Ben Williamson's Walk-Off Keeps the Rays Alive, and Jacob Misiorowski Gets the Ball in World Series Game 5 With the Brewers Up 3-1

The Tampa Bay Rays are still alive. Pinch-hitter Ben Williamson bounced a bases-loaded single to right field in the bottom of the 12th inning on Tuesday night, giving Tampa Bay a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the World Series and cutting Milwaukee's lead to 3-1. Game 5 is Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field, and the Brewers will hand the ball to their ace, Jacob Misiorowski, with a chance to clinch the first championship in franchise history.

The Rays, meanwhile, have not named a starter, and their pitching staff is stretched after four games in four nights and a 12-inning marathon.

How Game 4 turned

Milwaukee appeared to have the sweep in hand when Cooper Pratt hit a solo home run in the top of the 12th to make it 3-2. Then the Brewers' normally reliable defense cracked. Junior Caminero reached on a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz against reliever Shane Drohan, and Liam Hicks and Jonny DeLuca followed with singles, DeLuca's tying the game. Williamson, who had been 1-for-15 in the postseason, then delivered the winner.

The history is daunting for Tampa Bay even after the win. The Rays became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in a World Series to win Game 4. The previous four all lost Game 5.

The series so far:

The Game 5 pitching matchup

Milwaukee: Jacob Misiorowski. Manager Pat Murphy confirmed the right-hander will start, and explained that he did not want to burn Misiorowski in a one-run, extra-inning game with a 3-0 series lead. That decision cost Milwaukee nothing on Tuesday except a game, and it leaves the Brewers' best pitcher fully available on regular rest. Misiorowski allowed one run over five innings in Game 1 after a dominant regular season, and his combination of velocity and swing-and-miss stuff is the reason Milwaukee is favored to close it out.

Tampa Bay: to be announced. The Rays used Nick Martinez, their Game 1 starter, for two innings and 33 pitches in relief on Tuesday, which takes him out of consideration. Drew Rasmussen, who started Game 2, is the most likely candidate, but he would be pitching on three days' rest. A bullpen game is also possible, though the Rays' relievers absorbed a heavy load in Game 4.

Why the pitching usage matters

The 12-inning game will shape Wednesday more than the score suggests. Both bullpens were taxed, but Tampa Bay's situation is worse because it lacks a fully rested starter. If Rasmussen goes on short rest, the Rays will likely need early help from relievers who just worked deep into extra innings.

Milwaukee's path is cleaner. If Misiorowski can give them five or six strong innings, the Brewers' bullpen only needs to cover the back third of the game, and Murphy can lean on whichever high-leverage arms were spared in Game 4.

The lineups to watch

Milwaukee's offense has carried the series at the top of the order. Jackson Chourio's four-hit night in Game 3 put the Brewers one win from the title, and Pratt's 12th-inning homer showed the lower half of the lineup can do damage too. Against a short-rest starter or a parade of tired relievers, the Brewers should see plenty of opportunities early.

Tampa Bay's challenge is the opposite. The Rays have to manufacture runs against a pitcher who misses bats, which puts a premium on contact, situational hitting and running the bases aggressively. Caminero is the bat Milwaukee will pitch around when it can, and the hitters behind him need to make the Brewers pay.

Betting angle

The markets will make Milwaukee the favorite for Game 5 on the strength of the pitching mismatch, and that is justified on paper. The question for bettors is price. Teams facing elimination at home can carry emotional momentum after a walk-off, but baseball history is unsentimental about that, and the starter gap is real.

Totals deserve attention. A strong strikeout pitcher on one side and a short-rest or bullpen approach on the other can produce a lopsided scoring split, which makes team totals and first-five-innings markets more useful than the full-game total. If Tampa Bay names Rasmussen, watch his expected pitch count; an early exit would expose the Rays' tired bullpen.

Verdexed's model publishes its view on the game in the nightly MLB picks piece on the blog, with game-level probabilities at /mlb/predictions.

The fantasy angle for 2027

The World Series has no lineup decisions attached, but it does shape offseason valuations. Misiorowski's postseason has reinforced his standing as one of the most valuable young starters in baseball, and he will be among the first pitchers off the board in 2027 drafts. Pratt and Caminero have both delivered on a big stage, which tends to nudge early ADP upward. Williamson's walk-off will not change his fantasy profile, but it will be part of Rays lore for a long time.

What's next

If Milwaukee wins, it clinches its first World Series title. If Tampa Bay wins, the series heads to Game 6 with the Rays still needing two more wins and the Brewers still needing one. Either way, Wednesday hinges on whether Misiorowski can carry the Brewers deep into the game, and on how much the Rays can squeeze out of a staff running on fumes.