Guerrero Blasts off Shohei Ohtani as Blue Jays Defeat Los Angeles to Level Series at 2-2

Less than a day after enduring one of the most draining defeats in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with complete control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a composed start as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the morning of the next day processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Skipper John Schneider stated afterwards that “they won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered convincing proof.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the early breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto club that topped MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new club mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The two-way star had smashed two homers and got on base a record nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

Ohtani pitch speed was under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed flashes of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four earned runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani finally lost steam.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left. France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the game. Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to absorb early setbacks and answer has characterized their whole run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured leadoff man who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Acquired during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four base hits and three walks before the manager summoned rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. He needed just four throws to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that quickly grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their last 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a team that was among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put runners on base. But Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to develop.

Following a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. Six separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, five drove in scores and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the championship title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off home run in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a full crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and momentum shifting north. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an 11-4 win.