One throw can separate a team from a World Series title, and Joey Ortiz knows that feeling all too well. With the Milwaukee Brewers just three outs away from potentially clinching their first-ever championship, a costly underthrow to first base in the 12th inning turned a golden opportunity into a nightmare. Jake Bauers’ inability to pick up the errant throw only compounded the damage, allowing the Tampa Bay Rays to string together four consecutive hits and snatch a dramatic 4-3 victory in a marathon Game 4.

But rather than hide behind excuses, the Brewers infielder is owning the mistake that denied his team an early celebration. With the pressure mounting and a championship still within reach, Ortiz’s postgame response offers a glimpse into how he is handling the crushing blunder.

“Yeah, [they’ve been giving me] encouraging words. But, I mean, it is what it is. I got to make that play. There’s no excuse about it, no matter what anyone says,” Ortiz said after the game, via FOX Sports MLB on X.

Leading off the bottom of the 12th against Brewers reliever Antonio Senzatela, Rays hitter Junior Caminero hit a routine groundball to third base. Ortiz fielded it cleanly but short-hopped his throw to first base. First baseman Jake Bauers couldn’t handle the one-hop bounce, allowing Caminero to reach first safely on the throwing error. As a result, instead of the first out, the Rays had the lead runner on.

Liam Hicks followed up with a single, moving the tying run into scoring position and putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Nick Fortes ran for Hicks.

Jonny DeLuca stepped up and ripped a sharp groundball single up the middle. The base hit easily brought the runner home from second to tie the game 3-3, keeping the pressure squarely on Milwaukee. Chandler Simpson singled next, packing the bases full of Rays with still zero outs recorded in the frame.

With the bases loaded, the Brewers deployed a five-man infield in a desperate attempt to force a play at the plate. Pinch-hitter Ben Williamson came up and drove a bouncing ball past the drawn-in defense into right field for a clean walk-off single, scoring Fortes to cap off a wild two-run rally.

Had that error not been made, Caminero couldn’t reach first base, and the Rays’ momentum would have been lost. However, despite such a blunder, Ortiz had his finest defensive season yet in 2026. He accounted for 16 OAA split across third base and shortstop, ranking 9th overall in the major leagues, alongside 8 Defensive Runs Saved.

Back in July, Ortiz made a phenomenal diving stop down the third-base line to deny the Cincinnati Reds’ Noelvi Marte an extra-base hit. The acrobatic web gem preserved the momentum in a late-inning comeback win and was widely heralded as a textbook example of elite third-base reaction time.

Hence, Ortiz’s fielding miscue on Tuesday was an exception, but it happened at the worst possible time for the Brewers. Adding to a few more fielding miscues, the Brewers’ defense had their worst outing of the World Series in Game 4.

Hamilton’s made it worse for the Brewers

With the game tied 1-1, Rays slugger Junior Caminero led off the bottom of the 4th with a single off Brewers’ Dustin May. The next batter, Jonny DeLuca, smashed a routine ground ball directly down the third-base line off JoJo Romero. David Hamilton fielded the sharp grounder cleanly but found himself caught in two minds.

However, instead of making the straightforward throw to first base for the sure out, he attempted to tag Caminero, who was advancing from second to third. Caminero cleverly anticipated the play and executed a quick “tango” sidestep, veering wide along the grass line to cleanly elude Hamilton’s glove.

Realizing he missed the tag and that Caminero was going to reach third safely, a panicked Hamilton turned and tried to salvage the play by firing across the diamond to get DeLuca at first. Because he was completely off-balance, he spiked a wild throw that sailed wide and past first baseman Jake Bauers.

The ball trickled away into foul territory, giving Caminero the opening to jump up, round third, and slide home to score the go-ahead run.

Two costly errors, and the Brewers are forced into Game 5.