The Tampa Bay Rays refused to be swept. Facing elimination and trailing in the bottom of the 12th inning, Tampa Bay strung together four straight singles, capped by pinch hitter Ben Williamson's walk-off hit to right field, to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in Game 4 of the World Series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night, October 27, 2026. The Rays Brewers Game 4 classic, which finished just after 12:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday after more than four hours, cut Milwaukee's series lead to 3-1 and forced a Game 5 on Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Milwaukee had been three outs from its first championship in franchise history. Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt, 22, had led off the top of the 12th with a solo home run to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead, and the visitors' dugout poured onto the field in celebration. Instead, the Rays answered immediately, took advantage of a throwing error, and never let the Brewers record an out in the bottom of the 12th. Williamson, who had gone 1 for 15 in the postseason before his at-bat, chopped the first pitch he saw into right field to score pinch runner Nick Fortes and keep Tampa Bay's season alive.
The game was tied 2-2 through nine innings, and neither side scored in the 10th or 11th. Then Pratt, a sixth-round pick in 2023 who made his major-league debut in June, changed the night. Facing Rays reliever Ian Seymour on a 2-2 count, he drove a sweeper into the left-field seats for his first home run of these playoffs. It was his fourth hit of the game, and MLB researcher Sarah Langs noted that no rookie before him had collected four hits in a World Series game that could have clinched the title.
Milwaukee's celebration did not last long. Caminero led off the bottom of the 12th with a grounder to third, and Ortiz threw the ball away, allowing Caminero to reach first and chasing Brewers reliever Antonio Senzatela from the game. Milwaukee brought in left-hander Shane Drohan, making his first relief appearance since October 15. He did not retire a batter. Liam Hicks singled to left, sending the already limping Caminero bursting from first to third. Caminero came out of his slide visibly limping and was replaced by pinch runner Cedric Mullins.
Jonny DeLuca then singled up the middle to score Mullins and tie the game at 3-3. Chandler Simpson followed with another single to load the bases with nobody out. Fortes entered as a pinch runner for Hicks, and Milwaukee deployed a five-man infield. Williamson, sent up to pinch hit for Victor Mesa Jr., chopped a high-bouncing ball into right field on the first pitch he saw. Fortes crossed the plate with his right arm held high at 12:30 a.m., and the Rays mobbed Williamson beyond the first-base bag as "Walking on Sunshine" blared from the stadium speakers. The final line read: Rays 4, Brewers 3, with Tampa Bay out-hitting Milwaukee 9-8 and the crowd of 40,514, many of them Brewers fans waving yellow towels and wearing cheeseheads, left stunned.
The Rays arrived at Game 4 in a hole entirely of their own series' making. Milwaukee had won the first three games, including a 10-1 rout in Game 3 on Monday night in which Tampa Bay's pitching was overwhelmed by an eight-run fifth inning, all with two outs. A sweep would have given the Brewers their first World Series title and ended a championship drought that stretches back to the franchise's days as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. No Milwaukee team has won a World Series since the Braves in 1957, and this Brewers franchise had only reached the Fall Classic once before, losing in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.
Game 4 itself was a pitchers' duel for long stretches, and the early scoring told the story of two teams trading small advantages. Simpson gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a double off Brewers starter Dustin May that brought DeLuca around from first base. Milwaukee tied it in the fourth against Rays starter Griffin Jax when Sal Frelick singled with two outs and came around on Pratt's double. Tampa Bay moved back in front in the bottom of the fourth when Caminero singled to chase May, advanced on a groundout, and scored when DeLuca hit a hard grounder to David Hamilton, whose throw bounced past first baseman Jake Bauers for an error. Hamilton, Milwaukee's No. 9 hitter, then tied the game again in the fifth, driving an 0-2 fastball from Jax into the right-field seats for his second home run of the postseason.
From there, the bullpens took over. Jax lasted four innings, giving up four hits, two runs and two walks with six strikeouts. May lasted three innings, giving up three hits and two runs with three strikeouts. Aaron Ashby was outstanding for Milwaukee in defeat, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with no hits and three strikeouts, while Tyler Wells and Nick Martinez kept Tampa Bay in the game through the middle and late innings. Seymour, despite giving up Pratt's 12th-inning home run, picked up the win after pitching the 12th. Drohan took the loss, allowing four hits and one run without recording an out. The game also carried an emotional subplot for Fortes: the DeLand native had flown home to Jupiter, Florida, on Sunday morning, hours after Game 2, for the birth of his first child, Noa, then driven back across the state to rejoin the Rays for Game 3.
The 12th inning will be remembered as a study in how quickly a championship can slip away. Milwaukee needed only three outs, and Pratt's home run seemed to have delivered the title. The Brewers had already poured out of the dugout once. But baseball's cruelty is that a single error can reopen a game, and Ortiz's throw did exactly that. "There's no excuse. Not one at all," Ortiz said afterwards. "I should make that play every time."
What followed was relentless rather than lucky. Hicks, DeLuca, Simpson and Williamson each singled, and Drohan, who had not pitched in relief since October 15, could not stop the bleeding. "It's definitely hard. I'm human, but I knew what I was walking into. I just didn't get the job done," Drohan said. He permitted one run on four hits without retiring a batter, and the five-man infield Milwaukee used for Williamson's at-bat could not cut off a chopper that found right field.
The other shadow over the inning was Caminero's health. He was already limping before the 12th, yet he burst from first to third on Hicks's single and slid hard into the bag. Rays manager Kevin Cash was asked about his star third baseman afterwards and left no doubt about the plan for Game 5. "He'll play tomorrow with one leg. I'll make sure of it," Cash said. The injury status of Caminero was not immediately available after the game, so his condition for Wednesday night remains a central question for Tampa Bay, even as the Rays celebrate staying alive.
Williamson, the unlikely hero, framed the win as a statement about the whole group. "Just shows the resiliency of this group," he said afterwards. "We continue to fight and that's been the motto this series and this whole season." It was his first hit of the World Series in 19 plate appearances, and it came in the biggest at-bat of his career to date.
His teammates were just as defiant. "Gritty. Gritty. We're dangerous," Rays reliever Nick Martinez said. "We have our backs against the wall. We know what we have to do. We can win four in a row. This team is capable of doing that." On the other side, the Brewers refused to panic. "We said we were going to keep going until there were no more games left, right?" first baseman Jake Bauers said. "So there's still games left. So we'll keep going." That balance, defiance from the team that survived and calm from the team that still leads, sets up Game 5 perfectly.
This result matters because it changes the shape of the series without changing who is in front. Milwaukee still needs only one win, and Tampa Bay still needs three, but the psychological weight has shifted. A sweep would have been a coronation. A 3-1 series, with the Rays winning a 12-inning thriller after trailing in the final frame, gives Tampa Bay belief and gives Milwaukee something to think about. The Brewers were three outs from champagne and got none of them. That is the kind of night that can linger, especially with a young team carrying the pressure of a first title.
It also matters for the sport beyond this series. Reports around the game noted that a labour dispute is expected to close down baseball for months after this season, which makes every extra game precious for fans. Game 4 gave them more than four hours of high-stakes baseball, a rookie star in Pratt, a walk-off hero in Williamson, and a Game 5 to look forward to on Wednesday night. For a series that had threatened to end quietly, that is a significant rescue.
Game 5 is set for Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field, broadcast on FOX. Jacob Misiorowski is scheduled to start for Milwaukee, while Rays manager Kevin Cash had not chosen a starter at the time of writing. If the Brewers win, they secure the championship. If the Rays prevail, the series heads back to Milwaukee for Game 6, and Tampa Bay's talk of winning four in a row will start to look less like bravado and more like a plan.
The other watch item is Caminero. His limp after the slide into third was obvious, and Tampa Bay's offence runs through him. Cash's promise that he will play with one leg if necessary tells you how important he is, but it does not tell you how effective he can be. Milwaukee, meanwhile, must regroup quickly. Drohan's difficult night and Ortiz's error will be examined, but the Brewers' larger truth remains: they have won three games in this series and need one more. One more win, on Wednesday night, and none of Game 4's pain will matter.
What was the final score of Rays Brewers Game 4? The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in 12 innings at Tropicana Field on October 27, 2026.
Who hit the walk-off in Game 4? Pinch hitter Ben Williamson singled to right field in the bottom of the 12th inning, scoring pinch runner Nick Fortes with the winning run.
Who leads the World Series after Game 4? Milwaukee leads the best-of-seven series 3-1. The Brewers won the first three games, including a 10-1 win in Game 3.
When is World Series Game 5? Game 5 is on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, broadcast on FOX. Jacob Misiorowski is scheduled to start for Milwaukee.
Have either the Rays or the Brewers ever won a World Series? No. Neither franchise has won a championship. The Brewers' only previous World Series appearance was a seven-game loss to the Cardinals in 1982, and no Milwaukee team has won since the Braves in 1957.
Related coverage on US News Pulse: World Series Game 4: Brewers one win from first title as Rays fight to survive, Brewers rout Rays 10-1 in World Series Game 3 to move one win from title, and Stephen Curry perfect night powers Warriors past Nuggets 134-114 for first win.
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