It was a 12-inning bout that left both teams staggered, their best relievers drained for multiple innings, All-Stars hobbling off the field, utility infielders playing hero.
And by the end, this World Series looked a lot closer than it did when the night began.
Oh, the Milwaukee Brewers still hold a 3-1 Series lead even after the Tampa Bay Rays got on the board with a 4-3, extra-inning Game 4 triumph after the Brewers were just three outs from clinching their first championship in franchise history.
They’ve got three to win one, odds that any desperate celebrity shilling for a prediction market would surely take. But in a Series that would likely be defined by the performance of its relievers, significant bullpen resources were expended on both
sides in a Game 4 that began Tuesday, Oct. 28 and bled into Wednesday.
The Brewers will have just one advantage heading into Game 5: Jacob Misiorowski.
And it’s safe to say they need The Miz more than ever.
He pitched solidly in Game 1, going five innings and striking out just three, a K-rate that might raise eyebrows for a guy who throws 103 mph. Yet five innings is a marathon in this postseason context. Misiorowski did great.
Now, the Brewers will ask him to get out of his comfort zone.
Misiorowski, who led the major leagues with 252 strikeouts, typically gets an extra day or two of rest, the better to conserve his otherworldly arm. He’s still just 24, his odometer is already in uncharted territory at 187 total innings and, since this is a one-time bullet, you want to fire it at an optimal moment.
Four solid innings would typically be fine. But when the Brewers fly back to Milwaukee, they don't want to play more baseball; they want the Commissioner’s Trophy strapped safely into a seat on the team charter.
And Miz is the only man who can prevent Game 5 from becoming a battle of attrition.
Consider the workloads of both teams’ high-leverage guys in Game 4:
Brewers October hero Aaron Ashby pitched 2 ⅓ innings. Dominant Abner Uribe tossed two innings. Lefty DL Hall went 1 ⅓ innings. And swingman Dustin May opened up with three innings. Closer Trevor Megill only got one out, so he’s good to go – yet it’s clear Ashby has supplanted him atop the Brewers’ relief trust tree.
The Rays are similarly diminished: Closer Bryan Baker pitched two innings for the first time since 2024. Game 1 starter Nick Martinez came back on three days’ rest to toss two innings. Set-up man Tyler Wells got five outs. Kevin Kelly pitched for the third time in this Series.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said the club will “huddle” to determine a pitching plan. Like the Brewers, they face a brutal decision involving an ace accustomed to extra race.
In Game 5, they’d be asking Drew Rasmussen to be starting on short rest. Absolutely not what you want – especially for a right-hander who’s endured three major arm surgeries.
But the options are thin.
“We're going to need everybody. We're going to need to be all hands on deck,” says Cash in his postgame press conference.
So imagine Freddy Peralta, on just a days’ rest, giving them an inning. Martinez on back-to-back nights? Might be a little crazy. You know Baker and Wells will be down for the cause, and lower-leverage lefties Steven Matz and Garrett Cleavinger will have to steal some outs.
Yeah, that’s the wounded animal the Brewers are facing. All the more reason the 6-7 Misiorowski must be a menace.
That hasn’t been the case every time out this October. He’s allowed 18 baserunners in 13 ⅓ innings and was chased after getting just 12 and 13 outs in his first two starts. World Series Game 1 Misiorowski will do.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy certainly hopes to see that guy.
“You can write it up and hope that they perform like the back of their baseball card, but that doesn't always happen. You go with what you believe is the deal,” says Murphy in naming Misiorowski his starter.
“I trust our guys. I trust them.”
And the task for The Miz is simple: End the Rays.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: With Brewers holding ace, Jacob Misiorowski must put Rays out of misery
