🔗 Share this article

Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total command.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of Tuesday processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted later that “they won 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 crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the early breakthrough did not shake a Toronto club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this year.

They answered right away in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one away single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a new club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and changing the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon 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 previous marathon.

His fastball velocity was under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger problem for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually lost steam.

Varsho started the seventh with a sharp hit to right field, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put runners on with none out. Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Banda came into the jam and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before driving in Varsho with a single to left field. France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the game. Treinen came in next but also was unable to stop the rally: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the diamond, capping a four-score barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and answer has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who exited the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before the manager called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. He needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that quickly grew comfortable.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only 3 runs over their last 20 frames, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Closing Moments

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put two aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback 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 chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected base hits, 5 brought home scores and the squad cashed nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the championship title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not won a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the matchup even and energy swinging north. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out the starter quickly in an decisive victory.