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Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to lead the matchup and depleted both bullpens. Skipper John Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team offered convincing proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes lined a one-out single to centre and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh club mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his seasonal norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed flashes of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

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

Daulton Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put runners on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez fought 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 knock the pitcher out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, capping a four-run barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand early setbacks and respond has defined their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who exited Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four base hits and three free passes before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon became comfortable.

Converted starter Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats continued to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles managed 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 two aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly effective. Six separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, five brought home scores and the squad cashed nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning home run in '93. They now are aware they are assured a full house in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the series even and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's surge. Toronto respond with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an decisive win.