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Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most exhausting losses in World Series annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of the next day processing their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both relief corps. Skipper John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they took a contest, not the championship”. A day later, his squad offered convincing proof.

Initial 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 early score did not shake a Blue Jays team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind victories this year.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out base hit to centre and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a fresh team record – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and changing the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat star had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

Ohtani pitch speed was under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed flashes of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his World Series streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally lost energy.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a sharp hit to right, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put runners on with none out. Dave Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before driving in the runner with a single to left. France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, capping a four-run barrage that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand early setbacks and respond has defined their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for mid-season while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several runners and quieted the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager called on rookie left-hander Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense continued to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their last 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a team that ranked among baseball's elite offenses all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth inning when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to develop.

After a night when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly effective. 6 different Blue Jays collected base hits, five drove in runs and the team cashed almost every run-scoring chance available in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the championship title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not won a championship since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are assured a packed house in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the matchup even and energy shifting north. Los Angeles pitcher 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 repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased Snell early in an decisive victory.