🔗 Share this article

Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a steady outing as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the series will head back to Canada.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the lengthiest World Series contest ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad offered emphatic evidence.

Initial Innings

The Los Angeles again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and scored on Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had hit two home runs and got on base a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed sat below his regular-season average and he labored more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Rally

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.

Varsho started the seventh with a sharp hit to right field, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Banda inherited the jam and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the game. Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the rally: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI singles through the diamond, capping a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to withstand early setbacks and answer has defined their entire run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who left Game 3 after straining his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for mid-season while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before the manager summoned first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty needed just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon grew safe.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' offense kept to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 frames, an sudden slowdown for a club that ranked among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to build.

Following a night when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 separate Blue Jays recorded hits, five brought home runs and the squad cashed almost every scoring opportunity available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the World Series title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Carter's iconic walk-off home run in '93. They now are aware they are guaranteed a packed house in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out the starter early in an 11-4 victory.