Less than a day following staggering through one of the most draining losses in Fall Classic history, the Blue Jays displayed total command.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.
Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to lead the matchup and depleted both bullpens. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad offered emphatic evidence.
The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early breakthrough did not shake a Toronto team that topped MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.
They responded right away in the third. Lukes hit a one-out base hit to centre and Guerrero stepped in hunting a curveball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a fresh club mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the tone of the night.
That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.
His pitch speed was under his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.
The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally lost steam.
Varsho started the seventh with a sharp hit to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to remove Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not finish the inning.
Banda inherited the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock Banda out of the game. Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI singles through the diamond, completing a four-score outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.
The Blue Jays's ability to absorb initial blows and respond has defined their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the injured leadoff man who left the third game after straining his right side.
Shane Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before the manager called on first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth inning. He needed just 4 pitches to get out Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.
Former starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's top lineups all year.
The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.
Following a night when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed opportunities, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six separate Blue Jays recorded hits, 5 brought home scores and the team converted almost every run-scoring chance presented in the late innings.
The win guarantees the championship title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Carter's famous game-winning homer in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.
Game 5 looms with the series even and energy shifting north. Los Angeles pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. Toronto respond with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto chased the starter early in an decisive victory.
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