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Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a composed outing as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to lead the series and burned through both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated afterwards that “they took a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided emphatic proof.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Blue Jays team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this year.

They answered right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a slider up and he drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this postseason – a new club record – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That swing also ended Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

His pitch speed was under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even drew a walk 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 innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually lost steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left field. France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched run-scoring singles through the diamond, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to absorb initial blows and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who left Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Traded for during the summer while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner left several runners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth. He required just 4 throws to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that quickly became comfortable.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only 3 runs over their last 20 frames, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among MLB's top offenses all season.

Closing Innings

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

Following a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of missed chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. Six different Blue Jays recorded base hits, 5 brought home runs and the squad cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity presented in the late innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's famous walk-off homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the series reset and energy shifting north. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an decisive win.