LOS ANGELES — The Blue Jays lost a heartbreaker on Monday, an 18-inning slog that tied for the longest in postseason history in which they used every position player and reliever on their roster. Their heart and soul and one of the best October players of all time, DH George Springer, is out with an oblique injury for an unknown period of time. They arrived at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday to face the greatest player who ever lived, a man so dangerous that they intentionally walked him a postseason record four times the night before—and he was also starting the game on the mound. 

So naturally, they won Game 4, 6–2, to even the World Series at two games apiece. 

If indeed this is the David vs. Goliath matchup some have cast it as, it might be worth remembering that David won the battle.

In today’s game, there is no greater giant than Shohei Ohtani, and at first, it seemed that Game 4 would only burnish the legacy he is writing. In Game 3, he reached base a record-smashing nine times—three more than anyone else ever had in a postseason game. When most starting pitchers would be resting and studying the next day’s hitters, Ohtani was collecting two doubles and two home runs, then racking up five walks—four officially intentional, one unofficially intentional. 

In the moments after Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off homer to bring the game to a merciful end, the Dodgers gathered in the clubhouse, almost punch-drunk. Manager Dave Roberts told them he had never been more proud of them and reminded them that it would take the entire roster to win a World Series. He referenced the way Ohtani had insisted that his masterpiece in Game 4 of the NLCS—six scoreless innings, three home runs—had been a team effort. “Enjoy the s--- out of it,” Roberts encouraged. As they cheered, he pointed at his wrist. “Hey!” he added. “We got a game later today!” Behind him, the most important person on that roster giggled as he raised his arms skyward and pantomimed his pitching motion. 

Then he got out of there. Immediately after the game, he had told SI’s Tom Verducci, “I need to go to bed.” It was perhaps the only relatable thing Ohtani has ever said. 

He left the ballpark at 12:10 a.m., sipping a sports drink, and he was guzzling another 16 ½ hours later as he warmed up in left field. He worked around a walk and a single in the first. 

Four and a half minutes later, he was standing on first base. Blue Jays manager John Schneider acknowledged after Game 3 that he did not see much point in pitching to Ohtani going forward, and indeed, even to lead off the game, starter Shane Bieber only put one pitch definitively in the strike zone. 

Finally, in the third, Bieber pitched to him—and by staying low and tight to the zone, he got Ohtani to strike out on a foul tip. 

It marked Ohtani’s first out at Dodger Stadium since Oct. 16. In the meantime, he hit three home runs and walked in NLCS Game 4; hit those two homers and two doubles and took those five walks in World Series Game 3; and walked in the first inning of Game 4. He struck out again, this time looking, in the fifth, and grounded out in the seventh. 

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani, left, is taken out of 2025 World Series Game 4.
Shohei Ohtani, left, went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts at the plate in Game 4, and took the loss on the mound by allowing four runs in six innings. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays looked fresher than the Dodgers. L.A. put a runner on base in five of the first six innings but only scored once, fooled by Bieber’s ability to spin and locate the ball. Ohtani the pitcher made his first mistake in the third when he threw a sweeper that didn’t sweep to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a man on first. Guerrero whacked it into the left-center field stands. 

The score remained 2–1 until the seventh, when Daulton Varsho lined Ohtani’s 90th pitch into right field and Ernie Clement followed with a ringing double to center. Roberts summoned lefty Anthony Banda to face the left-handed Andrés Giménez, who worked a full count and then singled in an insurance run. Two batters later, pinch hitter Ty France managed an RBI groundout, and after the Dodgers intentionally walked Guerrero, righty Blake Treinen gave up consecutive run-scoring singles. It was a classic Blue Jays inning: four singles, a double, no strikeouts, two runs scored with two outs. 

The Dodgers attempted a rally in the ninth when Louis Varland, pitching for the 13th time in 15 Toronto postseason games, allowed a walk, a double and an RBI groundout, but he retired the next two hitters to end it. The win guaranteed another two games—but fortunately for everyone, those will not come until Wednesday and Friday. 

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Blue Jays Bounce Back by Taking Down Ohtani, Dodgers in World Series Game 4.