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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most draining losses in Fall Classic history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the early hours of the next day processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Skipper John Schneider insisted later that “they won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not shake a Blue Jays club that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Lukes hit a one away base hit to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a fresh team mark – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed sat under his seasonal norm and he labored more as the contest progressed. Even so, he displayed flashes of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his World Series record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani finally lost energy.

Varsho opened the seventh with a clean hit 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 roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a single to left. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI base hits through the infield, completing a four-run barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's ability to absorb early blows and answer has characterized their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited Game 3 after straining his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Acquired during the summer while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before the manager summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just four throws to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow lead that soon became safe.

Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 runs over their previous 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a club that was among baseball's top lineups all season.

Final Innings

The Dodgers managed a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's double put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to develop.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Toronto players recorded hits, 5 brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every scoring opportunity available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

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

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