Blue Jays breeze past Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers in Game 4 to even World Series

LOS ANGELES — The best way for the Blue Jays to pretend Game 3 of the World Series never happened was to win Game 4. 

Their 18-inning loss to the Dodgers on Monday was one filled with baserunning miscues and gambles with negative outcomes and a failure to capitalize against their opponent’s weakest link — a suspect bullpen. 

But Tuesday night, the Blue Jays cleaned up their act on the bases and attacked once they knocked out Shohei Ohtani from his start. That surgical attack got the World Series back even, with the Blue Jays’ 6-2 victory at Dodger Stadium. 

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“There’s no choice,” Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber said of the team’s resiliency in tying the series 2-2. “What, are you going to feel sorry for yourself? It’s the World Series. We [were] down one game. Now we find ourselves even, with a chance to take the lead and take the lead back to Toronto.” 

First the teams will play Game 5 on Wednesday, when the Dodgers are scheduled to send Blake Snell to the mound against Trey Yesavage in a rematch from Game 1. 

If there was a team that appeared lethargic after the previous night’s marathon — the game matched the longest in World Series history — it was the Dodgers, who went quietly in defeat. 

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“It’s hard to play 18 innings and come back and flip the narrative against a very talented team and very talented individual in Shohei Ohtani on the mound,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I feel really good about us focusing on [Tuesday’s] game.” 

Ohtani was strong on the mound through six innings, but got knocked out in the seventh after allowing two straight hits to begin the frame. The Blue Jays piled on, sending nine batters to the plate before the inning was over to build from a 2-1 lead by scoring four runs. 

The Blue Jays were without George Springer, who departed the previous game with side discomfort from a swing. Schneider didn’t reveal the extent of Springer’s injury other than to say he was “hour to hour.” 

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Bieber was superb for the Blue Jays in allowing one earned run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 5 ¹/₃ innings. The right-hander departed after allowing two singles in the sixth and watched as Mason Fluharty recorded the final two outs without a run scoring. 

It was the best outing this postseason for Bieber, who entered with a 4.38 ERA in his three previous starts. The Blue Jays acquired Bieber at the trade deadline from Cleveland as he neared completion of rehab from Tommy John surgery. 

Max Muncy’s walk in the second led to the Dodgers scoring the game’s first run. Tommy Edman followed with a single and Enrique Hernández’s sacrifice fly brought home Muncy from third. 

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“I thought we had some good kind of energy early,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And then it just kind of petered out a little bit.” 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took Ohtani deep in the third inning for a two-run homer that gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. After Nathan Lukes singled, Guerrero cleared the fence in left-center for his seventh homer this postseason. 

“It was very important for me to hit that home run,” Guerrero said. “And from that point on we got going.” 

Ohtani rebounded to get the final two outs in the inning before striking out the side in the fourth and allowing only a single to Lukes in the fifth before retiring Guerrero for the final out. 

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Andrés Giménez delivered an RBI single in the seventh that extended the Blue Jays lead to 3-1. Daulton Varsho singled leading off the inning and Ernie Clement doubled him to third, ending Ohtani’s pitching assignment.

Anthony Banda allowed the bloop single to Giménez before Ty France’s RBI groundout placed the Dodgers in a 4-1 hole.

Bo Bichette and Addison Barger followed with successive RBI singles after Guerrero was intentionally walked that widened the lead to 6-1. 

Ohtani’s final line included four earned runs allowed on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk over six innings. He was removed after 93 pitches. 

Former Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt worked two scoreless innings in relief and allowed one hit. In five relief appearances this postseason the right-hander has not allowed an earned run.