World Series 2026: Ben Williamson walks off Brewers in Rays' 12-inning comeback win to avoid sweep in Game 4

The Tampa Bay Rays still face long odds in the 2026 World Series, but they will fight another day thanks to Ben Williamson. And they just overcame long enough odds on Tuesday.Williamson, the Rays' utility infielder, hit a pinch-hit, walk-off single in the 12th inning of Game 4, allowing the Rays to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 4-3 victory. There will be a Game 5 at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday at Tropicana Field, with Milwaukee leading the series 3-1.BEN WILLIAMSONWALK-OFFRAYS SURVIVE! pic.twitter.com/bjHolx3L4m— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2026 It was the first walk-off win while facing World Series elimination since David Freese's extra-innings homer in Game 6 of the 2011 Fall Classic, per MLB.com's Sarah Langs.Only a few minutes before the walk-off, Brewers rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt hit what appeared to be the biggest home run in Brewers history, a solo blast in the top of the 12th that put the Brewers up 3-2.COOPER PRATT PUTS THE BREWERS ON THE DOORSTEP! pic.twitter.com/jZejkshf9G— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2026 The Brewers turned to left-hander Shane Drohan to get the three remaining outs. Drohan failed to record one, partially due to a mistake by the usually strong Milwaukee defense.Leading off the bottom of the 12th, Junior Caminero reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz, followed by a Liam Hicks single and a Jonny DeLuca RBI single to tie the game. One more single from Chandler Simpson loaded the bases. Then came Williamson, and it was over.No MLB team has ever come back from down 3-0 in the World Series, and it has been done only one time in any seven-game series (the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS). The Rays would need three more wins to change that.Had the Brewers won Tuesday, it would've been the first World Series sweep since 2012 (San Francisco Giants over Detroit Tigers), and they would've become the first team in MLB history to sweep both the championship series and the World Series. The Rays' win snapped an eight-game postseason winning streak for Milwaukee, which tied an MLB record.The Rays won a marathon gameEven before three rounds of extra innings, Game 4 had enough drama to make it the most competitive game of this series. The Rays struck first in the second inning on a Chandler Simpson double that scored Jonny DeLuca from first base. The Brewers tied the game in the fourth inning on a similar sequence involving Sal Frelick and Pratt, with the rookie notching an RBI double to score Frelick from first. The two teams exchanged another run over the next inning, with Junior Caminero scoring thanks to a missed tag and an errant throw by Brewers third baseman David Hamilton. It's arguable, however, that Caminero benefited from a few more feet of width in the basepath than the rulebook allows. But the Brewers could challenge only whether the tag was made, and they lost. David Hamilton wasn't able to make the tag on Junior Caminero and he ends up scoring after the throwing error to give the Rays the lead in the 4th pic.twitter.com/oJ44uIfWVb— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2026 In the top of the fifth, Hamilton found immediate redemption with a solo homer off Rays starter Griffin Jax to tie the game. It was only the third home run of this entire World Series.DAVID HAMILTON!WE'RE TIED AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/KyWsGoFz2z— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2026 At that point, the Rays were facing a dire situation, even in a tie game. With three more games to win, they wanted a long start from Jax. They got only four-plus innings, as he got the hook after Hamilton's homer. The Rays were facing the venerable Milwaukee bullpen, whose top arms all rested in Game 3, thanks to the Brewers' offensive onslaught.The Brewers were also making better contact overall and wound up posting 12 of the 13 hardest-hit balls in the game by exit velocity, per Baseball Savant. It was only by the grace of luck and the Tampa Bay defense that only three of those balls were base hits. But for the remainder of Game 4, the Rays found innings where they could. Kevin Kelly came in and relieved Jax, then Nick Martinez — the Rays' Game 1 starter and the assumed starter for Game 5 — entered for two innings. Bryan Baker, who hadn't pitched since displaying diminished velocity in the ALCS, made his World Series debut and threw two shutout innings to get the Rays to extras.That nine innings saw the Rays get another break, as a close play at second base resulted in Pratt getting called safe on an attempted steal. The Rays challenged, and the umpires overturned the call after a four-minute replay review, taking away an at-bat with a runner in scoring position for Milwaukee.Safe or out? pic.twitter.com/BMVpb3RmPU— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2026 Meanwhile, the Rays' offense was doing little against the Brewers' bullpen. JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, DL Hall, Trevor Megill and Aaron Ashby combined for 7 1/3 shutout innings.After 2 1/3 innings from Ashby — enough for the left-hander to make MLB history — the Brewers turned to their less foreboding relievers. Antonio Senzatela finished the 11th inning and was followed by Drohan in the 12th. Maybe there's another world in which Ashby stays in and pitches the final four innings, but the Brewers opted to pull him after 31 pitches, eight fewer than he threw to close out the NLCS.Who is Ben Williamson, the Rays' hero?Williamson has been a valuable player for the Rays this year — but not because of his bat. The utility man has provided effective defense at second base and shortstop and has mostly started as a platoon bat against left-handers.The 25-year-old was playing at the College of William & Mary four years ago, and he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Once again, it was his glove that stood out, and that helped him reach the majors in 2025 as Seattle's starting third baseman.Tampa Bay landed Williamson as its return in the three-way Brendan Donovan deal that saw the St. Louis Cardinals All-Star take Williamson's spot with the Mariners. Until Tuesday, it represented another win on the margins for the Rays.With their season on the line, it became something much more.It will be advantage Brewers in Game 5As disappointing as Game 4 was for the Brewers, they have plenty of reason to be confident they can close out the series in five games.First and foremost is presumptive NL Cy Young winner Jacob Misiorowski taking the mound, even if he hasn't been quite as dominant across his first three postseason starts as he was in the regular season.Then there's the fact that we don't know who will pitch for Tampa Bay. Martinez was the natural choice for Game 5, and then he threw 33 pitches in Game 4. The default answer now would be a bullpen game, but that's after five of the team's top arms pitched Tuesday.The Milwaukee bullpen, meanwhile, used closer Trevor Megill for only one out, and he needed five pitches. Abner Uribe threw 19 pitches across two innings. Ashby did make an extended appearance, but a primary lesson of this postseason has been "don't underestimate Aaron Ashby."