The Tampa Bay Rays finally have a World Series moment. Ben Williamson's Baltimore chop over the first baseman ended a 12-inning Game 4 and cut Milwaukee's lead to 3-1, and Rick and Steve (who was at the Trop) take it from the top. Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt led off the 12th with a home run, the first rookie ever to hit an extra-inning homer in a World Series, and Ian Seymour was the one who gave it up. But Milwaukee, sending out pitchers who hadn't thrown in 12 days, let the Rays back in: Joey Ortiz committed an error to start the inning, Junior Caminero reached and limped from first to third, Cedric Mullins pinch ran, Johnny DeLuca delivered a bases-loaded tying single up the middle, and Williamson (who had been waiting with a helmet for five innings) ended it. The hosts break down the pinch-running choices, the Brewers fans who looked ready to party and ended up stunned, and why a game like this might loosen up a Rays team that looked tight.
They look ahead to tonight's Game 5, with Jacob Misiorowski on the mound for Milwaukee and the Rays deciding between an opener and a bullpen game (Steve guesses Steven Matz). They talk about Caminero's leg, Kevin Cash saying he's fine, the importance of putting the "three aircraft carriers" back at the top of the order, and a run-scoring drought in which the Rays have scored in just seven of 39 innings and had a crooked number in only two of them. They credit Tyler Wells and Griffin Jacks (who might have been left in one batter too long), the diving catches from DeLuca and Chandler Simpson, and Rick and Steve discuss Richie Palacios' throws from second base. Rick says nothing like this has been done before, which Steve points out was true until Boston did it in 2004, and both agree the pressure would shift squarely onto the Brewers if the Rays win one more at home.
The second half takes a turn into Tampa Bay itself: Milwaukee fans filled the Trop (a thousand cases of Miller and Coors Light went through Ferg's in a single day), and the hosts respond to national critics who rip the market. Steve notes that roughly 60,000 Wisconsin transplants live in the Tampa metro, that the Rays, Lightning, and Bucs are young franchises in a young market, and that the real problem is transit and traffic (he spent an hour getting to the Trop and an hour and a half getting home). After a sponsor break, they praise the former Rays who turned up for Game 4 (Evan Longoria threw out the first pitch, with Chris Archer, Zach Eflin, Taj Bradley, and Tyler Glasnow in the stands), predict a big contract for Freddy Peralta, and then switch to the Bucs: Baker Mayfield's glove, the Colts' fire sale (Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner are gone, and Jonathan Taylor may be next), the Panthers' trip to Green Bay on Thursday night, a must-win game against Atlanta, and a Sunday night date in Chicago.
Segments
- Rays win Game 4 in 12 innings: the walk-off and how it happened
- Cooper Pratt's home run, Ian Seymour, and Milwaukee's miscues
- Caminero's injury, pinch-running decisions, and Cash's bench
- Milwaukee fans in the Trop and the rally-towel mix-up
- Resilience: why this Rays team can still believe
- Game 5 outlook: Misiorowski, who starts for the Rays, and Rasmussen's rest
- The run drought and defense behind the pitchers
- Palacios' throwing and a mental-block story
- Brewers fans take over: Ferg's, Wisconsin transplants, and Tampa Bay's fan reputation
- Traffic, I-275, and getting out of the Trop
- Boston 2004 and a first for everything
- World Series ratings and the game within the game
- Sponsor: Breitling Boutique, International Plaza
- Former Rays in attendance and Freddy Peralta's coming payday
- Bucs back at practice: Baker's glove, the Colts' fire sale, and the road ahead
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