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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most draining losses in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

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

Toronto had passed the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series game ever – a loss that cost them the chance to lead the series and burned through both bullpens. Skipper Schneider stated afterwards that “they won a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided convincing evidence.

Initial Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that topped MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded right away in the third. Lukes lined a one away single to centre and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new club record – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That swing also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His pitch speed sat below his regular-season norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when he finally ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation 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 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. 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 came in next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, completing a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to withstand early setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt leadoff man who left the third game after tweaking his right side.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Acquired mid-season while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left multiple baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty required just 4 pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a fragile lead that soon grew comfortable.

Former starter Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' offense continued to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only three runs over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a club that ranked among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Closing Moments

The Los Angeles managed a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to develop.

After a game when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. 6 separate Blue Jays collected base hits, five drove in scores and the team converted nearly every run-scoring opportunity presented in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be presented at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous game-winning homer in 1993. They now know they are assured a full crowd in Canada on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the series reset and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.