Annnnnd, just like that the World Series is down to a best-of-three contest as the Blue Jays knotted the series at 2-2 last night in a 6-2 victory that ONLY lasted nine regular innings! I honestly didn’t see this result coming, as mentioned in yesterday’s post, as I just thought the 18-innning defeat in Game 3 was too much emotionally for Toronto to come back from (especially on the road), and having to try and do so against Shohei Ohtani as the Dodgers starter for Game 4. That being said, I was glad to be proven wrong as I have wanted, above all, a long and compelling series and Toronto tying things up last night was necessary for that to occur. Regardless of what happens tonight in Game 5, we are at the very least guaranteed a Game 6 back in Toronto and that will be fun as that place will be rocking. We’ve really had two great venues for the Series in Chavez Ravine and Rogers Centre – both such different yet beautiful venues in their own right – along with what is really proving to be two great, and evenly matched teams. Teams different in style, different in payroll (don’t forget LA’s payroll is still $100M above that of Toronto’s without even factoring in Ohtani’s salary which is mostly deferred), different in star power but evenly matched nonetheless as a series tied after four games has proven.

A couple of other thoughts:

Shohei Ohtani isn’t a cyborg, he is actually human! We already knew this (as his struggles at the plate in the Milwaukee series with the exception of Game 2 indicated) but Ohtani makes it easy to forget as he is more often than not, a walking historical moment. His performance in Game 3 was, again, history making and so we expected it to be followed up in Game 4 certainly with more dominance, and perhaps more history. Instead, what we got wasn’t bad. Ohtani is rarely that, but it was just average or normal and we aren’t used to that from the Japanese Babe Ruth/Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods/Tom Brady. After all, a guy who reached base nine times as he did in Game 3, is allowed a Game 4 where he went 0-3 at the plate but it still surprises. And, again, a guy whose last starting pitching outing (last round) went six innings, allowed zero runs and struck out ten is allowed a pedestrian follow-up start, but it still surprises. This surprise factor is yet further testament to Ohtani’s greatness – we are more surprised when he fails than succeeds in a sport predicated on a far greater proportion of failure – and that surprise is reflected in his line last night: 
6IP, 6H, 4ER, 6K, 1BB.

Toronto’s sum is greater than its parts. Like the point about Ohtani above, we kinda already knew this as Toronto exceeded regular season expectations, and as few gave them a chance in this Series (yours truly included) against the juggernaut-potential Dodgers, and due to them lacking comparable star power to that of LA (with a few exceptions – Vladdy, Springer, aging Scherzer) but we realized it afresh last night. Further, it’s one of the things we love about the game of baseball and something I referenced in my first post about the Series. Baseball is just a highly unpredictable sport. The most talented or most expensive teams don’t always win (hello, New York Mets!). Resiliency, clubhouse culture, grinding at-bats, solid defense, and stringing together timely hits (which, to be fair, both clubs possess all of these) all come into play and we’re seeing that. Now, the Dodgers being the most talented and most expensive team in this matchup can still and very well might still go on to win the series. My prediction was that the series was going to go 6 regardless of the winner (and its going at least that as stated above) but the fact that it hasn’t been a Dodgers steamrolling is further testament to the inherently beautiful nature of baseball and the unpredictability woven into its fabric. Gotta tip the cap to the Blue Jays for the way they bounced back against a team and in an environment where the odds were not in their favor.

Continuing to speak of Toronto – those all-powder-blue uniforms they wear remind me of hospital scrubs. Maybe they’ll have some healing power and George Springer will be able to return to the lineup for them. Another reason to be impressed with Toronto’s victory last night missing a cornerstone like him in their lineup.

As a friend noted in an email this morning, in a way all pressure now shifts to the Dodgers in tonight’s Game 5. If they manage to let this game get away also, oh boy. Going back to the raucous Rogers Centre and having to win two will be a tall task. At the same time, we gotta believe Yamamoto will be starting Game 6 for LA, and that guy has been a wizard. Who knows? What magic remains to be seen in this really fun and entertaining series?

Either way we got a good one on our hands. And, I’ll say it again: these teams regular season records (the determining factor to World Series home/away schedule) only differed by a single game, with that slightest of edges going to Toronto. Could that single game difference in record be the key to who eventually wins this thing? I guess we’ll find out.