The pitcher-catcher bond is always special — think Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright or A.J. Ellis and Clayton Kershaw, pairs that seemed to share one mind. Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith aren’t there yet, but after a tough Game 4 loss, Smith showed his loyalty, stepping up to defend his superstar pitcher. In Game 4, Shohei Ohtani almost looked normal human. He started the game less than 24 hours after an 18-inning marathon and pitched well at first, holding the Blue Jays scoreless for the first two innings.

But then, after a Nathan Lukes single, Shohei gave up a huge two-run go-ahead homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the third, which gave Toronto a 2-1 lead. Ohtani settled down after that and didn’t give any runs, and pitched into the seventh inning. But then he ran out of gas and left wit

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