Vladimir Guerrero Jr Homers off Shohei Ohtani as Toronto Defeat Dodgers to Level Series at 2-2

Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with complete control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a steady outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the series will head back to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided emphatic evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not rattle a Toronto club that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes lined a one away base hit to center field and Guerrero stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new club mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Night

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two home runs and got on base a record nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed was below his seasonal norm and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

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

Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the fence to put two on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger punched RBI base hits through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Toronto's ability to withstand initial setbacks and respond has defined their whole run. They once again did it without George Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and quieted the Dodgers' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly grew safe.

Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among baseball's top lineups all season.

Final Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to build.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 separate Blue Jays recorded hits, 5 drove in scores and the squad converted nearly every scoring opportunity available in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the championship title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning home run in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the series even and momentum shifting north. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an decisive win.