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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series history, the Blue Jays played with complete command.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a steady outing as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of the next day dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated later that “they won a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not rattle a Toronto club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one-out single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a fresh club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the tone of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 straight plate appearances reaching base. The two-way star had smashed two home runs and got on base a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed sat under his seasonal average and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his typical control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' bullpen could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda came into the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the diamond, capping a four-run barrage that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial blows and respond has characterized their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt leadoff man who exited the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded several baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned first-year pitcher Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. He required just four throws to get out Max Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon became safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense continued to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's elite offenses all season.

Final Moments

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted chances, the fourth contest was brutally effective. 6 different Blue Jays collected base hits, 5 brought home runs and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The victory 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 homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the matchup reset and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto chased Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.