On a Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay stood three outs from being swept out of the World Series, and the margin between a season's end and its survival came down to a single swing of the bat. Ben Williamson, summoned from the bench, chopped a bouncing ball into right field with the bases loaded in the 12th inning, and the Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 in Game 4. It is a moment that recalls how thin the line is between collapse and continuation in a long contest, and how a team can rediscover itself after playing well below its own standard.
Rays Survive Elimination Against Brewers, Williamson's 12th-Inning Chop Wins World Series Game 4, 4-3
Three outs from a sweep, the Rays found a Baltimore chop
Mark
Why does this one game carry so much weight when the Rays are still down in the Series?
Mimi
Because of how close it was to ending. They were three outs from a sweep, and Pratt's homer in the 12th looked like the final blow. Instead they scored the tying and winning runs in the same inning.
Luke
Let's keep the scale straight, though. One win staves off elimination. The source doesn't say the Rays are favored now, only that they play again Wednesday.
Mark
What's the history angle?
Mimi
There were 16 earlier walk-off wins by teams facing elimination. Only the 1910 Cubs did it facing a sweep, as the Rays did.
Luke
That's a statistic about rarity, not a prediction. It tells us how unusual the comeback was, nothing about Game 5.
Mark
The Rays looked like a different team in the first three games, didn't they?
Mimi
Yes. The defense, the plate approach and the baserunning that carried them all season had vanished. In Game 4 they began playing that way again, starting with the second inning.
Luke
The characterization of earlier games as poor is the writer's assessment. The facts we have are the losses and that Game 3 was a collapse.
Mark
And Milwaukee's side?
Mimi
Hamilton's error gave the Rays a lead and then his homer tied it. Turang's double play and Seymour's pop-out of Bauers kept them in it. They were one inning from a title push.
Luke
What we don't know is how this affects Milwaukee going into Wednesday. The source is silent on that.
The Pulse
- Tampa Bay trailed the Brewers and stood three outs from elimination when the 12th inning arrived.
- Milwaukee's rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt launched a solo homer that sent the Brewers pouring onto the field in celebration.
- A pinch-hit chance with the bases loaded turned the night around as Ben Williamson's chopper scored the winning run.
- The Rays now face their final home game of 2026 on Wednesday, hoping to force the Series back to Milwaukee.
On a Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay stood three outs from being swept out of the World Series, and the margin between a season's end and its survival came down to a single swing of the bat. Ben Williamson, summoned from the bench, chopped a bouncing ball into right field with the bases loaded in the 12th inning, and the Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 in Game 4. It is a moment that recalls how thin the line is between collapse and continuation in a long contest, and how a team can rediscover itself after playing well below its own standard.
Tampa Bay was three outs from being swept out of the World Series on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field when Ben Williamson came off the bench. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th, he hit a high bouncer into right field, and pinch-runner Nick Fortes scored the winning run. The Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 and kept their season alive.
The Brewers had seemed close to history. Cooper Pratt hit a solo homer off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th, and Milwaukee's players rushed the field. Only moments later, Jonny DeLuca and Chandler Simpson singled to load the bases, setting the stage for Williamson. Milwaukee had been chasing its first title and a rare sweep of both a league championship series and the Series.
The Rays had played poorly through the first three games, but in Game 4 they began to find their form. Simpson's double and DeLuca's dash home gave them an early lead, and a misplay by Brewers third baseman David Hamilton put them ahead again. Hamilton atoned with a late homer, and from there both bullpens and defenses held firm until Williamson's hit.
The win is historically rare. Only the 1910 Cubs had previously won a World Series walk-off while facing a sweep. Tampa Bay now hosts its final home game of 2026 on Wednesday, hoping to push the Series back to Milwaukee.
Tampa Bay was three outs from being swept out of the World Series on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, and then Ben Williamson came off the bench. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th, he hit a high bouncer, a true Baltimore chop, into right field. Pinch-runner Nick Fortes scored the winning run, the Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 in Game 4, and "Walking on Sunshine" played over the speakers.
The Brewers had appeared to be on the verge of history. Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt hit a solo homer off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th, and the many Milwaukee fans who had made their way into the Trop gave their loudest roar of the night. Brewers players poured out of the dugout to celebrate. It was the biggest of Pratt's four hits in the game. Milwaukee was chasing the first title in franchise history, and also trying to become the first team to win nine straight in a playoff run and the first to sweep both a best-of-seven LCS and a World Series.
Seymour had already made one out count. After Jackson Chourio doubled in the 12th and gave the Brewers a chance to break the game open, Seymour got NLCS MVP Jake Bauers to pop out. That mattered when the Rays came to bat. With two aboard and Shane Drohan pitching, Jonny DeLuca singled in the tying run, and Chandler Simpson singled to load the bases. Williamson then hit for the winning run.
The history is narrow. There had been 16 earlier walk-off wins in World Series history by a team facing elimination. Thirteen came in extra innings, and six came in the 11th or later. But the only previous team to do it while facing a sweep, as these Rays were, was the 1910 Cubs.
The Rays had played so poorly through the first three games that it was easy to forget how good they are. The defense, the plate approach and the aggressive-but-not-reckless baserunning that carried them to the top of the AL East and to the AL pennant had vanished. They beat themselves in Games 1 and 2, then collapsed in Game 3. In Game 4 they began to fix it early. In the second inning, Simpson doubled and DeLuca ran all the way home from first for a 1-0 lead.
The Brewers answered in the top of the fourth, when Pratt doubled to left and scored Sal Frelick from first to make it 1-1. Tampa Bay retook the lead in the bottom half by putting pressure on Milwaukee's defense, a reversal of the Series so far. Third baseman David Hamilton fielded a DeLuca grounder, missed the tag on Junior Caminero as he moved from second to third, then threw wildly to first, and Caminero scored. A replay challenge confirmed Hamilton's double misplay, though whether Caminero ran outside the path to third was not reviewable. It was 2-1. Hamilton atoned within minutes, hitting a deep solo shot into the right-field seats in the fifth to tie it at 2.
From there both bullpens and defenses held. In the sixth, Yandy Díaz led off with a single, but Brewers second baseman Brice Turang snared Jonathan Aranda's 101.8-mph liner and threw to first in time to catch Díaz off the bag for a double play. Rays starter Nick Martinez was pressed into two scoreless relief innings, part of an all-hands effort. Closer Bryan Baker added two scoreless innings of his own. Simpson made a leaping catch at the left-field wall on a Garrett Mitchell fly ball that could have gone for extra bases, and a replay review overturned Pratt's apparent steal of second to end the ninth. Tyler Wells and Cam Booser also recorded big outs.
The Rays play their final home game of 2026 on Wednesday, hoping to push the Series back to Milwaukee.
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