12th inning heroics from Ben Williamson propel the Rays over the Brewers in an all time Game 4 of the World Series. This win keeps the Rays alive in this series and it makes us wonder: Do the Rays have a chance?
The short answer: No. In the history of North American sports, teams have only five wins in the postseason when trailing 3-0 in a series. In the MLB, teams have just one win, but that 2004 ALCS Red Sox win reminds us that anything is possible. So purely for entertainment purposes, I am going to say that the Rays still have a chance to win the World Series and this is why.
Obviously I’m not going to try and convince you that the Rays could’ve won Game 3, because that was a straight massacre. But, Games 1 & 2 in Milwaukee could have both swung the Rays’ way, and at the very least one could have.
Game 1 in Milwaukee is where they faced the Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who has been a little up-and-down in the playoffs despite the dominant regular season. The Brewers put up an early two runs in the first led by a Christian Yelich triple. After Liam Hicks hit in Junior Caminero in the fourth, the game was 2-1 until Jackson Chourio hit a RBI single down the first base line to make it 3-1. But, the Rays came charging back yet again, loading the bases in the 9th and bringing up Liam Hicks, who already had a RBI for them. But, Hicks nearly grounded out into a double play, and then Jonny DeLuca struck out with runners on 2nd and 3rd. What a shame.
Game 2, also in Milwaukee, was another movie that the Rays could have won. In the top of the 9th, the Rays were down 4-5 and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead. DeLuca started it off with a leadoff double, and after a strikeout and a groundout to advance him to third, they had Yandy Diaz, the best hitter with runners in scoring position, at the plate. After working a 3-2 count, Diaz struck out on a check swing in one of the most controversial World Series calls in the last decade. It seems that Brewers fans think that he did swing, whereas Rays fans think he didn’t go. Joe Posnanski wrote in his newsletter, “All offseason, I’ve been wincing whenever catchers appeal to first base. I’ve been wincing because I think we’ve entirely lost the plot on checked swings. We’ve turned it into a “how far did the bat go?” conversation. That is not in the rule book. There is, in fact, nothing at all about checked swings in the rulebook.”
If the Rays can win Game 5 against Jacob Misiorowski and send it back to Milwaukee, then anything is possible. I’m not saying it’s likely and I’m not even saying I think it’s going to happen. I just believe that it could be done. Let’s see if there is enough magic in this Tampa Bay team after all.