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

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady outing as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and ensuring the series will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted later that “they won a game, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not rattle a Blue Jays team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout frames and changing the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, 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 below his regular-season average and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his World Series streak. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Late Game Surge

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani eventually ran out of energy.

Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp hit to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and right away fell behind. Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a single to left. France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the rally: Bichette and Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to absorb early blows and respond has defined their entire run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt leadoff man who left the third game after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Acquired mid-season while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and quieted the Dodgers' dangerous batting order. He allowed one run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to face the heart of the order in the sixth. He needed just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow lead that soon grew safe.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' offense kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a team that was among baseball's top offenses all year.

Closing Moments

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was brutally effective. Six separate Blue Jays recorded hits, 5 brought home scores and the squad cashed nearly every run-scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the championship title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out the starter quickly in an decisive victory.