Ben Williamson didn’t just keep the Tampa Bay Rays alive Tuesday night - he finished the job.
With the World Series hanging by a thread, Williamson came off the bench and lined a walk-off single in the 12th inning as the Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in Game 4 at St. Petersburg, Fla. The win pushed the series to Game 5 on Wednesday, even though Milwaukee still leads the best-of-seven 3-1.
Tampa Bay was staring at the end after rookie Cooper Pratt cracked his second big hit of the night, a homer to start the top of the 12th and put the Brewers ahead 3-2. But the Rays answered immediately in the bottom half and flipped the game in a hurry.
Junior Caminero opened the inning by reaching on a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz, a miscue that ended Antonio Senzatela’s night. Shane Drohan took over and quickly got into trouble, allowing a single to Liam Hicks that put runners on the corners. Jonny DeLuca then chopped a single up the middle to bring home pinch runner Cedric Mullins and tie it at 3-3.
From there, Chandler Simpson singled to load the bases, and Williamson sent a ball into right field to score pinch runner Nick Fortes and end it.
Drohan was charged with one run on four hits and didn’t retire a batter.
The Brewers had grabbed their 12th-inning lead on Pratt’s blast to left-center off Ian Seymour, who was tagged for one run on two hits in an inning. Pratt had already done damage earlier, too, doubling in a run in the fourth as part of a four-hit night.
The Brewers also got a homer from David Hamilton, who made up for an earlier mistake by leading off the fifth with a shot to right center off Griffin Jax. That blast pulled Milwaukee even at 2-2 and knocked Jax out of the game.
Tampa Bay had taken control early behind Simpson, who ripped an RBI double in the second inning and later made one of the night’s biggest defensive plays with a leaping catch at the wall in the ninth. DeLuca reached on a fielder’s choice to begin the second, then scored all the way from first on Simpson’s double into the right field corner.
Milwaukee responded in the fourth when Sal Frelick singled with two outs and came home on Pratt’s double into the left field corner to tie it 1-1. The Rays quickly punched back in the bottom of the inning when Hamilton’s throw toward first sailed wide, letting Caminero score from second for a 2-1 Tampa Bay lead.
Jackson Chourio also kept adding to his remarkable World Series start, finishing with two hits and raising his total to 10 through the first four games. The only other player to do that in a World Series was Babe Ruth in 1928.
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