Guerrero Homers off Ohtani as Blue Jays See Off Los Angeles to Tie World Series at 2-2

Less than a day after enduring one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic history, the Blue Jays displayed complete command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a composed start as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series contest ever – a loss that cost them the chance to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered emphatic proof.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy walked in the second, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays team that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this year.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Lukes lined a one away single to center field and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this postseason – a new team record – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 straight plate appearances reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and got on base a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat under his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Late Game Surge

The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani eventually ran out of energy.

Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right field, and Clement drilled a double off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before scoring Varsho with a single to left field. Ty France followed 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 momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, completing a four-run outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand initial setbacks and answer has characterized their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt leadoff man who left the third game after straining his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for during the summer while completing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty needed just four throws to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that soon grew safe.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a team that was among baseball's top offenses all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles managed a run in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to develop.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 different Toronto players recorded base hits, five drove in runs and the team converted nearly every run-scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The victory ensures the championship title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not won a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now are aware they are guaranteed a packed house in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the series reset and momentum shifting north. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an decisive victory.