Guerrero homers off Ohtani as Blue Jays see off Dodgers to level World Series

Less than a day after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the series will return to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday morning processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered emphatic proof.

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández’s sacrifice fly. But the early breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to centre and Guerrero stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this postseason – a new club record – restoring the Blue Jays’ advantage after 13 scoreless innings and changing the tone of the night.

That swing also halted Ohtani’s history-making streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers’ Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

Ohtani’s fastball velocity sat below his seasonal average and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero’s blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.

Fans take in the action during Game 4 of the World Series. Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the wall to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers’ relief corps could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before driving in Varsho with a single to left. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-run barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

The Blue Jays’ ability to absorb early blows and respond has defined their entire run. They once again did it without George Springer, the injured leadoff man who left Game 3 after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Acquired mid-season while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and quieted the Dodgers’ dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the heart of the order in the sixth. Fluharty needed just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile lead that soon grew comfortable.

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers throws a pitch during the third inning. Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers’ bats continued to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only three runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball’s elite lineups all season.

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy’s double put two aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to build.

After a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Blue Jays recorded hits, five drove in runs and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity presented in the late innings.

The win ensures the World Series trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter’s famous walk-off home run in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed house in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the series reset and momentum swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays’ surge. Toronto counters with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased Snell early in an 11-4 win.