LOS ANGELES -- The 2025 World Series is shaping up to be a classic. It’s all tied up again, after the Blue Jays’ 6-2 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
With a pivotal Game 5 looming on Wednesday, here are five takeaways from Dodger Stadium:
This was an all-time resilient effort from Toronto
Every good team has a knack for bouncing back from bad losses. How else do you succeed in a sport with games every day for six or seven months? But these Blue Jays have taken that to another level. In the ALCS against Seattle, they dropped two straight at home to start the series, then bounced back. They lost Game 5 on an eighth-inning grand slam, then bounced back.
On Tuesday, they turned in their most impressive bounceback performance to date.
The Blue Jays lost Game 3 in 18 innings. They also lost George Springer to injury. None of it seemed to matter. Shane Bieber was excellent. The offense brought its usual blend of power and peskiness. There were no signs that this team was on the wrong end of a heartbreaker roughly 15 hours prior.
“Yesterday was a tough loss,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. told the FOX broadcast. “But we flushed it right away.”
Now, at the very least, this series is headed back to Toronto for Game 6.
The Blue Jays DON’T have to walk Ohtani every time
Coming out of Game 3, there was a large sector of the baseball world suggesting that the Blue Jays either walk or pitch around Shohei Ohtani for the rest of this Series. It didn’t seem like such a crazy idea either, given what had just transpired.
But Game 4 showed that Toronto does not have to take the bat out of Ohtani’s hands completely. Bieber played it safe with him on a six-pitch walk to lead off the first. After that, however, Ohtani proved to be human at the plate, striking out twice against Bieber in the third and the fifth, then grounding out to second in the seventh.
“Bieber pitched really well,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “He attacked really at the edge and was able to execute location-wise.”
Yes, Ohtani was pitching, which you figure can limit his abilities at the plate more than on a day he’s only the designated hitter. But the idea that the Blue Jays can’t win if they pitch to Ohtani may have been a bit overblown. Clearly, they need to pitch him carefully. But they CAN pitch to him.
Vladdy came to play
So much of the focus at this World Series has centered around the Dodgers’ biggest superstar. Rightly so. Ohtani has been incredible. But on the other side, Guerrero has looked the part himself.
It’s not merely the numbers -- though the numbers are gaudy. (Guerrero’s 1.306 OPS is the best among all hitters this postseason.) Beyond that, Guerrero seems to be willing the Blue Jays forward. On Monday, he was brilliant at first base and outstanding on the basepaths. On Tuesday, he was back to contributing in his usual way -- with his bat. Guerrero launched a hanging sweeper from Ohtani into the left-field pavilion, giving the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead.
“I get that it's easy to write Ohtani versus Guerrero,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “To us, it's Toronto versus Los Angeles. But that swing was huge.”
Guerrero reached base three times on the night. With Springer out of the lineup, so much of the burden now falls to Guerrero. As ever, he seems to be up for the challenge.
Where’s the help around Ohtani in the lineup?
Mookie Betts’ eighth-inning single was only his fifth hit in 34 at-bats since the start of the NLCS. By now, it’s clear the Blue Jays are going to pitch around Ohtani -- if they even pitch to him at all. That means opportunities for Betts -- opportunities that he just isn’t cashing in right now.
Meanwhile, in front of Ohtani, Andy Pages has struggled in the No. 9 spot, hitting just .080 this postseason. That’s costing L.A. in a major way, by giving the Blue Jays the option of pitching around Ohtani in the first place.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pinch-hit for Pages with Alex Call in the seventh inning Tuesday -- and it seems possible a lineup shakeup could be coming in Game 5.
“I'm going to think long and hard, and it might look a little bit different tomorrow,” Roberts said.
A reset for the bullpens
In a way, this was just the game both teams needed. Yes, the Dodgers wanted to be on the winning end of it. But once the Blue Jays broke out for four runs in the seventh inning, they mostly stayed away from their high-leverage arms. (Plus, even if Ohtani allowed four runs, it was still pivotal that he covered six-plus innings.)
After a marathon of a game on Monday in which both teams used all of their relievers, Tuesday night was crucial. The Blue Jays went a bit heavier on their high-leverage arms, using Chris Bassitt for two innings, along with Mason Fluharty and Louis Varland. But they stayed away from closer Jeff Hoffman, who had worked two innings in Game 3.
It puts both teams in a decent spot for Game 5 on Wednesday night. Or as decent as you could expect for two teams who are about to play 36 innings (at least) in a three-day span.