Guerrero Homers off Ohtani as Toronto See Off Dodgers to Level World Series at 2-2

Less than a day following enduring one of the most draining losses in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with complete control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of the next day dealing with their marathon third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the series and burned through both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind victories this year.

They answered right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one away single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani left a slider up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making run 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' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when he finally lost steam.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the mess and right away fell behind. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. Ty France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, capping a four-score barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand initial setbacks and answer has characterized their whole postseason. They once again did it without George Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who exited the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider summoned first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the core of the order in the sixth inning. He required just four throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only three runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among baseball's top lineups all season.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six separate Blue Jays collected base hits, 5 brought home runs and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring chance available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in 1993. They now know they are assured a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup reset and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an decisive win.