To this point in the World Series, the superstar matchup between Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took place only in the opposing batter's box. In Game 4, they squared off directly, with Ohtani hurling 99 m.p.h. fastballs and Guerrero attempting to blast them right back even harder.
Ohtani’s numbers have far exceeded Guerrero’s in the Fall Classic, but when 60 feet, six inches separated them between the mound and home plate at Dodger Stadium, the Blue Jays’ franchise player came out on top.
In his second at-bat, Guerrero connected on a breaking ball Ohtani left over the plate, sending it 395 feet into the left-field seats at Dodger Stadium. The go-ahead two-run shot was Guerrero’s seventh of the post-season, setting the Blue Jays’ all-time franchise record.
The milestone home run also gave the Blue Jays a lead they never relinquished, as they added four runs on five hits in the seventh and suppressed Ohtani and the rest of the Dodgers' high-powered offence in a 6-2 win.
Watch the Blue Jays in the World Series on Sportsnet
It all comes down to Game 7 as the Blue Jays try to win their first World Series title since 1993. Watch Game 7 on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
Broadcast schedule
The belt was also Guerrero’s first home run in the World Series, as the star slugger had managed to put up solid numbers through the first three games but was yet to break through with the same kind of commanding play he displayed in previous series this October.
The Blue Jays and Dodgers, Guerrero and Ohtani, have exchanged heavy blows through four games with the highest stakes. The Dodgers' two-way star tied a World Series record with his two-home run, two-double Game 3 performance and Guerrero countered by taking him yard the next day. The duo dominates the overall post-season leaderboards, with Guerrero leading in OPS (1.306), Ohtani leading in home runs (8) and the pair tied for most RBIs (14).
Let’s look at how their numbers compare both in Game 4 and the series as a whole thus far.
Mano a mano
Guerrero hadn’t faced Ohtani on the mound since Aug. 27, 2022, but had previous success against the hard-throwing right-hander in his career. In nine plate appearances before Tuesday’s Game 4, he had three hits and a walk, including a home run and a laser beam 113.3 m.p.h. double.
Both extra-base hits came on pitches located middle-away, which may have played into the masterful three-pitch sequence Ohtani used to get the best of Guerrero in his first at-bat.
He started with a fastball just off the outside edge that Guerrero uncharacteristically swung at and fouled off, considering he has a chase rate that is amongst the ten lowest this post-season. After Ohtani perfectly dotted a sweeper on the corner low-and-away and then threw another, this time below the zone and outside, inducing a swinging strikeout.
But in their next matchup, Ohtani threw a mistake in the zone and Guerrero didn't miss. The American League Championship Series MVP first took two breaking balls outside of the zone before fouling off a low 97 m.p.h. fastball. Then Ohtani hung a sweeper at the belt and Guerrero tagged it 102.5 m.p.h. over the wall, putting the Blue Jays ahead and further adding to the intrigue between the two stars.
Ohtani has rare off-night
Aside from giving up the homer to Guerrero, Ohtani cruised through his first six innings pitched in a World Series, allowing only the two runs, five baserunners and striking out six.
His average fastball velocity was down to 97.5 m.p.h., nearly one m.p.h. lower than his season average and three of his secondary offerings lagged even further, two-to-three ticks below their usual life. The Blue Jays battled in the first, as Bo Bichette and Addison Barger extended their at-bats for a walk and a base hit and Ohtani had to throw 19 pitches in the inning.
But there were also bright spots, like a seven-pitch second where all three outs were made on balls hit incredibly soft – between 45 and 72 m.p.h. Daulton Varsho and Andrés Giménez made their weak contact outs on the first pitch. Ohtani struck out the side in the fourth as the same section of the Blue Jays' order swung through pitches in the strike zone.
Ohtani's first Fall Classic start came to an end when Daulton Varsho reached on a soft liner and Ernie Clement smacked a drive of the left-field wall, narrowly missing a home run. Both came around to score after Anthony Banda entered in relief on a Giménez single and a Ty France RBI fielder's choice, respectively.
While Ohtani's pitching performance was solid, his performance at the plate was a different story.
After reaching base in a World Series record 10 consecutive plate appearances, including five straight walks to finish Game 3, there was speculation that the Blue Jays would become the first MLB team to intentionally walk a hitter leading off a game. After all, they did show Ohtani four fingers in four of his five walks on Monday.
Shane Bieber did ultimately walk Ohtani on six pitches, throwing his pitches either outside or at the very edge of the zone. And that approach continued throughout the start.
The Blue Jays' prized trade-deadline acquisition threw Ohtani eight pitches outside of the zone and five of the other six were on the edge. Bieber's location to the post-season's home run leader was precise; he didn't offer up a single mistake.
Even more, he got Ohtani to strike out in his next two plate appearances, first foul-tipping a well-executed changeup into the glove of Alejandro Kirk and then freezing on a curveball at the knees. It was a rare 0-for-3 for the reigning National League MVP after the leadoff walk.
Here are Guerrero and Ohtani's numbers for the full series:
