The Tampa Bay Rays gave the Milwaukee Brewers a dose of their own medicine in Game 4 to avoid getting swept Tuesday night (and Wednesday morning) in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Rays extended their season at least one more day with a Ben Williamson single to win the game, 4-3, in 12 innings.
The Rays took an early lead with an RBI double from Chandler Simpson to start the scoring in the second inning.
But as they have all season, the Brewers always seemed to have an answer. Milwaukee tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning on a double from Cooper Pratt.
The Rays immediately regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a throwing error by Brewers third baseman David Hamilton, who immediately atoned with a game-tying homer in the fifth inning to knot the game at 2-2.
The game would end tied 2-2 in the bottom of the inning, and ultimately into extra innings. As each team exhausted its bullpen and bench, the question became which team would blink first.
Tuesday turned into Wednesday as the game reached a deciding 12th inning. Pratt struck again for Milwaukee with a towering home run into the left field seats off Tampa Bay reliever Ian Seymour that put the Brewers on the brink of their first championship in franchise history.
But the Rays channeled their inner Brewer in the bottom of the 12th inning. That meant a small ball and a lot of traffic on the base paths.
Junior Caminero led off the inning with a bouncer to third base and reached safely on a throwing error by Rays backup third baseman Joey Ortiz. Liam Hicks followed with a soft chopper that found its way into left field and moved Caminero to third base.
Then Jonny DeLuca hit a flashy grounder up the middle and up to center field to drive in pinch runner Cedric Mullins. After failing to get a sacrifice bunt, Simpson lined a single into center field to load the bases with no one out.
Ben Williamson then came to the plate and hit a high chopper over the first baseman’s head and into right field to score pinch runner Nick Fortes with the winning run.
The late-game heroics set up a Game 5 on Wednesday where the Rays will once again try to put together a win, after using their scheduled Game 5 starter, Nick Martinez, in relief on Tuesday.
The Brewers will send presumptive National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob Misiorowski to the mound in an attempt to clinch their first-ever World Series title.
Gn sports
