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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed complete control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered emphatic evidence.

Early Innings

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early breakthrough did not shake a Blue Jays team that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new team mark – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also halted Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on that night, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

His fastball velocity was below his regular-season average and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Surge

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani eventually ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to withstand early setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured leadoff man who exited Game 3 after tweaking his right side.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Acquired during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left several runners and quieted the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just 4 throws to retire Max Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile lead that quickly grew safe.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats kept to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their last 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Final Innings

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to build.

After a game when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of wasted chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. 6 different Blue Jays collected hits, five brought home scores and the squad converted almost every run-scoring chance presented in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The victory ensures the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Carter's famous game-winning homer in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Canada on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the series even and energy swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's surge. Toronto respond with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out the starter early in an decisive win.