Rays Bounce Into Game 5 After 12-Inning Thriller

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It didn’t always feel like a Rays home game. Multitudes of Brewers fans, unable to procure or afford tickets to Wisconsin’s first World Series games in 44 years, had flown to Florida to see their team clinch. But home field advantage played a part in the Rays’ improbable, dramatic 12-inning 4-3 win in Game 4 to extend the World Series at least one more night. The Tropicana Field turf is one of the fastest playing surfaces in the league, and the Rays are able to derive an advantage from it that no other team can extract from its own home field. So while the Brewers took the lead in the top of the 12th by hitting the ball in the usual direction — up, in the form of Cooper Pratt’s solo home run — the Rays struck back with four grounders and a liner in the bottom of the inning. The decisive hit, by Ben Williamson, went straight into the turf, bounced over Milwaukee’s drawn-in five-man infield, and landed… who cares where. The Rays are still alive. FanGraphs Playoff Coverage Is for MembersYou must be a Member in order to read our postseason coverage. You can read our announcement here, but it's not the only reason you should consider becoming a Member. Membership includes:✓Ad-free browsing✓Unlimited FanGraphs & RotoGraphs articles✓Historical & platoon projections✓Leaderboard & player-page stat heatmaps✓One-click data exports✓Customizable player-page dashboards✓Dark & Classic site modes✓Weekly Members-only mailbag✓FanGraphs Walk-Off, your year in review✓Optional homepage photo removal✓Gift articles to non-Members✓Full postseason coverage Michael is a writer at FanGraphs. Previously, he was a staff writer at The Ringer and D1Baseball, and his work has appeared at Grantland, Baseball Prospectus, The Atlantic, ESPN.com, and various ill-remembered Phillies blogs. Follow him on Twitter, if you must, @MichaelBaumann.