ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Milwaukee was three outs away from its first World Series title when Junior Camerino led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a grounder to third. Thousands of Brewers fans who came to Tropicana Field to witness the long-awaited moment began to applaud.
Not so fast.
Third baseman Joey Ortiz bounced the throw and the ball hit first baseman Jake Bauers’ glove for an error.
One of the most breathtaking rallies in World Series history began to unfold.
Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson and slugger Ben Williamson followed with consecutive singles on 15 pitches against rookie Shane Drohan, and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided elimination Tuesday night with a 4-3 victory that forced Game 5.
“Sometimes the game tests you. Sometimes the game makes you want to dig deep,” Brewers captain Christian Yelich said. “It’s all part of the journey, it’s all part of the experience, and it’s part of our story.”
Milwaukee rookie Cooper Pratt hit a game-clinching home run off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th for a 3-2 lead, sending the Brewers out of the dugout with enthusiasm as they looked to complete the first series sweep since 2012.
Milwaukee’s bullpen, led by seven outs of Aaron Ashby, had combined for seven straight scoreless innings, before Caminero hit Antonio Senzatela.
Ortiz grimaced.
“I have to make this play,” he said. “I have no excuses about that.”
Caminero appeared to injure his left foot but remained in the match. Brewers manager Pat Murphy called on Drohan, a 27-year-old left-hander who hadn’t pitched since the start of an inning in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on October 15.
As Pratt moved to second for the left-handed hitter, Hicks hit an opposite-field grounder through the vacant shortstop hole and into left field as Caminero slid headfirst to third.
“For a regular D, it’s right at Coop,” Drohan said of the defensive alignment.
Pinch runner Cedric Mullins replaced Caminero before DeLuca, who had made sparkling catches to deny Yelich at third and William Contreras at fourth, hit a grounder beyond the mound as Drohan tried in vain to make a behind-the-back hook. The ball bounced up the middle as Mullins tied the score at 3.
Nick Fortes ran second for the slower Hicks. After missing a bunt attempt and striking out another while taking a called hit, Simpson lined a single to center, loading the bases.
Sal Frelick came in from the left to form a five-man infield, with three defenders on the left side and everyone playing.
Williamson, who had been 1 for 15 in the postseason, homered for Victor Mesa Jr.
“It’s what you dream of as a player to be in that position,” Williamson said.
On the 367th pitch of the game, he hit a chopper that sprayed chalk from the foul line 7 feet from home plate. The ball leapt high over Bauers and onto the grass in short right field. Fortes sprinted across home plate with the winning run, then headed to first to join his jumping teammates in foul territory.
“That’s absolutely what I told him to do,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, drawing laughter.
Drohan walked away, his head bowed.
“Definitely hard. I’m human,” he said softly. “I knew what I was getting into. I just didn’t do the work there.”
Tampa Bay became the fourth team in World Series history to avoid elimination with an extra-inning comeback, according to OptaSTATS, joining the 1912 Boston Red Sox, 1986 New York Mets and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals — all of whom won titles.
“We have a lot of fight in us. We’re never going to hesitate,” Simpson said. “We were going to keep fighting until the end – the last inning, the last out, the last play, the last pitch.”
Game 5 of the best-of-seven game is Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, with NL Cy Young Award favorite Jacob Misiorowski expected to start for the Brewers. Cash said he hasn’t decided on a starter yet.
Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The previous four lost the fifth game.
Of the 43 teams that went 3-0 in any best-of-seven playoff game, the only one that bounced back to win was the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series.
“It just shows the resilience of this group,” Williamson said. “We keep fighting, and that’s the motto of this series and this whole season, is just fight.”
Caminero was replaced by Mullins at third base and limped off the field with a bad left foot. But the All-Star slugger said he will definitely play Wednesday night.
“He’ll play on one leg tomorrow. I’ll make sure of that,” Cash said.
Tampa Bay ended an eight-game winning streak for the Brewers, who were trying to become only the second team to sweep a league championship series and the World Series.
“I feel like today we played so free,” DeLuca said. “We’re in a pretty interesting position and it’s a special opportunity that we have.”
David Hamilton also scored for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio had a single and a double, improving to 10 for 20 in the series.
“When you achieve something like this, you’re going to run into difficulties,” Murphy said. “We had some things go our way yesterday. They had some things go their way today. It is what it is.”
Pratt, a 22-year-old who made his debut in June, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour to become the first rookie to hit an extra-time homer in overtime in the World Series. His green light helped the Brewers to a 5-4 victory in Game 2 after Seymour allowed Frelick’s game-tying home run.
“No one said it was going to be easy,” Pratt said.
Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 40,514, many waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads, brought a Badger State vibe to Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay returned to its white home jerseys, a day after playing in the Devil Rays’ throwbacks.
Simpson hit an RBI double against starter Dustin May in the second, but Milwaukee tied the score in the fourth against Griffin Jax when Frelick hit a two-out single and came back on Pratt’s double.
Caminero singled to lead off the bottom half to chase May and advanced on a groundout. DeLuca hit a solid grounder to Hamilton and Caminero turned to the grass to avoid the third baseman’s tag, then came home when Hamilton bounced his throw past Bauers for an error.
Hamilton, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, launched an 0-2 fastball over Jax’s letters in right field for his second home run of the postseason — half of his regular-season total and just his second since June 6.
Six scoreless innings followed before late drama in a 4-hour, 20-minute game that ended at 12:28 a.m. with the series’ first hit in extra innings since Gene Larkin’s single won Game 7 for Minnesota in 1991.
“You play Wiffle ball in the backyard with your friends and you dream of hitting a ball in the World Series,” Williamson said.
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