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Only 24 hours following staggering through one of the most draining losses in World Series annals, the Blue Jays displayed total command.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Canada.

Toronto had spent the morning of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to lead the series and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider stated afterwards that “they took a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered convincing evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Toronto club that topped MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They answered right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh team mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a historic 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.

His fastball velocity sat under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Late Game Surge

The larger problem for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually ran out of steam.

Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp single to right field, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring the runner 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 contest. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, capping a four-run barrage that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early setbacks and answer has defined their entire run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who left Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Acquired mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three walks before the manager summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just 4 throws to get out Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon became comfortable.

Converted starter Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among baseball's elite offenses all season.

Closing Moments

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to build.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six separate Toronto players collected hits, 5 drove in runs and the squad converted almost every run-scoring opportunity available in the late innings.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the championship trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off homer in '93. They now are aware they are assured a packed house in Canada on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the matchup reset and momentum shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto chased the starter quickly in an decisive win.