Thursday, 4 a.m.

So which will you remember? The incredible journey that led the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series, or the spectacular flameout that left them embarrassed once they were there.

They turned off the lights at Tropicana Field Wednesday night. They watched the wrong team celebrate, stowed their gear and went home.

At the end, the Rays could only look on stone-faced as the Brewers' enjoyed their win.

The Milwaukee Brewers applied the final dagger, winning 4--1 over the Rays. The Brewers overwhelmed the Rays, winning four of five games.

In the last victory, the Rays -- who had a poor offensive series -- managed just four hits. Chandler Simpson had two singles. Liam Hicks had doubled and Junior Caminero singled.

The Rays turned to Drew Rasmussen for the start, and he pitched well. He gave up just two hits and one earned run. Still, that was one run too many. It came when Cooper Prattt singled in a run in the second inning.

The Brewers added a run in the fifth when Hamilton David Hamilton singled in a run. In the sixth, Milwaukee scored twice when William Contreres and Pratt singled in runs.

The Rays' strengths through the season never showed up. The speed was lacking, the base-running was suspect, the offense was invisible, the starting pitching didn't hold up and the defense was spotty. Caminero's power never showed up.

It was the Rays' third World Series loss. They took only one game from the Phillies in 2008 and just two from the Dodgers in 2020.

This team allowed you to believe this year would be diffferent.

In the end, it wasn't.

Eventually, you will realize that the rise and the fall are both remembering.

For now, it seems a bit short of arrival.

Wednesday, 4 am.

They live.

The Tampa Bay Rays, down to the last at-bat of the season, rallied to win their first game of the World Series, 4-3 in 12 innings over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Now, can they do it again?

And again?

And again?

Oh, the odds remain staggering against the Rays. For now, they'll have to be happy to still have a pulse. But they hit a little better, and they pitched a lot better, and they showed a little more life in winning their first Series game at Tropicana Field.

The Rays trailed 3-2 going into the bottom of the 12th. It didn't look promising. The Brewers' bullpen had owned the Rays' bats the entire series. Tampa Bay had a pair of leads during the game, but they had just five hits through the first 11 innings.

Then came the 12th. Milwaukee had just taken a 3-2 lead on Cooper Pratt's home run, and it seemed that only the celebrating by the Brewers was ahead.

But Junior Caminero reached on an error by Brewers' third baseman Joey Ortiz. Liam Hicks then singled to left.

Jonny DeLuca followed with a game-tying single. Chandler Simpson then singled.

That brought up Ben Williamson, who was only one-for-15 for the series. But he chopped the first pitch into right field, bringing in the winning run.

The Rays had gone ahead 1-0 in the second inning when Simpson doubled in DeLuca. They made it 2-1 when DeLuca brought in a run on a fielder's choice.

Ian Seymour (2-0) was the game winner, working one inning and giving up two hits and a run.

Simpson had two hits.

The Rays, naturally, are struggling to find pitchers with enough rest for tonight's game (8, Tropicana Field).

Tuesday, 4 a.m.

Was it all a mirage?

All of moments, all of the victories, all of the speed, all of the resilience of the Tampa Bay Rays' season? Did we imagine it all? Was it all a mass hallucination? The AL East title? The best record in the American League? The magic? The electricity? The possibilities?

It all seems to have vanished into the back pockets of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers embarrassed the Rays Monday night, 10-1. After losing a pair of one-run games, the Rays gave up 16 hits and were routed.

The result leaves Milwaukee with a 3-0 lead in the World Series. The Rays would have sweep to avoid losing their third World Series in franchise history.

The Rays started the night off with a single by Yandy Diaz. They didn't get another hit until Cedric Mullins singled in the ninth inning. Diaz drove him in with a double, but by then, the Rays were impossibly behind. The Brewers scored eight times in the fifth inning with seven two-out hits.

The Rays will turn to Griffin Jax to try to avoid a sweep tonight.

Starting pitching, so strong for the Rays in the regular season, struggled again. Freddy Peralta, the MVP of the AL Championship, lasted just 4 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits and five of the runs.

In three games, the Rays' starters of Nick Martinez, Drew Rasmussen and Peralta have gone just 13.1 innings and have given up 18 hits and 10 earned runs. The Rays have had just 17 hits, one more than Milwaukee had Monday night.

None of the Rays' strengths have shown up in the Series. Not the pitching, not the hitting, not the speed, not the defense.

Tonight's game will be at 8 at Tropicana Field. The Brewers have not announced a starter to go against Jax.