The ball traveled 396 feet off the bat of Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt and into the left-field bleachers in the 12th inning at Tropicana Park, seeming less like a floating orb and more like a darting dagger delivered directly to the hearts of Rays’ fans. But Tampa Bay wasn’t ready for its season to end.
These Rays can fight back, too.
With their season on life support after Pratt’s go-ahead blast, they put on pressure in the bottom of the 12th, delivering the Brewers a taste of their own medicine. And after a fielding error and four straight singles, the Rays ensured their season would live on at least another day.
Only four of the previous 25 teams to go down 3-0 in a best-of-seven World Series had even forced a Game 5. As Tuesday night gave way to Wednesday morning, the Rays became the fifth.
Here are my takeaways from Tampa Bay’s 4-3 Game 4 win.
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If anyone thought a 10-1 loss in Game 3 and a 3-0 series deficit would make the Rays roll over in Game 4, Tampa Bay made clear from the start that wouldn’t be the case.
An RBI single from Chandler Simpson gave the Rays an early lead. As they have done all year, the Brewers answered back to tie the game in the fourth. But this time, the Rays were ready to respond, answering back quickly and forcing mistakes.
Junior Caminero singled, moved to second on a groundout by Liam Hicks, then scored on an error. On a grounder by Jonny DeLuca, Caminero avoided a tag by Brewers third baseman David Hamilton, who then tried to get the speedy DeLuca at first base. The off-balance throw across the diamond was way off target, getting past first baseman Jake Bauers and allowing Caminero to score the go-ahead run.
The Brewers challenged to see if Hamilton made the tag — Caminero drifted into the infield grass to try to avoid the tag but was not ruled out of the baseline, which is not reviewable — and that was unsuccessful.
Surprisingly, the typically surehanded Brewers committed more than twice as many errors as any other team this postseason. But they often found ways to redeem themselves.
Tuesday was no different.
But the Rays countered every punch, none more important than the 12th. Another error by a Brewers third baseman, this one by Joey Ortiz, allowed Caminero to reach base to start the inning.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy turned to Shane Drohan. Hicks singled, DeLuca hit a game-tying single, Chandler Simpson loaded the bases with a single and Ben Williamson chopped a grounder over the infield, emptying the home dugout as his teammates mobbed in shallow right field, right where his chopper landed.
2. The Rookie Was Ready
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It surprised many when the Brewers gave Pratt an eight-year contract extension in April. At the time, the then-21-year-old had yet to make his MLB debut and had only a handful of Triple-A at-bats under his belt.
“I think Brewers fans will fall in love with him,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy claimed at the time.
Six months later, Pratt nearly won them the World Series.
The Milwaukee shortstop started the scoring for the Brewers with a game-tying RBI double in the fourth as “COOOOP” chants from the loud Brewers contingent in the crowd echoed through Tropicana Field.
They would get louder eight innings later, when he launched a 396-foot, game-winning solo home run off Ian Seymour in the 12th. The rookie finished the night 4-for-5 and knocked in runs in each of the last three games of the series, clearly unintimidated by baseball’s biggest stage.
3. David Hamilton Got His Redemption
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As it usually goes for these Brewers players, Hamilton quickly found a way to make up for his blunder.
In the clinching Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, it was third baseman Hamilton who was the unlikely home run hero when he came through with a solo shot off Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz to give the Brewers some breathing room and help cement their first trip to the World Series since 1982.
Hamilton only had four home runs on the year to that point, including just one in the season’s second half.
Yet in another Game 4 clinching scenario, this time in the World Series, he was back at it again.
Immediately after his fourth-inning error put the Rays ahead, Hamilton serendipitously found himself up to bat first the following inning. Griffin Jax had given the Rays everything they could have asked for to that point, holding the unrelenting Brewers offense to just a run through four innings, when manager Kevin Cash hoped he could get one more against the Brewers’ No. 9 hitter.
Hamilton had different thoughts, launching an 0-2 four-seamer at the top of the zone 391-feet for a game-tying home run. That was Jax’s final batter of the game, and the latest example of a Brewers team that never goes away.
It was also a similar scenario to Game 2 of the World Series, when an error from rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt started the Rays’ four-run first inning. In the seventh inning of that game, Pratt atoned for his mistake by finishing off the Brewers’ comeback with the game-winning RBI single.
Of course, Pratt’s best was yet to come.
4. Brewers’ Bullpen Rest Paid Off … Until The End
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After pulling out tight wins all October, the Brewers finally got to breathe a little bit in a 10-1 win in Game 3. That commanding victory almost meant they didn’t have to use any of their high-leverage relievers, who were well-rested as they waited in the wings Tuesday night.
That spelled trouble for Tampa Bay in Game 4.
The Brewers’ bullpen entered the night 8-1 with a 1.34 ERA and eight saves during the postseason. Those numbers got even better Tuesday night.
Murphy turned the game to his bullpen in the fourth inning, starting with a scoreless fourth from JoJo Romero. Abner Uribe, pitching for the 10th time this October, followed with two scoreless frames. Then came DL Hall with 1 ⅔ scoreless innings and Trevor Megill with an inning-ending strikeout, setting the stage for the incomparable Aaron Ashby. The shutdown lefty retired all seven batters he faced, running his playoff record to 18 consecutive relief innings this October.
But he could only go so long.
The Brewers’ bullpen went eight scoreless innings until the train came off the tracks when the high-leverage weapons were gone in the 12th.
4 ½. What’s Next?
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Jacob Misiorowski, the NL Cy Young favorite, is coming off his most productive outing of the postseason, though he has yet to showcase the form that made him the most unhittable starter in MLB.
The Brewers saved him for Game 5, rather than burning him in at some point in Tuesday night’s marathon, and he’ll now have a chance to deliver the Brewers their first World Series title. On the other side, the Rays had yet to reveal their Game 5 plan in the immediate aftermath of the win.
After Game 1 starter Nick Martinez pitched two innings of relief in Game 4, it’s possible that they turn to Drew Rasmussen for Game 5 on four days of rest in an effort to send the series back to Milwaukee. If they’re able to do that, they’ll make history in the process. Of the four other teams to make it to a Game 5 after going down 3-0 in the World Series, none have forced a Game 6.
