🔗 Share this article

Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a composed start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the morning of Tuesday processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both relief corps. Skipper John Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided convincing proof.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy walked in the second, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not rattle a Toronto team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one away base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his seventh home run this postseason – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout innings and changing the tone of the game.

Shohei's Night

That swing also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The two-way star had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity was under his regular-season average and he labored more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of energy.

Varsho started the seventh with a sharp single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice 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 mess and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before driving in Varsho with a single to left field. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock Banda out of the contest. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI base hits through the infield, capping a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial blows and answer has defined their entire run. They once again did it without George Springer, the injured leadoff man who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous batting order. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly became comfortable.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats continued to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only 3 runs over their last 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a club that was among MLB's top offenses all season.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to develop.

After a night when Toronto left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of missed opportunities, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Blue Jays recorded base hits, five drove in scores and the team converted almost every run-scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a title since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off homer in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

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