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Less than a day following enduring one of the most draining losses in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the series will head back to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad offered emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one away single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a fresh club record – regaining the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed was under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually lost steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a sharp single to right, and Clement drilled a double off the wall to put two on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in 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 knock Banda out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger punched RBI singles through the diamond, completing a four-score outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb early blows and answer has defined their entire run. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager called on rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just four throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon grew safe.

Former starter Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 runs over their previous 20 frames, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among MLB's elite offenses all year.

Final Moments

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

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. 6 different Blue Jays recorded base hits, five brought home scores and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring chance presented in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the World Series title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and possibly the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's momentum. Toronto counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter early in an decisive win.