🔗 Share this article Vladimir Guerrero Jr Homers off Shohei Ohtani as Blue Jays See Off Dodgers to Level Series at 2-2 Less than a day following enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed total command. Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a steady outing as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, tying the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Toronto. The Blue Jays had passed the morning of the next day dealing with their marathon third game defeat – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated later that “the Dodgers won a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided convincing evidence. Early Action The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto club that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this year. They answered immediately in the third inning. Lukes lined a one-out base hit to center field and Guerrero stepped in looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he sent it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh team record – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless frames and changing the momentum of the night. Shohei's Night That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on that night, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon. Ohtani pitch speed was under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four runs were charged to him in over six innings. Late Game Rally The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally lost steam. Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning. Banda came into the jam and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, completing a four-score outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1. Blue Jays's Resilience The Blue Jays's capacity to withstand early setbacks and answer has characterized their whole postseason. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique. Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what Toronto required. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous batting order. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the core of the order in the sixth inning. He required just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon grew safe. Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among baseball's elite offenses all year. Closing Moments The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to build. After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was brutally effective. Six separate Blue Jays collected hits, 5 brought home runs and the squad converted nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the late innings. Looking Ahead The victory guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Carter's famous game-winning home run in '93. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles. Game 5 approaches with the series even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto chased the starter quickly in an 11-4 victory.