MILWAUKEE -- Through eight and a half innings on Wednesday afternoon, the Rays appeared poised to clinch a winning road trip and open up a lead in the race for the American League’s final Wild Card spot. It all changed in the 10th inning, however, and after the 4-3 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field, the unlikely spotlight on Friday’s game grows even brighter.

The Rays took a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but the first batter homered off Colin Poche to eventually send the game to extras. A pair of costly baserunning outs erased Tampa Bay's threat in the top of the 10th, as Francisco Mejía was thrown out at third trying to advance on Taylor Walls’ fielder’s choice and Walls was caught stealing second.

“Great play by [Rowdy] Tellez. Frankie did everything right. As soon as the ball’s hit, we’re looking for Wallsie to pull a ball, everybody did everything right. Unfortunately, Rowdy just did it a little bit better and put on a really good throw to third base,” manager Kevin Cash said.

The final blow came from an old friend: Former Rays shortstop Willy Adames, whom Tampa Bay had kept off the board all day, hit a walk-off single to give the Brewers victory.

“It just didn’t go our way," Cash said. "We had opportunities earlier in the ballgame where you didn’t want it to come back to haunt us, but it did with Tellez’s home run and then obviously Willy’s at-bat.”

The Rays had an opportunity to clinch a series split in part due to a mammoth home run from Randy Arozarena, a 431-foot blast to left field that broke the tie in the seventh inning.

“I was actually looking fastball originally, hoping to hit a ball out, but when he threw and I recognized that it was a changeup, I was able to square it up,” Arozarena said through interpreter Manny Navarro.

The home run, Arozarena’s longest of the season and second longest of his career, was the Rays’ second of the game. Yu Chang also hit a solo shot in the fifth inning. Wednesday marked just the 23rd time this season that the Rays have homered twice in a game. They entered play on Wednesday 24th in MLB with 97 home runs.

Tampa Bay wrapped up a 3-3 road trip with the loss, winning three of four in Detroit before dropping a pair in Milwaukee. The Rays also missed an opportunity to gain some much-needed momentum heading into a critical series against the Orioles, something that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago. With a win, the Rays would have taken a one-game lead over Baltimore for the AL's final Wild Card spot. Instead, the two teams were tied as of Wednesday afternoon, and Baltimore could take the lead on Thursday, when Tampa Bay is idle.

With the Wild Card potentially hanging in the balance over the weekend, the Rays will have the advantage of rest on Thursday, when the Orioles play a makeup game against the Red Sox. Tampa Bay's rotation also lines up well for a big weekend. The team will turn to Corey Kluber, their most experienced pitcher, on Friday night. He’ll be followed by AL Cy Young candidate Shane McClanahan on Saturday and Drew Rasmussen on Sunday.

“I think every team's goal in Spring Training is to have these games mean something when it comes down to the end," Kluber said on Friday. "So to be in that position, it's something we'll embrace and go out there and play our best baseball toward the end."

While Kluber has run into some tough luck recently, he’s easily the pitcher with the most big-game experience: He was Cleveland’s ace across three playoff seasons from 2016-18 and started three games in the 2016 World Series.

“I always feel good about Corey on the mound,” Cash said.