Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with complete command.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a steady start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.
Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both bullpens. Skipper John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his team offered emphatic evidence.
The Dodgers again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.
They answered immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out base hit to center field and Guerrero stepped in hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new club mark – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and changing the momentum of the night.
That swing also halted Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the previous extra-inning game.
His pitch speed was below his seasonal norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.
The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally ran out of steam.
Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a double off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the escape.
Banda came into the mess and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.
The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early blows and answer has defined their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who left Game 3 after straining his oblique.
Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Acquired mid-season while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth inning. He required just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that quickly became safe.
Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense continued to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only three runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among baseball's elite offenses all year.
The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put two on base. But Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to build.
Following a game when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six separate Blue Jays collected base hits, five drove in scores and the squad cashed nearly every scoring chance presented in the late stanzas.
The win guarantees the World Series trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now are aware they are guaranteed a full house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.
The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and energy swinging north. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased the starter early in an 11-4 win.
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