The Los Angeles Dodgers were just one strike away from a 3-1 lead in the 2020 World Series. Instead, the Fall Classic is tied at two games apiece. The Tampa Bay Rays won a wild back-and-forth Game 4 on Saturday night thanks to a Brett Phillips walk-off single against Kenley Jansen (TB 8, LA 7). It was Phillips' first hit since Sept. 25.

Walk-off single fails to accurately describe the play. Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor booted the ball, then catcher Will Smith was unable to reel in the relay throw at the plate. Randy Arozarena stumbled rounding third as he tried to score from first base and was dead to rights at the plate, but he was able to recover and score the winning run because Smith couldn't secure the ball.

Here's the play. Officially, it is scored a single for Phillips and errors on Taylor and Smith, and it is the first World Series walk-off hit with the team trailing since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series.

"I'm about to live 15 years shorter. My God, I think I lost 10 years on that last play," Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe told reporters, including USA Today's Bob Nightengale, following Game 4. "That a storybook baseball game. That was insane.'' 

The Dodgers had led for 14 consecutive innings with Turner becoming the first player in World Series history to homer in the first inning in back-to-back games. They were cruising with a 4-2 lead until the Rays’ dormant offense finally came to life.

It began with Arozarena leading off the sixth with his third hit of the game, and 26th of the postseason, tying Pablo Sandoval (2014) for the most hits in a single postseason. Ji-Man Choi walked, but pinch-hitter Austin Meadows struck out on three pitches. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts summoned Pedro Baez out of the bullpen to face Lowe.

Lowe, who hit two home runs in Game 2, drove a 95-mph fastball into the left-center-field seats, giving the Rays a 5-4 lead, stunning the pro-Dodgers crowd of 11,441.

The lead didn’t even last a half-inning.

The Dodgers came right back with a leadoff single by Corey Seager and a double by Turner, but were still on the basepaths when reliever Nick Anderson intentionally walked Cody Bellinger, loading the bases. Pinch-hitter Joc Pederson stepped to the plate, and stroked Anderson’s 94-mph fastball into shallow right field, caroming off Lowe’s glove, scoring two runs and giving the Dodgers a 6-5 lead.

It was the Rays’ turn for heroics in the bottom of the seventh when Kevin Kiermaier tied the game with a one-out homer off Baez.

Basically, it was a game of tag.

The Dodgers took a 7-6 lead when Taylor led off with a double off the center-field field wall. And once again with two outs and two strikes, Seager came through with a bloop single to left field off Anderson. It was only the fourth time in World Series history that teammates had at least four hits in a game.

It was also the first time in World Series history that a run had been scored in eight consecutive half innings, and the first where both teams had scored in three consecutive innings. 먹튀검증

The Dodgers scored all seven of their runs with two outs, meaning that 60.6% of their runs scored this postseason have been with two outs, the highest in history.

Dodgers starter Julio Urias, 24, gave up just four hits and struck out eight in 4 ⅔ innings, generating a career-high 20 swings and misses, but two of those hits traveled a combined 843 feet on home runs by Arozarena and Hunter Renfroe.

It was Arozarena’s ninth homer of the postseason, the most in baseball history, giving him more homers in 18 postseason games than he hit (eight) in 42 regular-season games.

Arozarena and Babe Ruth are the only players in history to average a homer in 12.0 at-bats or less in the regular season and postseason, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

With the series now even, the Rays head into Game 5 on Sunday and face Clayton Kershaw.

It's now a best-of-three series.