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Only 24 hours following enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the series will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both bullpens. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they took a game, not the championship”. A day later, his squad offered emphatic proof.

Initial Innings

The Los Angeles again struck first. 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 club that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a new club record – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon 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 took the mound on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity was below his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally lost energy.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put runners on with none out. Dave Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda inherited the mess and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. France followed 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 stop the rally: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, completing a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to withstand initial blows and answer has defined their whole run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Acquired during the summer while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous batting order. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just four throws to get out Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that soon became safe.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only three runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Final Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to develop.

Following a night when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. 6 separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, five brought home scores and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the late innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Joe Carter's famous game-winning home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the matchup reset and momentum swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out Snell early in an 11-4 victory.