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You want to know what separates contenders from champions? It’s not talent. It’s not even luck. It’s the ability to take a punch that would flatten most teams and come back swinging harder. The Toronto Blue Jays just showed us exactly what that looks like in Game 4 of the World Series. Less than 15 hours after suffering through a soul-crushing, 18-inning marathon loss that would’ve broken lesser teams, the Blue Jays walked into Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night and delivered a statement 6-2 victory over Los Angeles. Just like that, we’ve got ourselves a tied-up World Series heading into a pivotal Game 5. When Champions Answer the Bell Let’s be real here—Game 3 was brutal. Six hours and 39 minutes of baseball that felt like emotional waterboarding. The Blue Jays left 19 runners on base (a World Series record, because of course it was) and watched Freddie Freeman crush their hearts with an 18th-inning walk-off homer. That is the kind of loss that typically sends teams into a tailspin. The kind that makes players question everything. The kind that has sports psychologists nodding knowingly while collecting their fees. Instead? Manager John Schneider gathered his troops in the visiting clubhouse at some ungodly hour Tuesday morning and delivered a simple message: “This game is not going to beat us twice.” Turns out, he was right. “We are a team of uncommon men,” Third Baseman Ernie Clement said after Game 4. “I think a normal team would have folded today. And we’re not normal. I think we’re the best team in baseball.” Vladdy Goes Nuclear (Again) Speaking of backing things up, can we talk about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for a second? The Blue Jays’ 26-year-old superstar has been absolutely nuclear this October, and Game 4 was his biggest explosion yet. With Toronto trailing 1-0 in the third inning and facing Shohei Ohtani on the mound, Vlady stepped up and did what franchise players do. He demolished a hanging sweeper into the left-field pavilion for a two-run bomb that gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead they’d never relinquish. “I respect Ohtani a lot,” Guerrero said through an interpreter, “and I know basically myself and him, we are, like, the talk of the Series. But when we are between those two lines, we’re competing. It felt good that tonight I could hit that homer against him.” That blast was Guerrero’s seventh home run of this postseason, giving him the Toronto record for career postseason homers. He’s now slashing .419/.500/.806 this October. That’s not a typo. Those are video game numbers in the biggest games of his life. And get this—after that exhausting Game 3 loss that had most of his teammates tossing and turning until 5 a.m., Guerrero slept like a baby. “I was so tired that I just went to sleep,” he said. The Bieber Effect Shane Bieber deserves some serious love here, too. The right-hander, who Toronto acquired at the trade deadline while he was still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, turned in 5.1 innings of one-run ball that kept the Blue Jays in striking distance all night. Bieber’s approach was masterful. He threw just 27% fastballs, instead serving up a buffet of darting off-speed pitches that had Dodgers hitters flailing like they were swinging pool noodles. Five pitch types, all used at least 14% of the time, none more than 27%. That’s pitching artistry, folks. The biggest highlight? Striking out Ohtani to end his World Series-record 11-consecutive-plate-appearance on-base streak. Yeah, that happened. “Bieber pitched really well,” Ohtani admitted through his interpreter. “He attacked really at the edge and was able to execute location-wise.” The Seventh-Inning Avalanche With the Blue Jays clinging to a 2-1 lead through six innings, the seventh frame turned into an absolute clinic in small-ball efficiency. Toronto exploded for four runs in just 19 pitches—without even hitting a home run. It started with back-to-back hits off an exhausted Ohtani, who Manager Dave Roberts finally pulled from the game. Then the floodgates opened. Andrés Giménez delivered a clutch RBI single after a phenomenal at-bat. Ty France drove in another on a groundout. Bo Bichette and Addison Barger added RBI singles against Blake Treinen. Just like that, a 2-1 nail-biter became a comfortable 6-1 cushion. The Blue Jays’ offense—which had sputtered and stalled through 18 agonizing innings the night before—found its groove at exactly the right moment. What This Means For the World Series Here’s where things get interesting. The Dodgers came into this World Series having scored first in all four games. They’re the defending champions. They have Ohtani. They have home-field advantage. None of it mattered Tuesday night. The Blue Jays have now guaranteed this series returns to Rogers Centre for at least Game 6. More importantly, they’ve proven they can beat LA’s best—both on the mound (Ohtani) and in high-leverage situations. “We just didn’t have an answer,” Roberts admitted after the game. For a team that’s been counted out all season long, that has to feel pretty good. Toronto led the majors with 49 comeback wins during the regular season. They’ve fallen behind early in every single game of this World Series. And they keep fighting back. The Outlook For Game 5 Now we head into Wednesday’s Game 5 with everything on the line. The winner takes a commanding 3-2 World Series lead. The loser faces elimination with their backs against the wall. Both bullpens got a bit of a breather Tuesday night after Monday’s marathon forced both teams to empty their tanks. Toronto’s Closer, Jeff Hoffman, didn’t pitch in Game 4, meaning he’ll be fresh for high-leverage work. The Dodgers similarly held back most of their top arms once the game got out of hand. Roberts hinted at possible lineup changes for Game 5, particularly in the bottom third of his order, which has been hitting a collective .143 this series. Meanwhile, Toronto will be without injured DH George Springer for at least another game, though honestly, with the way Guerrero and company are swinging the bat, they might not even miss him. The Bottom Line This Blue Jays team is special. They’re resilient in ways that can’t be taught or bought. They’ve got a superstar in Guerrero playing like he’s cementing a Hall of Fame legacy. They’ve got a pitching staff that refuses to give in. And they’ve got that intangible championship DNA that makes you believe anything’s possible. One day down the road, when they’re building statues outside Rogers Centre and naming streets after Vladdy, we’ll look back at this Game 4 as the moment that defined this team. The night they took the heaviest punch the baseball gods could throw and responded with an uppercut that landed flush.
