World Series Game 4: Rays Beat Brewers in 12 to Force Game 5

The Tampa Bay Rays stayed alive in the 2026 World Series with a dramatic 4–3 walk-off win over the Milwaukee Brewers in 12 innings at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night, cutting Milwaukee’s series lead to 3–1 and forcing a Game 5 in St Petersburg tonight. Pinch-hitter Ben Williamson’s bouncing single into right field won the game after Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt had put Milwaukee ahead with a solo home run in the top of the 12th.

The result snapped the Brewers’ eight-game postseason winning streak, one short of a record, and kept alive Milwaukee’s wait for a first World Series title.

How Did Game 4 Unfold?

The game was tight throughout and lasted four hours and 20 minutes in front of 40,514 fans, many of them travelling Brewers supporters. With the game level at 2–2 going into the 12th, Pratt, Milwaukee’s rookie shortstop, hit a solo home run off Rays reliever Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th to make it 3–2. It threatened to make the Brewers the first team to sweep both a best-of-seven League Championship Series and the World Series, according to MLB.com.

Seymour then kept the damage to one run. In the bottom of the inning, a throwing error by Milwaukee infielder Joey Ortiz opened the door, and a series of singles levelled the score before Williamson chopped a ball off the artificial turf into right field to bring home the winning run off Shane Drohan. Seymour was credited with the win and Drohan with the loss.

“We’ve got one more day,” Seymour said after the game, according to MLB.com. “Now let’s make it two more days.”

How Rare Was the Rays’ Comeback?

MLB.com noted that there had been 16 previous walk-off wins in World Series history by a team facing elimination, but the only previous team to walk off while facing a sweep was the 1910 Chicago Cubs. Tampa Bay was the 44th team to fall 3–0 behind in a best-of-seven series and only the 11th to force a Game 5. Only four teams have come back to force a Game 6 from that position, and none in the World Series.

Brewers captain Christian Yelich took the defeat in his stride. “If you want to win a championship, you’re supposed to survive some hard things,” he said. “It’s supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to test you.”

How Did We Get Here?

• Game 1 (Milwaukee): Brewers 3, Rays 2
• Game 2 (Milwaukee): Brewers 5, Rays 4. Our Game 2 report has the details.
• Game 3 (St Petersburg): Brewers 10, Rays 1
• Game 4 (St Petersburg): Rays 4, Brewers 3 (12 innings)

The Brewers arrived in the Fall Classic after sweeping their League Championship Series, while the Rays reached their third World Series in franchise history. Our series preview looks at how both teams were built.

What Happens in Game 5?

Game 5 starts at 8pm Eastern Time tonight (00:00 GMT on Thursday) at Tropicana Field and will be shown on FOX in the United States. MLB.com reported that Milwaukee is looking to right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, known as “Miz”, to deliver a title-clinching bounce-back performance after costly errors in Game 4.

If the Rays win again, the series returns to Milwaukee for Game 6 on Friday 30 October and, if needed, Game 7 on Saturday 31 October. A Brewers win tonight would give the franchise its first championship since the franchise began in 1969.

New to the format? Our explainer on how the MLB postseason and World Series work covers home-field advantage, extra-inning rules and how a best-of-seven series is decided.

Featured image: Tropicana Field, St Petersburg, Florida, by Yamasztuka / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. File photo from 2023; image licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

• MLB.com — Rays win World Series Game 4 (28 October 2026).
• MLB.com — Rays’ ‘next man up’ attitude serves them well in comeback win (28 October 2026).
• USA Today — Rays survive in World Series with wild 12th inning walk-off vs Brewers (28 October 2026).