Game 5 of the World Series will not be decided by the stars alone. It will be decided by the bullpens, and by which relief corps can survive one more night after a 12 inning game that drained both sides. Tampa Bay won Game 4 4-3 on Tuesday at Tropicana Field, and the way it won, with Milwaukee’s bullpen faltering in the bottom of the 12th, has turned relief pitching from a supporting story into the central question of Wednesday night’s game.
Milwaukee’s bullpen had been the engine of its October run, and that is why the 12th inning hurt so much. Shane Drohan, brought in to close the game, did not record an out in the bottom of the 12th, as Junior Caminero reached on a throwing error, Jonny DeLuca singled to tie the game, Chandler Simpson singled to load the bases, and Ben Williamson delivered the winning hit. One inning does not define a bullpen, but in a series where Milwaukee leads 3-1 and needs one win, it does define the mood going into Game 5: the Brewers must trust the same arms that just let a championship slip away for a night.
Ashby and the record nobody noticed
On the other side, Tampa Bay’s relief work deserves more attention than it has received. Aaron Ashby, whose scoreless postseason innings total of 16.2 is reported as a major league record for a single postseason, helped keep Milwaukee off the scoreboard through the long middle innings and into extra innings. Records like that are usually set by starters in October, not by relievers working in the shadows of a series, and Ashby’s performance is a reminder that modern championships are won as much by the middle innings as by the first five.
Milwaukee’s own depth remains formidable. Robert Gasser’s six scoreless innings in Game 3, while facing the minimum 18 batters, showed what the Brewers’ pitching can do at its best, and the bullpen that carried them through the postseason did not disappear in one inning. Game 5 will test whether that bullpen can reset, whether Tampa Bay’s relievers can repeat their Game 4 resilience, and whether either manager can find a fresh arm when the game reaches the late innings for a second straight night.
The depth test
Reports of the Game 4 finish framed Tampa Bay’s win as survival, and News Lineups’ earlier account of Milwaukee’s bullpen depth argued that depth was winning this series for the Brewers. Game 5 will settle that argument, at least for one night. If Milwaukee’s bullpen holds, the series ends and the 12th inning becomes a footnote. If it cracks again, Tampa Bay will have proved that depth, like a lead, only matters until the moment it is tested.
