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Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a composed start as the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two games each and ensuring the matchup will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of the next day dealing with their marathon third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to lead the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider stated later that “they won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind victories this year.

They responded right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one-out single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a new team record – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless innings and changing the tone of the night.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight plate appearances reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His pitch speed sat under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Surge

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

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, and Clement smashed a double off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left field. Ty France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the diamond, capping a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to withstand initial setbacks and answer has characterized their whole run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the core of the order in the sixth. He required just 4 pitches to get out Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow lead that soon grew safe.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that was among MLB's elite lineups all season.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth inning when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to build.

After a night when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally effective. 6 different Toronto players recorded base hits, five brought home runs and the squad converted nearly every scoring chance presented in the final innings.

Next Up

The win guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous walk-off home run in '93. They now know they are assured a packed crowd in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup even and momentum shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto respond with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out the starter early in an 11-4 win.