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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in World Series annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed complete control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady outing as the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their 18-inning third game defeat – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the series and burned through both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers won a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered convincing evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not rattle a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They responded immediately in the third. Lukes lined a one-out single to centre and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and he drove it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his initial long hit of the series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a new team mark – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on that night, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

His pitch speed was below his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger problem for the Dodgers was what came next when he finally lost steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp single to right field, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put runners on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a single to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring singles through the infield, capping a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb early setbacks and respond has defined their whole postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who left Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie left-hander Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just 4 throws to retire Max Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly grew safe.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among baseball's top lineups all season.

Closing Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to score Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to develop.

Following a game when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of wasted chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. 6 separate Blue Jays recorded hits, five brought home scores and the team cashed almost every scoring opportunity available in the late innings.

Next Up

The win guarantees the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic walk-off home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the matchup reset and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out the starter quickly in an decisive win.