World Series 2025: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers' bullpen run out of gas as Blue Jays take Game 4, put the pressure back on L.A. Russell DorseyOctober 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM 0 LOS ANGELES — The 18inning marathon that was World Series Game 3 was always going to have a huge effect on the outcome of this Fall Classic. After the Dodgers were able to outlast the Blue Jays on Monday to go ahead in the series 21, the question going into Game 4 on Tuesday was: Which team would feel it more? [Get more L.A.
- - World Series 2025: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers' bullpen run out of gas as Blue Jays take Game 4, put the pressure back on L.A.
Russell DorseyOctober 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM
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LOS ANGELES — The 18-inning marathon that was World Series Game 3 was always going to have a huge effect on the outcome of this Fall Classic. After the Dodgers were able to outlast the Blue Jays on Monday to go ahead in the series 2-1, the question going into Game 4 on Tuesday was: Which team would feel it more?
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One night after reaching base nine times and continuing to be the Dodgers' Superman, Shohei Ohtani was once again tasked with carrying L.A. — this time on the bump — with the Dodgers eyeing a 3-1 series lead. And after the L.A. bullpen covered 13 1/3 innings in Game 3, Ohtani needed to shoulder most of the load on the mound in Game 4, in addition to his usual duties as designated hitter.
Things looked promising early on, as Ohtani was able to get through the first 2 1/3 without allowing any damage, despite not being his sharpest. Then the first big crack in his usually impenetrable armor came in the third inning.
After walking Nathan Lukes to bring the dangerous Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the plate, Ohtani got himself in trouble, falling behind in the count to Guerrero. He followed with one of his only mistakes of the night.
The Dodgers' right-hander left a hanging sweeper up in the zone, and Guerrero instantly made him pay, crushing a no-doubt, two-run blast into the left-field seats and giving the Blue Jays a lead they wouldn't relinquish in a 6-2 victory that tied the World Series at two games apiece.
Guerrero's homer was the first home run Ohtani, the pitcher, has allowed this postseason, and it was the Blue Jays' superstar's first in the World Series.
"Looking back, in hindsight, it was just a regrettable pitch," Ohtani said via an interpreter. "Something I wish that I could have taken back. It was just a bad spot — that location."
With the Dodgers down 2-1, Ohtani went back into attack mode, striking out the side in the fourth inning and touching 98.5 mph. With that, things looked back on track for the Dodgers' superstar, and he went into the fifth inning with some momentum. Another quick frame working around a Nathan Lukas single rolled Ohtani right into the sixth, an inning he finished with a strikeout of Kirk on one of his best sweepers of the night.
But while Ohtani is superman, not even superman was immune to some of the after-effects of the lengthy Game 3 and the energy expended across those 18 innings. Because after looking his best in the sixth, things took a turn for Ohtani in the seventh. Against the leadoff batter, he surrendered the first loud contact since the Guerrero homer, with Varsho knocking a single to right before a double off the wall from Clement put runners on second and third with nobody out.
Just like that, Ohtani and the Dodgers were on the ropes, and Ohtani's night on the mound was over.
"Whether it's during the regular season or the postseason, my goal is to be able to pitch six innings," Ohtani said afterward. "And this game, I wanted to go seven, and it was regrettable that I wasn't able to finish that inning."
With options in the bullpen severely limited, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Anthony Banda to get his team out of the jam. But the exhaustion from Monday wasn't just felt by Ohtani; it appeared as if most of L.A.'s bullpen was dragging as well.
Indeed, on Tuesday, it seemed like every time the Dodgers made a pitch in high leverage, they didn't quite have enough. Facing his first batter, Banda battled with Andrés Giménez, and with a full count, he made a pitcher's pitch off the plate.
Giménez got just enough of it to hit it into short left field, scoring Varsho and giving Toronto a 3-1 lead. Two batters later, pinch-hitter Ty France's fielder's choice brought in the second run and Ohtani's second baserunner of the inning to make it 4-1 Toronto.
"It's just the contact," Banda said afterward of the Blue Jays' offensive ability. "They're very good at just putting the bat on the ball. … That was kind of what it was. I executed pitches and stuff like that, and they just find a way to get it done."
Andrés Giménez pads the @BlueJays lead! #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/n9TER3WnIT
— MLB (@MLB) October 29, 2025
Toronto's knockout blow came against the Dodgers' next man out of the pen: Blake Treinen.
After an IBB to Guerrero, Treinen inherited runners on first and second, and the first batter he faced, Bo Bichette, ripped an RBI single that extended the lead to 5-1. The following batter, Addison Barger, did the same, lining the first pitch he saw into left field, which scored Guerrero and stretched the lead to 6-1. It marked the third straight appearance in which Treinen has allowed a run, going back to Game 4 of the NLCS against the Brewers.
Following a night in which L.A. relievers finished the game throwing 11 consecutive scoreless innings, the seventh inning of Game 4 was the opposite for the Dodgers' bullpen, with three hits, one intentional walk and two runs scored.
"The biggest mistake over the last two days was probably the slider to Bichette — it backed up on me," Treinen said. "... Today, I feel like [we] executed some pretty good pitches, sinker down and away to Barger, just got through the ball. Just the Bichette pitch really … bit us."
After their lifeless performance in Game 4, the Dodgers didn't seem to want to use the 18-inning Game 3 as an excuse. But there was clearly some lasting impact from Monday's game felt by Ohtani, the bullpen and the offense, which mustered only two runs on six hits Tuesday. Ohtani, the hitter, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk.
"I feel like we're professionals. We had plenty of time to get some rest," Treinen said. "I think the hardest task was Shohei. Playing 18 innings and coming back and pitching like he did is pretty phenomenal. It's unfortunate that we didn't find a way to win today."
"I think that we knew it was going to be a great series," Roberts said of the Jays punching back to tie it up. "This team is talented, they're resilient, and they came back fighting."
But the reality is that the Blue Jays had to deal with the same circumstances as the Dodgers. They also played a 6-hour, 39-minute Game 3. And there was far more pressure on Toronto after it lost that game and needed to avoid going down 3-1 in the series.
No matter. With their win in Game 4, the Blue Jays not only outplayed the Dodgers to even this Fall Classic, but they also put the pressure firmly back on L.A. Regardless of what happens Wednesday in Game 5, the Jays have guaranteed themselves at least one more game in Toronto to close this series.
"It's really just come back, get our rest, refocus and play tomorrow," Treinen said of the Dodgers' focus in Game 5. "The biggest thing is to win the next one. Obviously, we all want to win a World Series, but it starts with one game at a time."
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: October 29, 2025 at 08:27AM on Source: ALPHA MAG
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