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

Only 24 hours following enduring one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed complete control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the early hours of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Skipper Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a game, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Initial Action

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

They answered right away in the third. Lukes hit a one away base hit to centre and Guerrero stepped in looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a slider up and he drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new team mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the tone of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' 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.

Ohtani pitch speed sat below his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The bigger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a sharp single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the mess and immediately fell behind. Giménez fought to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the diamond, completing a four-run barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to absorb early blows and answer has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who exited the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left multiple baserunners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He gave up one earned run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty required just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that quickly became safe.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among MLB's top offenses all season.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to develop.

Following a game when Toronto left a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of wasted chances, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected hits, 5 drove in scores and the squad cashed almost every scoring chance presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the World Series trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Carter's famous walk-off homer 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 looms with the matchup reset and energy swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased Snell early in an 11-4 win.

Cory Schwartz
Cory Schwartz

A software engineer and tech writer passionate about emerging technologies and digital transformation.