Rays Beat Brewers 4-3 in 12 Innings on Ben Williamson's Walk-Off Single to Stay Alive in the World Series
A rookie's go-ahead homer in the top of the 12th was erased by a throwing error, three singles and a pinch hitter, so Milwaukee leads 3-1 and Game 5 is Wednesday night.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026/2 min read
The Milwaukee Brewers were one win from their first championship on Tuesday night, and the Tampa Bay Rays would not let them have it. The Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 in 12 innings in Game 4 of the World Series at Tropicana Field, a game that lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes and ended on a pinch-hit single from Ben Williamson, ESPN reported.
Milwaukee still leads the series 3-1. It had arrived at Tuesday after a 10-1 win in Game 3, built on a record eight two-out runs in one inning, and had gone in front in the 12th on a home run. The Rays took it back in the same inning.
How did the Rays win World Series Game 4?
Cooper Pratt, the Brewers' 22-year-old rookie, hit a go-ahead homer in the top of the 12th for his fourth hit of the night. "That was probably one of the coolest swings of my life," he said afterward. Rays left-hander Ian Seymour was the pitcher who gave it up, and for a few minutes it looked like the end.
It was not. Junior Caminero led off the bottom half by grounding to third, where Joey Ortiz made a throwing error that Jake Bauers could not field at first. Catcher Liam Hicks singled to put runners on first and third. Jonny DeLuca then ripped a single up the middle off Shane Drohan to tie the game, Chandler Simpson's hit loaded the bases, and Williamson, pinch hitting, finished it with a walk-off single.
What happened earlier in the game?
According to Yahoo Sports, the Rays' Griffin Jax started and was pulled after a solo home run in the fifth, and the bullpen then held on. Bryan Baker threw two shutout innings in his World Series debut and Nick Martinez added two more, working through the middle of the game.
The Brewers' relievers were just as stubborn. Aaron Ashby threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings and, Yahoo said, set a major league record for consecutive scoreless innings by a reliever in a single postseason. Milwaukee's pitching had kept the game level until the 12th, when the glove failed instead of the arm. The loss also ended Milwaukee's chance to become the first team since the 1976 Reds to sweep both a league championship series and a World Series, a possibility ESPN raised in its Game 3 recap.
When is World Series Game 5?
Game 5 is on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern, again at Tropicana Field, with Milwaukee needing one win for its first championship. Jacob Misiorowski is expected to start for the Brewers, who had rallied from 4-0 down to win Game 2, as we reported at the time.
Tampa Bay has no obvious starter. Martinez was the expected choice but threw 33 pitches in Game 4, so a bullpen game is the default. The Rays have a day of momentum and a thin staff, and the Brewers have a rookie who just hit the biggest home run of his life and still lost. One of those things will decide Wednesday.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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