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

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a composed outing as Toronto beat 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 series will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent 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 cost them the opportunity to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Skipper Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided convincing proof.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the tone of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

His pitch speed was below his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest wore on. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp single to right field, and Clement drilled a double off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and right away trailed in the count. Giménez fought to a full count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the momentum: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial blows and respond has defined their whole run. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after straining his right side.

Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Acquired during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager summoned rookie left-hander Fluharty to face the heart of the order in the sixth inning. He needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow lead that soon grew safe.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among baseball's elite offenses all season.

Final Innings

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's double put two aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to develop.

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. Six different Toronto players collected hits, five drove in scores and the squad converted nearly every scoring chance available in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not won a title since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now are aware they are guaranteed a full house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.