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Less than a day after enduring one of the most draining losses in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total command.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a composed outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.

Toronto had spent the morning of the next day processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted later that “they took a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided convincing proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not rattle a Toronto club that topped MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes lined a one away base hit to centre and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani left a slider up and he sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a fresh club mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had hit two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. 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.

His fastball velocity sat under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when he eventually ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a double off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Banda inherited the mess and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a single to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock Banda out of the game. Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI base hits through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to withstand early setbacks and respond has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that soon grew safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats continued to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only 3 scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that was among MLB's top offenses all season.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's double put runners on base. But Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to develop.

Following a game when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. 6 different Toronto players collected hits, 5 brought home scores and the squad converted almost every scoring opportunity presented in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's famous game-winning home run in 1993. They now are aware they are guaranteed a full house in Canada on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the matchup even and momentum swinging north. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an 11-4 victory.