Rays rally in 12th to force Game 5, one win from avoiding a sweep

The Tampa Bay Rays kept their World Series alive Tuesday night, scoring twice in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 at Tropicana Field and force a Game 5 on Wednesday night. Milwaukee had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 12th on a Cooper Pratt home run off Ian Seymour, his fourth hit of the game, as the Brewers closed in on a sweep and their first championship.

With the Rays down to their final outs, Joey Ortiz's throwing error on Junior Caminero's leadoff grounder against Antonio Senzatela put a runner aboard. Liam Hicks singled off Shane Drohan, who was making his first appearance since Oct. 15, and Jonny DeLuca followed with a single to center that scored pinch-runner Cedric Mullins to tie it at 3. Chandler Simpson's single loaded the bases, and Milwaukee brought in a five-man infield. Ben Williamson, who had gone 1 for 15 in the postseason, pinch-hit for Victor Mesa Jr. and hit a chopper over first baseman Jake Bauers into right field to end it.

The Rays became the fourth team in World Series history to win an elimination game with an extra-inning comeback, according to OptaSTATS. The first three, the 1912 Red Sox, the 1986 Mets and the 2011 Cardinals, all went on to win the title. Tampa Bay is the fifth of 26 teams to win Game 4 after falling behind 3-0 in a World Series; the previous four all lost Game 5.

Pratt, a 22-year-old rookie who debuted in June, hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 12th and became the first rookie to homer in extra innings of a World Series game. David Hamilton also homered for Milwaukee. Jackson Chourio went 10 for 20 in the Series. Tampa Bay snapped Milwaukee's eight-game winning streak.

Rays manager Kevin Cash had not named a starter for Game 5, set for Wednesday night at Tropicana Field. The Brewers plan to start NL Cy Young Award favorite Jacob Misiorowski. Caminero left Tuesday's game with an ailing left foot, but said he will play Wednesday. "He'll play tomorrow on one leg. I'll make sure of it," Cash said.

The announced crowd was 40,514, with Milwaukee fans waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads. Tampa Bay wore its white home jerseys, a day after playing in Devil Rays throwbacks. Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich said, "If you want to win a championship, you've got to survive some hard things."