The Los Angeles Dodgers traded runs with the Tampa Bay Rays throughout Game 4 but blew an opportunity to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth with a one-run lead behind multiple critical mistakes and gave up a walk-off hit for an 8-7 Rays win.

The Dodgers led almost the entire game but had a meltdown of epic proportions on the game’s final play to give up a crucial Game 4 win.

Prospects looked good for the Dodgers early, Justin Turner swatted a first inning solo home run to center field for a 1-0 Dodger lead and two innings later Corey Seager hit one of his own to make it 2-0 as Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough struggled early.

The Rays finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a homer to right center field off of Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urías to close the Dodger lead to 2-1.

The Dodgers responded with a run in the fifth after Corey Seager singled and Max Muncy drove him in but was tagged out at second himself to end the inning with the Dodgers up 3-1.

Urías got rocked for another solo home run in the bottom of the inning by Hunter Renfroe as the two teams continued to trade blows, with the Dodger lead now at 3-2, but he strung together back-to-back strikeouts before he was pulled by manager Dave Roberts for Blake Treinen.

A pair of walks in the sixth from Tampa Bay reliever Diego Castillo setup Kike Hernandez for his RBI double which brought Will Smith home for the score and a 4-2 Dodger lead.

Treinen put two runners on base to start the bottom of the sixth on a single to Randy Arozarena and a walk to Ji-Man Choi before he got his first out of the inning and was then pulled by Roberts who handed the ball over to Pedro Baez who immediately gave up a three-run homer to Brandon Lowe for the Rays first lead of the night 5-4.

While doubts may have begun to creep into the minds of Dodger fans, the players remained unphased and responded in the top of the seventh.

A Corey Seager single, a Turner double and a walk to Cody Bellinger loaded the bases for the Dodgers with two outs and Joc Pederson managed to find a gap to put the ball in play, with a fortunate bounce off the glove of Lowe, the Dodgers were able to bring in Turner and Seager to retake the lead 6-5.

Some sloppy base running from Bellinger got him tagged out at third to end the inning.

The Rays answered right back in the roller coaster of a game with a Kevin Kiermaier home run off of Baez to tie things at 6-6.

Chris Taylor hit a leadoff double to open the eighth and Corey Seager was able to drop a fly ball into the gap in shallow left field to send Taylor home and go right back up by one run 7-6.

A combination of Adam Kolarek and Brusdar Graterol pitched the Dodgers through the bottom of the inning to maintain the lead. 

The Dodgers failed to expand on their lead in the top of the ninth and sent out Kenley Jansen to attempt to secure the win.

Jansen opened his appearance with a strikeout on Yoshi Tsutsugo then gave up a single to Kiermaier. He managed to get Joey Wendle to lineout to left field for his second out but then had to face one of the Rays hottest hitters in Arozarena. 

After a huddle with his teammates, Jansen remained in the game and threw an eight-pitch walk to Arozarena to put runners on first and second.

Now Jansen had to face Brett Phillips, who was batting under .200 in the 2020 season, and with Phillips down in the count two strikes and one ball he gave up a single into shallow right field that preempted one of the craziest plays in World Series history.

The ball bounced into shallow right field and Chris Taylor bobbled the catch off the ground. Taylor recovered and threw to the relay man Muncy he turned for the toss to Will Smith at home to try and prevent the go-ahead score after Kiermaier had already made it in to tie the game 7-7.

Arozarena fell down on the way home and was nearly stranded for an easy out, but Smith couldn’t make the catch at home and with Kenley Jansen nowhere to be found covering the plate, Arozarena turned back for home and the go-ahead score 8-7, Rays.

The error went to Will Smith, but the heartbreak went to all of Dodger Nation in an unforgettable loss on the game’s biggest stage.

With the Rays riding high and all the pressure now on Game 5 starter Clayton Kershaw to have a strong outing for the Dodgers in a must-win game, Los Angeles has a chance to turn things around Sunday at 5:08 p.m.

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