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Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with complete control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Canada.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the lengthiest World Series game ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not shake a Blue Jays team that topped MLB with 49 comeback victories this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Lukes lined a one away single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in over six frames.

Late Game Surge

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani finally lost steam.

Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean hit to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a double off the wall to put runners on with none out. Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Banda inherited the mess and right away fell behind. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring the runner with a single to left. France came up next with a fielder's choice 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 stop the rally: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

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

Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto needed. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. He required just four throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that quickly became safe.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' offense kept to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only three scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a club that was among baseball's elite offenses all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to develop.

Following a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. 6 separate Toronto players recorded base hits, five brought home runs and the team converted almost every scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous game-winning home run in 1993. They now are aware they are guaranteed a full house in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 approaches with the series even and energy shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto'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 Blue Jays chased Snell quickly in an decisive win.