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Less than a day after enduring one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a composed outing as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday dealing with their marathon third game defeat – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a loss that denied them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both bullpens. Manager Schneider stated later that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided convincing proof.

Initial Innings

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not rattle a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes lined a one-out single to centre and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani left a slider up and he drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new club mark – restoring the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat below his seasonal average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic record. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani eventually lost energy.

Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp single to right, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove Banda out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the diamond, completing a four-score outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has characterized their whole postseason. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Traded for mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent batting order. He gave up one earned run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon became comfortable.

Former starter Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats continued to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only three scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a club that ranked among baseball's top lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put two aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to build.

Following a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected base hits, 5 brought home runs and the team converted nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and energy shifting north. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out Snell early in an 11-4 victory.