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Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the early hours of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers won a game, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided convincing proof.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early breakthrough did not shake a Blue Jays club that topped MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes hit a one-out single to centre and Guerrero stepped in looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the series and his 7th homer this postseason – a fresh team mark – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The two-way star had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat under his regular-season average and he labored more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when he eventually ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp single to right, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and immediately fell behind. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the infield, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand early blows and answer has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who left Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Traded for during the summer while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth. He required just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon grew safe.

Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only three scores over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's elite offenses all season.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to score Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's double put two on base. But Louis Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to develop.

Following a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally effective. 6 separate Toronto players collected base hits, 5 drove in runs and the team converted almost every run-scoring opportunity available in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Carter's famous game-winning home run in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup reset and momentum shifting north. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an 11-4 win.