Vladimir Guerrero Jr Homers against Ohtani as Blue Jays Defeat Los Angeles to Tie Series at 2-2

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

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that cost them the chance to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers won a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided emphatic evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this year.

They answered right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new club mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The two-way star had hit two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat under his seasonal average and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when he finally lost steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh with a clean hit to right, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 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 Banda out of the contest. Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has defined their entire run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who left the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Acquired mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner left several runners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. He required just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that soon grew comfortable.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that was among baseball's elite lineups all season.

Final Moments

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar 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.

Following a game when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six separate Toronto players collected hits, 5 drove in scores and the squad cashed almost every scoring opportunity presented in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The victory ensures the World Series title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the series even and energy shifting north. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter early in an decisive victory.