MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 27, 2026

Kevin Cash

Tropicana Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Rays 4, Brewers 3 (12)

Q. Can you just take us through the swing of emotions for yourself and in the dugout from Ian giving up the home run to what transpired at the bottom of the inning?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, pretty big swing. I've got to go back and recall everything that took place.

I know Cammy getting down the line, putting some pressure on Ortiz right there. We were fortunate to get him at first base.

A lot of good at-bats. Liam shooting the ball the other way. Chandler coming up -- or Jonny then what he did -- base hit up the middle, yeah. And then Chandler trying to get a bunt down, went to two strikes, and then line drive. Just trying to get the speed where it was.

We had already burnt Mateo. Cammy, the thought behind pinch running him was we weren't going to do it until he got to second or third base on a contact or a tag-up situation just because we weren't playing with too many guys left on the bench. And then Ben came through in a massive way.

Q. Just the way your guys responded, I mean, it would have been easy after the home run to kind of think maybe this is going to get away. Like six different people had something to do in that rally. What does that say about the resolve of your group?

KEVIN CASH: A lot. It says a lot about them. I think they've shown that throughout the course of the season. Maybe not in this actual World Series to date, but we can start showing a lot more moving forward. Innings like that can create a lot of momentum for a team. That's a really good team.

I'm glad we had some things go our way. We had some things not go our way. We haven't made the most of some opportunities. But tonight it seemed like going down 3-2 right there in the 12th or whatever it was, that nobody came in hanging their heads. It was just about how do we get one across, and then how do we get the second one across?

Q. Was that the strategy for Ben to hit that high chopper over everyone's head into right, or is that just the way it worked out?

KEVIN CASH: That was totally what I told him to do.

(Laughter).

Good listening.

Q. Just wanted to go through your thought process of putting Ben in. I know he struggled so far in the playoffs, but for him to have that big moment, what kind of confidence did you have in him going up to the plate?

KEVIN CASH: I have confidence in all of our guys. And I think with Ben -- Drohan, that's a tough left-hander, really tough on left-handed hitters, and Ben is elite at making contact. Right there we're going to give ourselves the best chance by making contact, and he was ready to go first pitch.

Give Ben credit, I think he had a helmet on ready to hit for the last five innings of that ballgame.

Q. Nick Martinez threw two huge innings out of the bullpen after starting Game 1. With that being said, do you also have a plan for tomorrow, or are you still trying to work through that?

KEVIN CASH: I can't say enough about Nick Martinez and the contributions he's made all season long. Then coming in on short rest and giving us two really solid innings.

Also Bryan Baker, those of you that follow us know that we generally keep Bake to one inning. We knew we have to win this game. His two innings were very helpful.

We're going to get together after this session and sit down and talk about pitching. Going to check who's available. I'm going to guess most guys are going to say they're capable of an inning or more given it's Game 5 of the World Series, but nothing has been decided yet.

Q. More on that all hands on deck thing. First look at Baker, what did you think of him? Also, Booser coming back from the rough inning yesterday.

KEVIN CASH: We're going to need everybody. We're going to need to be all hands on deck. We've put ourselves in a position -- or the Brewers have put us in this position where we're going to need everybody to be able to contribute.

I know whatever's taken place leading into today's game, that does not deter their thought process or their confidence in themselves. Not surprised at all Booser was able to come in, do his thing.

And then Baker, I think he was itching to pitch in a World Series game. I'm glad he got an opportunity to do that, and now I'm really happy he's got an opportunity to potentially have another one.

Q. Your guys kept saying last night and this afternoon, they were just going to look at it win one game, just win one game. Does that transfer over until tomorrow and take the same approach?

KEVIN CASH: I think so. It worked, so let's continue that. Can't get too far ahead of yourselves. I want them to enjoy tonight for sure. It was a long day at the ballpark, a lot of excitement, but they're going to enjoy it.

They're going to come back focused ready to do everything they can to put some good at-bats together against a good pitcher like Misiorowski.

Q. You talked all season about the value of putting the ball in play. To see the guys stick to their approach and what got them here in that last inning, how impressive was that?

KEVIN CASH: Very. You're seeing two elite contact offenses where strikeouts are very tough to come by. We weren't knocking balls in the gap or knocking balls out of the ballpark. We pieced together a big inning, maybe the most important inning of our season.