Rays Force Decider After 12-Inning Rally Stuns Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers were three outs from their first championship on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay erased a one-run deficit in the bottom of the 12th inning to win 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 40,514 at Tropicana Field, sending the World Series to a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Cooper Pratt homered to lead off the top of the 12th for Milwaukee. Brewers players spilled out of the dugout as Pratt circled the bases, and much of the crowd assumed the game was over. Ian Seymour, who surrendered the home run, retired the next three hitters and stranded a runner at second base. The Rays then batted.

Junior Caminero reached when third baseman Joey Ortiz threw the ball away. Liam Hicks singled with two strikes to push Caminino to third, and Johnny DeLuca followed with a single up the middle that scored a run. Chandler Simpson singled to load the bases. Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy kept Shane Drohan, a former Red Sox prospect who had not pitched in 11 days, on the mound. Ben Williamson, who was hitting 1 for 15 in the postseason, pinch hit and sent Drohan's first pitch to shallow right field. The tying run scored, and the Rays took the lead on the play. Williamson is the first pinch hitter with a walk-off hit in a World Series since Minnesota's Gene Larkin in Game 7 against Atlanta in 1991. "Just trying to put the ball in play. I knew he was going to try to attack me because I've been pretty passive," Williamson said. "I was just trying to move the ball and just see if a good thing happened."

Seymour, 27, grew up in Westborough and played at St. John's of Shrewsbury. He was a second-round pick by the Rays out of Virginia Tech in 2020 and made his major league debut last season. His 132 2/3 innings ranked third on the Tampa Bay staff during the regular season as he worked in the rotation and bullpen. He allowed the home run to Pratt, then held Milwaukee scoreless for the rest of the inning. "I was thinking the boys would have my back," Seymour said. "I had to find a way to keep it at one run and give us a chance."

Rays reliever Cam Booser said, "Baseball is amazing sometimes." Murphy said his players were drained after the long night. "We're in the 12th inning, and we're drained a little bit," Murphy said. Drohan, Milwaukee's seventh reliever of the night, stayed in the game until the rally. Tampa Bay used six relievers of its own.

The Rays and Brewers meet again Wednesday night in Game 5. Milwaukee will start Jacob Misierowski on regular rest. He held Tampa Bay to one run over five innings in Game 1. Rays manager Kevin Cash had not named a starter. "I'm going to guess most guys are going to say they're capable of an inning or more given it's Game 5 of the World Series," Cash said. After midnight, Brewers players walked past the Rays clubhouse on their way to the team bus while music played inside.