🔗 Share this article Guerrero Blasts against Ohtani as Blue Jays See Off Los Angeles to Level World Series at 2-2 Less than a day following enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic history, the Blue Jays displayed complete command. Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will head back to Canada. Toronto had spent the morning of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Skipper Schneider stated afterwards that “they took a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team offered convincing proof. Early Innings The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this year. They responded right away in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he sent it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his initial long hit of the series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a fresh club record – restoring the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the game. Shohei's Performance That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat star had hit two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on that night, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game. Ohtani pitch speed was under his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game progressed. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six innings. Late Game Surge The larger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when he finally lost energy. Varsho opened the seventh with a clean hit to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning. Anthony Banda came into the mess and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a single to left field. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stop the momentum: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the diamond, completing a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1. Blue Jays's Resilience The Toronto's capacity to absorb early setbacks and answer has characterized their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who left Game 3 after straining his oblique. Shane Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for mid-season while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He gave up one run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie left-hander Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He required just four pitches to get out Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile lead that soon grew comfortable. Converted starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among baseball's top offenses all year. Closing Innings The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to develop. After a night when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 separate Toronto players collected hits, five brought home runs and the squad cashed nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the final stanzas. Looking Ahead The victory guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Carter's iconic walk-off homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA. Game 5 approaches with the series reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell quickly in an 11-4 win.