🔗 Share this article

Only 24 hours following staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a composed start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will head back to Canada.

Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider insisted later that “they took a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered convincing proof.

Initial Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto team that topped MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one away base hit to center field and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero sent it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this postseason – a new club record – regaining the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Night

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed sat under his regular-season norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when he finally ran out of energy.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the escape.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock Banda out of the game. Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger punched RBI singles through the diamond, completing a four-run outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early blows and answer has characterized their whole run. They once again did it without George Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who exited the third game after straining his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Traded for during the summer while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty required just four throws to get out Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that quickly became safe.

Converted starter Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only three scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's top lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth inning when Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to develop.

Following a game when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. 6 separate Toronto players collected hits, 5 brought home scores and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring chance presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the matchup reset and momentum swinging north. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out Snell quickly in an decisive victory.