Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting losses in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with complete control.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.
The Blue Jays had spent the morning of the next day dealing with their marathon third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both bullpens. Skipper Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad provided convincing proof.
The Los Angeles again scored first. Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Blue Jays team that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.
They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a fresh team mark – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and changing the momentum of the game.
That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The two-way star had hit two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior marathon.
Ohtani pitch speed sat below his seasonal norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his World Series streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.
The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.
Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp hit to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.
Banda came into the mess and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a single to left field. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stop the rally: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, capping a four-run barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.
The Toronto's capacity to absorb early blows and respond has defined their whole run. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who left Game 3 after tweaking his right side.
Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the heart of the order in the sixth. Fluharty required just 4 pitches to get out 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 Dodgers' offense continued to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that was among baseball's elite offenses all year.
The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two on base. But Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to build.
Following a game when Toronto left a World Series-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. 6 separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, 5 drove in runs and the team converted almost every run-scoring chance available in the late stanzas.
The win guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.
Game 5 approaches with the matchup reset and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out Snell early in an decisive win.
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