The Tampa Bay Rays refused to let their season end on Tuesday night. Pinch-hitter Ben Williamson lined a single into right field in the bottom of the 12th inning, scoring pinch-runner Nick Fortes and giving the Rays a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the World Series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Milwaukee had stood three outs from the first championship in franchise history after rookie Cooper Pratt’s leadoff home run in the top of the 12th. Instead, Tampa Bay answered with four consecutive singles against reliever Shane Drohan, who failed to record an out, and forced the series back for a Game 5 on Wednesday night. The Brewers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-1.
FAKTA
- Final score: Tampa Bay Rays 4, Milwaukee Brewers 3 (12 innings)
- Match: World Series Game 4, Tuesday 27 October 2026
- Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida, in front of 40,514 fans
- Winning hit: Ben Williamson’s pinch-hit single in the 12th inning, scoring Nick Fortes
- Series: Milwaukee leads 3-1
- Next game: Game 5, Wednesday 28 October at St. Petersburg; Jacob Misiorowski expected to start for Milwaukee
Rays Brewers Game 4: How the 12th Inning Unfolded
Pratt, the 22-year-old rookie shortstop, opened the 12th by driving a 2-2 sweeper from Ian Seymour 396 feet over the left-centre wall. It was his fourth hit of the night, a mark no rookie had ever reached in a potential World Series clincher, and it put Milwaukee 3-2 ahead. Pratt had hit only three home runs during the entire regular season.
The bottom half unravelled quickly for Milwaukee. Junior Caminero reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz, ending Antonio Senzatela’s outing. Drohan came on and surrendered four straight singles without recording an out: Liam Hicks put runners on the corners, Jonny DeLuca’s single up the middle scored pinch-runner Cedric Mullins to level the game at 3-3, Chandler Simpson’s single loaded the bases, and Williamson’s single to right brought Fortes home.
It was only the fourth time in World Series history that a team facing elimination won a game in extra innings.
A Night of Twists Before Extra Innings
Tampa Bay struck first in the second inning, when Simpson’s double into the right-field corner scored DeLuca. Milwaukee levelled in the fourth through Sal Frelick’s single and Pratt’s run-scoring double, with Frelick racing all the way home. The Rays moved back in front in the bottom of the fourth after Caminero scored on David Hamilton’s fielding error, but Hamilton made amends by leading off the fifth with a solo home run off Griffin Jax to make it 2-2.
Starting pitchers Dustin May of Milwaukee and Jax of Tampa Bay both left early, and the bullpens took over from there. Milwaukee reliever Aaron Ashby stretched his postseason scoreless streak to 18 innings, a record for a relief pitcher, passing the 16 scoreless frames managed by Andrew Miller in 2016.
Jackson Chourio added two more hits for Milwaukee, taking his tally to 10 across the first four games of the series, a feat previously achieved only by Babe Ruth in 1928. Simpson also kept Tampa Bay alive in the ninth with a leaping catch at the wall on Garrett Mitchell’s long drive.
What Comes Next
Milwaukee still holds three chances to close out the series, and the club is expected to turn to hard-throwing Jacob Misiorowski in Game 5 on Wednesday night in St. Petersburg. A win would deliver the franchise’s first title; the Brewers last reached the World Series in 1982.
The missed sweep also ended Milwaukee’s shot at a rare piece of history, as no team has swept both a best-of-seven league championship series and a best-of-seven World Series since the format expanded in 1985. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds were the last club to go unbeaten through both rounds.
For Tampa Bay, the task remains steep but simple: win on Wednesday and send the series back to Milwaukee for Game 6 on Friday. Follow more of Watan News’ English sports coverage here.
