ST. PETERSBURG - The Tampa Bay Rays survived elimination with a 12-inning walk-off victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the World Series at Tropicana Field, becoming just the fifth team in history to force a Game 5 after falling behind 3-0 in the series.
The Rays joined the 2024 Yankees, 1970 Reds, 1937 Giants and 1910 Cubs in that exclusive group. None of those four previous teams forced a Game 6. Overall, Tampa Bay is the 44th team to fall behind 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason series and just the 11th to avoid a sweep. Of the 10 previous teams that forced a Game 5, four also forced a Game 6, two forced a Game 7, and just one - the 2004 Red Sox in the American League Championship Series - came all the way back to win the series.
The walk-off victory was the 17th by a team facing elimination in World Series history and the first since the 2011 Cardinals, when David Freese delivered on the same calendar date, Oct. 27. The only other team to walk off facing a World Series sweep was the 1910 Cubs. Of those 17 wins, 14 came in extra innings, with four going 12 innings.
Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt delivered the decisive blow, a tiebreaking home run in the 12th inning that was the 29th hit in extra innings in World Series history - and the first ever by a rookie, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Pratt also tallied four hits, making him the first rookie with four hits in a potential World Series clincher. At 22 years and 70 days old, he claimed the distinction of youngest player with a four-hit World Series game, one day after teammate Jackson Chourio, at 22 years and 229 days, had set that mark - the youngest since Joe Garagiola in 1946.
Chourio continued his historic run, recording multiple hits in each of the first four games of the series to become the 10th player ever to accomplish that feat and just the second in the past 40 years, joining Todd Zeile in 2000. His 10 hits through four games are tied for the most in that span in World Series history, matching Babe Ruth’s total from 1928. Chourio’s postseason career hit total now stands at 31 in 24 games, surpassing Andruw Jones’ record of 30 hits in 45 games for the most postseason hits before turning 23.
On the mound, Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby extended one of the most dominant stretches in postseason pitching history, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings to push his consecutive scoreless-inning total to 18 within a single postseason - the most ever by a reliever. He surpassed Andrew Miller’s 16-inning streak set in 2016. Ashby is also the only pitcher in postseason history to record at least five outs in six or more consecutive appearances without allowing a run, a feat he has now accomplished in seven straight outings.
The game also extended the World Series’ remarkable streak without a sweep to 14 consecutive Fall Classics, the longest such run in history. The last sweep came when the Giants dispatched the Tigers in 2012. Game 5 is scheduled to follow the off day, with the Rays needing three consecutive wins to complete what would be only the second comeback from a 3-0 deficit in major league postseason history.