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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in World Series history, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a composed outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the series will return to Canada.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day processing their 18-inning third game defeat – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to lead the series and depleted both relief corps. Skipper Schneider stated afterwards that “they took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to centre and Guerrero stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a fresh club record – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That swing also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on that night, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat under his regular-season average and he labored more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when he eventually lost steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp single to right field, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the jam and right away fell behind. Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the rally: Bichette and Barger punched RBI singles through the diamond, completing a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial blows and respond has defined their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous batting order. He gave up one earned run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager summoned rookie left-hander Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. He required just four pitches to get out Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon became safe.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only three scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among MLB's top offenses all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to build.

After a night when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 different Blue Jays recorded hits, 5 brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every scoring opportunity available in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Joe Carter's famous walk-off homer in 1993. They now know they are assured a packed house in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the series even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out the starter quickly in an decisive victory.