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Only 24 hours following staggering through one of the most draining defeats in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a composed outing as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the series will head back to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest Fall Classic contest ever – a loss that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated later that “they took a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided emphatic proof.

Initial Innings

The Los Angeles again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not rattle a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh club record – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight plate appearances reaching base. The dual-threat star had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

His pitch speed was under his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of energy.

Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp single to right field, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the wall to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Banda inherited the jam and right away trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a full count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, capping a four-run outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial blows and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after tweaking his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what Toronto required. Traded for mid-season while completing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. Fluharty required just 4 throws to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile lead that quickly grew safe.

Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only three runs over their last 20 frames, an abrupt slowdown for a team that ranked among MLB's top offenses all season.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put runners on base. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to build.

Following a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted chances, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six different Blue Jays collected hits, 5 drove in runs and the team cashed almost every run-scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the championship title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not won a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the series even and momentum swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Blue Jays's momentum. Toronto counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an 11-4 win.