The Rays stayed alive in the World Series on Tuesday night, beating the Brewers 4-3 in 12 innings at Tropicana Field to force a Game 5. ESPN reported that Milwaukee was three outs from its first championship when Tampa Bay rallied in the bottom of the 12th. The box score for Game 4 bears that out. The Brewers went ahead 3-2 in the top of the inning, and the Rays answered with four hits and two runs. The game ended on a Ben Williamson single to right, with Nick Fortes scoring the winning run. Attendance was 40,514 and the game took 4:20 under a closed roof.

The cost of the win is the main thread in the coverage. CBS Sports' Matt Snyder wrote that the Rays "had to use their Game 5 starter in relief" and called the result "merely a stay of execution." That starter was Nick Martinez, who threw two scoreless innings and 33 pitches, allowing one hit and striking out one. He was 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA in 180.0 innings this season, so his role in Wednesday's game is the open question. MLB.com's Bryan Hoch focused on the bullpen's resilience, headlining his piece with the line that it proved the Rays "never out of the fight." The box score supports that. Griffin Jax started and went four innings, and six relievers covered the other eight. Bryan Baker threw two scoreless innings, Tyler Wells 1.2 scoreless, and Kevin Kelly one. Ian Seymour took the win despite giving up a homer in the 12th.

The Tampa Bay offense was thin for most of the night. It had nine hits, and only Chandler Simpson, with three, and Liam Hicks, with two, had more than one apiece. Hicks, the catcher, hit .284 with 18 homers and 82 RBI in the regular season. He went 2-for-5 on Tuesday and joined Hazel Mae on Sportsnet to talk about the comeback and the team's conversations going into Game 4. Sportsnet's quote from him was "a lot of relief," and the feed gives nothing beyond that.

Milwaukee did most of its damage with a few bats. Cooper Pratt went 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBI, and David Hamilton also homered. The Brewers' bullpen was nearly perfect until the end. Aaron Ashby threw 2.1 scoreless innings and DL Hall 1.2. Shane Drohan took the loss without recording an out in the 12th, allowing four hits and one run. The Brewers also made two errors to Tampa Bay's one.

The result leaves the Brewers, 103-59 and first in the NL Central, with a chance to finish it. They had won five straight before Tuesday and beat Tampa Bay 10-1 on Monday. The Rays were 98-64 and won the AL East. Game 5 is Wednesday at Tropicana Field. If the series continues, it moves to Milwaukee for games on October 30 and 31.