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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a composed start as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Canada.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Skipper John Schneider stated later that “they took a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early 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 inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out single to center field and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Shohei 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 homer this postseason – a fresh club mark – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless frames and changing the tone of the night.

Shohei's Night

That swing also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat star had hit two homers and got on base a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity was under his regular-season norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Late Game Rally

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when Ohtani finally lost steam.

Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right, and Clement smashed a double off the wall to put runners on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Banda came into the jam and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the game. Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bichette and Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who left Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager called on rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the heart of the order in the sixth. He needed just four throws to get out Muncy and Edman, protecting a fragile lead that quickly became safe.

Converted starter Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among MLB's elite lineups all season.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's double put runners on base. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to develop.

After a game when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally effective. Six different Toronto players collected base hits, 5 brought home runs and the team cashed almost every scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic walk-off homer in '93. They now know they are assured a full crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 looms with the matchup reset and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased Snell quickly in an 11-4 win.