🔗 Share this article Vladimir Guerrero Jr Homers off Ohtani as Blue Jays See Off Dodgers to Level World Series at 2-2 Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in World Series history, the Blue Jays played with complete command. Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Canada. Toronto had passed the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a loss that cost them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted later that “they took a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered emphatic proof. Early Innings The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays team that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this year. They answered right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a new club record – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and changing the momentum of the game. Ohtani's Night That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The two-way star had smashed two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the previous marathon. His fastball velocity sat below his regular-season average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames. Late Game Surge The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani finally ran out of steam. Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put runners on with none out. Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape. Anthony Banda came into the mess and right away fell behind. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner 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. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, completing a four-run outburst that extended the margin to 6-1. Blue Jays's Resilience The Toronto's ability to absorb initial setbacks and answer has defined their whole run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who exited Game 3 after tweaking his oblique. Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several runners and quieted the Dodgers' potent batting order. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. Fluharty needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that quickly grew safe. Former starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a club that ranked among MLB's elite offenses all season. Final Moments The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to develop. After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. 6 different Blue Jays recorded hits, five brought home scores and the team cashed almost every run-scoring chance presented in the final innings. Looking Ahead The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles. The fifth game looms with the matchup reset and energy shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.