The Tampa Bay Rays pulled off a baseball miracle, snagging a 12th-inning comeback win against the Milwaukee Brewers in Tuesday’s Game 4 of the World Series. That 4-3 victory wasn’t just a win, it kept them from getting swept and cut the Brewers’ series lead down to 3-1. Now, Wednesday’s Game 5 is absolutely massive.
The Odds Just Got a Whole Lot Less Impossible
That Tuesday escape? It was an elimination game, plain and simple, and the Rays had to have it. The win nudged their chances of winning the series from “all but impossible” to “merely a longshot.” Think about this: throughout Major League Baseball postseason history, 42 teams have gone down 3-0. Only one, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, ever came back to win. That means the Rays had a brutal 2.4% chance of pulling off the miracle comeback when they were down three games to none. Now, though, they’re down 3-1. And the numbers look a *little* better. Ninety-six teams have faced a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven MLB postseason series, and 14 of those teams actually clawed their way back to win. That data set says the Rays now have a 14.6% chance of stunning the Brewers and winning this Fall Classic. Look, those aren’t great odds, we know that, but they are a heck of a lot better than what the Rays were staring at going into Game 4. You gotta love a team that doesn’t quit, right? And get this: teams down 3-1 actually have a .500 record in Game 5. Seriously!
Cash Faces a Pitching Nightmare
Alright, so how do they even pitch this next game? This is the huge question. Rays manager Kevin Cash played Game 4 exactly right, managing it like the absolute must-win contest it was. That meant he had to worry about today when today came, doing everything possible tactically to survive. Well, today is here, and Cash has got to figure out how to deploy his pitching staff for another elimination game after using seven different arms on Tuesday night. The biggest move in Game 4 was using Nick Martinez, who was supposed to start Game 5, in relief. Martinez threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen and tossed 33 pitches. Wednesday is going to be another all-hands-on-deck affair, but exactly whose hands those will be is a totally different story. Griffin Jax started Game 4 for Tampa Bay and hit 74 pitches, which probably rules him out for Game 5. As for the traditional relievers, Cole Sulser, Steven Matz, and Garrett Cleavinger didn’t pitch on Tuesday, so you can probably expect to see them in Game 5. Bryan Baker and Kevin Kelly did pitch in Game 4, but they didn’t pitch in Monday’s Game 3 blowout loss, which means they should be available. Ian Seymour also didn’t pitch in Game 3, but his 32-pitch workload in Game 4 might sideline him. Tyler Wells and Cameron Booser have both pitched two days in a row, but in October, desperate times often mean desperate measures.
This sets up for a monster Game 5. Can the Rays cut the Brewers’ advantage to 3-2 and force this thing back to Milwaukee? You know we’ll be watching to see if they can keep that miracle comeback alive!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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