Guerrero Blasts off Shohei Ohtani as Blue Jays See Off Dodgers to Tie World Series at 2-2

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

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a composed outing as Toronto defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of the next day processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the longest World Series game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers won a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays club that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this season.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one away single to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new club mark – restoring the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the tone of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 straight plate appearances getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat under his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to continue his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in over six frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when he finally lost steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a sharp single to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bichette and Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial blows and answer has characterized their entire postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who exited the third game after straining his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Acquired during the summer while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that soon became comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' offense kept to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only three scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a club that ranked among baseball's elite offenses all year.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

Following a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six separate Toronto players recorded base hits, five brought home runs and the squad cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the final innings.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Carter's famous game-winning homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the series even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out Snell early in an decisive victory.