Rays rally in 12th to beat Brewers 4-3 and keep World Series alive

The Tampa Bay Rays kept their World Series hopes alive with a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in 12 innings, scoring twice in their final turn at bat to force Game 5. Ben Williamson supplied the winning single after Jonny DeLuca had levelled the score, according to reporting from Last Word on Sports carried by Yahoo Sports.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cg8dAHmRmk

Milwaukee had moved within three outs of a championship when Cooper Pratt homered against Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th. Tampa Bay immediately found a way back: Junior Caminero reached on an error, Liam Hicks followed with a single and DeLuca drove in the tying run.

Chandler Simpson then singled to fill the bases, giving Williamson his opportunity to finish the game. The sequence turned a 3-2 deficit into a walk-off win and reduced Milwaukee's lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-1. The Brewers' chance to complete a sweep had disappeared in the space of one half-inning.

Earlier, Simpson's second-inning double had put Tampa Bay ahead. Pratt answered with an RBI double in the fourth, and David Hamilton later homered after the Rays had regained the lead.

The Associated Press reported that Williamson entered his decisive appearance with just one hit in 15 postseason at-bats. Milwaukee brought in a fifth infielder with the bases loaded, but his hit cleared first baseman Jake Bauers. The result also ended the Brewers' eight-game winning streak.

It was a sharp change from Game 3, which Milwaukee won 10-1. AP's report of that game credited an eight-run fifth inning and six innings of one-hit pitching by Robert Gasser with putting the Brewers on the brink of their first title. Tampa Bay's response ensured that the championship would not be decided in four games.

Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at Tropicana Field. As the series schedule published by USA Today confirms, any sixth and seventh games would take place in Milwaukee. Both franchises are pursuing their first World Series championship; the Rays must now win three more games, while the Brewers still need only one.