-for-15 this postseason, then lined the first pitch he saw from Shane Drohan into right field, and pinch runner Nick Fortes scored the winner.

"It just shows the resiliency of this group," Williamson said afterward.

Still a long climb for Tampa Bay

History isn't on the Rays' side. Per MLB.com, they are only the 11th team to avoid a sweep after falling behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series, and just one of those teams, the 2004 Red Sox, came all the way back to win.

Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio also has 10 hits through four games, tying Babe Ruth's 1928 mark for the most in a World Series' first four games.

What's next

• Game 5: Wednesday, October 28, at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m. ET on FOX
• Game 6 (if needed): Friday, October 30, at Milwaukee
• Game 7 (if needed): Saturday, October 31, at Milwaukee

The Brewers need one more win for their first title in franchise history.

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Sources: MLB.com · Yahoo Sports · CBS Sports