🔗 Share this article

Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a composed start as the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the series will return to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the lengthiest World Series contest ever – a loss that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers won a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not rattle a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded right away in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh team mark – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the tone of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the previous marathon.

His fastball velocity was below his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Even so, he showed flashes of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Surge

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally lost energy.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a clean hit to right field, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda inherited the mess and right away trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed 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 was unable to stop the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who exited Game 3 after straining his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth. He required just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly became comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only three runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's top lineups all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Muncy's two-base hit put runners on base. But Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to develop.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 different Blue Jays recorded hits, five brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every scoring chance available in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the championship title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Carter's iconic game-winning home run in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the series even and momentum shifting north. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an 11-4 win.