The Rays Avoided a Sweep: Can One Win Change the Ending?

The Rays, Between the Lines · Part 2 · October 28, 2026

Tampa Bay won 4–3 in twelve innings to force a fifth game in the World Series. A night like this calls for Faithful, the book in which Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan watched from the stands as another seemingly finished series unfolded.

Some games change the score. Others change the final sentence everyone was about to write. On Tuesday, October 27, Milwaukee took the lead in the twelfth inning and stood three outs from its first championship. Tampa Bay answered with two runs to win 4–3 at Tropicana Field. Pinch hitter Ben Williamson delivered the winning single. The Rays are still in the World Series, though the Brewers hold a 3–1 lead.

That lead matters because it keeps the excitement in perspective. Tampa Bay avoided a sweep; it still needs three more wins. Game 5 is this Wednesday, October 28. No one can write about this series as an inevitable Milwaukee victory anymore, but neither can anyone claim the Rays have pulled off a comeback.

The Associated Press report lays out the plays that kept the story alive: a fielding error allowed Junior Caminero to reach first, followed by singles from Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson and Williamson. The comeback came one small play at a time, with no room left for error.

A Book Written Before Anyone Knew the Ending

The temptation to look for a precedent takes us back to 2004. The Boston Red Sox trailed the New York Yankees 3–0 in the American League Championship Series, then won the next four games. They remain the only major league team to come back from a 3–0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. That happened before the World Series, which Boston went on to win. The distinction matters: the Rays are attempting something no team has yet achieved in a World Series.

There’s also something unusual about how Boston’s story made it into print. At the start of that season, Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King, both writers and Red Sox fans, began keeping a record of their experiences: they went to the ballpark, exchanged emails and followed the games, unaware that they were gathering material for one of baseball’s most memorable comebacks. That’s how Scribner presents Faithful, a work of nonfiction whose full title is Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season.

Those beginnings change how we approach the book. This isn't a novel whose author dreamed up an improbable victory and planted obstacles to make the ending more moving. It’s the record of two fans writing without knowing what the last page would hold. What makes it relevant now isn't any promise that Tampa Bay will repeat Boston’s feat. It’s the reminder of what it feels like to live with a possibility that could vanish on any given night.

The paperback edition listed by the publisher came out in English in 2005. Our account here draws on the publisher’s description and sports reporting; this isn't a review based on reading the book in full. In our first installment, The Extra 2% helped us understand how the Rays themselves had changed over the years. Faithful offers another perspective: that of the fan trying to find the words while the scoreboard can still prove them wrong.

What the Numbers Can Tell Us

The comparison with 2004 has a clear limit. According to MLB’s rundown after Game 4, Tampa Bay is the fifth team to force a fifth game after losing the first three games of a World Series. None of the previous four reached Game 6. Across all best-of-seven postseason series, only Boston has come all the way back from 3–0 down.

The night produced another fact that seems made for this series: since 1910, only the Chicago Cubs had won a World Series game on a walk-off while facing a sweep. These are rare feats. Neither, on its own, makes any outcome in Game 5 likely. The numbers tell us how hard it is; the game writes the next line.

Tampa Bay has a more recent memory to draw on, too: in the 2020 American League Championship Series, the Rays won the first three games against Houston, the Astros tied the series at 3–3, and Tampa Bay finally prevailed in Game 7. The team knows, from the other side, the strain of watching a lead shrink. That history doesn't speak for the players of 2026 either, but it adds another layer to the discussion.

The Value of One More Page

Last night the Rays didn't win the championship. They bought time. That may seem small beside the trophy they’re chasing, but it’s exactly what every comeback demands: keeping the story alive when everyone expects it to end. Faithful helps us think about the people who live through that wait, write about it, argue over it and discover that their faith may or may not be rewarded.

The question in our headline remains open. Can one win change the ending? It’s already changed the schedule and the way we tell the story of this World Series. Whether it changes who wins the championship is for the coming games to decide.

What matters more in a sports story: the result, or what fans go through before they know it? Do you know a book that captures the wait without pretending the ending was already written? We’d love to hear your take. If you see things differently, tell us why and let’s discuss it.