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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to lead the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, 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 team that topped MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Guerrero stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a fresh team mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity was below his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the game progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Surge

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

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a double off the fence to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the contest. Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, capping a four-run outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early setbacks and answer has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. Fluharty needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile lead that soon grew comfortable.

Converted starter Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats continued to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among MLB's top offenses all season.

Final Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a walk and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

Following a game when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected hits, five drove in scores and the team converted almost every scoring chance presented in the late innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now are aware they are assured a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the series even and energy shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto counter with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto chased Snell early in an 11-4 victory.