Rays Stay Alive in World Series, but Game 5 Raises Tough Questions

The Tampa Bay Rays took a first step toward a major comeback on Tuesday, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in 12 innings in Game 4 of the World Series. The win prevented a sweep and trimmed the Brewers' lead in the series to 3-1, setting up Game 5 on Wednesday.

The victory improved the Rays' long-shot hopes considerably. In MLB postseason history, 42 teams have trailed 3-0, and only the 2004 Boston Red Sox came back to win, a rate of about 2.4%. Of the 96 teams that have fallen behind 3-1 in a best-of-seven series, 14 have rallied to win, which puts the Rays' chances at 14.6%. Teams down 3-1 are also 50-50 in Game 5.

The first question is who will pitch for Tampa Bay. Manager Kevin Cash treated Game 4 as a must-win and used seven pitchers. That included Nick Martinez, who had been slated to start Game 5 but instead threw two scoreless innings in relief on 33 pitches. Starter Griffin Jax threw 74 pitches and is presumably unavailable.

Cole Sulser, Steven Matz and Garrett Cleavinger did not pitch on Tuesday and can probably expect work in Game 5. Bryan Baker and Kevin Kelly pitched in Game 4 but sat out Monday's blowout loss in Game 3, so they are presumably available. Ian Seymour threw 32 pitches in Game 4, which may rule him out. Tyler Wells and Cameron Booser have each pitched two days in a row, though the stakes could bring them back. Drew Rasmussen, who started Game 2, would be on three days of rest and has never made a short-rest start in his career.

Milwaukee faces no such uncertainty. Jacob Misiorowski, the 24-year-old NL Cy Young favorite and the hardest-throwing starter anyone has seen, will make his fourth start of the playoffs. In Game 1 against the Rays he went five innings, allowed one run and earned the win, with a velocity bump over his earlier starts.

That outing came after 11 days of rest, and on Wednesday he will work on the standard four. He is also well into career-high workload territory this year, so it is unclear whether his Game 1 sharpness will return. The Brewers could use length from him because their bullpen worked hard in Game 4.

The third question concerns Tampa Bay's best hitter, Junior Caminero, who left Game 4 in the 12th inning with a left foot injury soon after reaching base on a throwing error by Joey Ortiz. Cash was emphatic about his availability. "He'll play tomorrow on one leg," the manager said. "I'll make sure of it."

Whether the 23-year-old will be at full strength less than 24 hours after the injury is the open issue, especially given his postseason power drought. Caminero has a respectable .717 OPS in the playoffs but only one home run in 48 at-bats, after hitting 42 homers in the regular season, one every 14.7 at-bats. The Rays may need his usual power if they are to send the series back to Milwaukee.