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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in World Series annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed complete control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the morning of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not rattle a Blue Jays team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They answered immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a new club record – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and changing the tone of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The two-way star had smashed two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally lost energy.

Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp hit to right field, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. Ty France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger punched RBI singles through the diamond, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to absorb initial setbacks and answer has defined their entire postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the injured leadoff man who exited Game 3 after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He gave up one run on four base hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth. Fluharty required just 4 throws to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that soon became safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that was among baseball's top lineups all season.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put two aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to build.

Following a night when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of wasted chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Blue Jays recorded hits, 5 drove in runs and the team cashed almost every run-scoring opportunity available in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Joe Carter's famous walk-off homer in 1993. They now know they are assured a packed house in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the series even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Toronto chased the starter quickly in an decisive win.