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Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most draining losses in World Series annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon third game defeat – equal to the lengthiest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to lead the series and burned through both relief corps. Skipper Schneider stated later that “they took a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided emphatic evidence.

Early Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto team that topped MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he sent it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new team record – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout frames and changing the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That swing also ended Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat star 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 requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the game progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his World Series streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Surge

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani finally ran out of energy.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, 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 pull the starter, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' bullpen could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock the pitcher out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit RBI base hits through the infield, capping a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and answer has characterized their entire run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who left the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' 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 lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just 4 pitches to retire Max Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow lead that soon became comfortable.

Former starter Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats continued to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 frames, an abrupt slowdown for a club that ranked among baseball's top offenses all year.

Final Moments

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Toronto players recorded base hits, five drove in scores and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the late innings.

Looking Ahead

The victory ensures the World Series trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not won a championship since Joe Carter's famous walk-off homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in LA.

Game 5 looms with the matchup reset and energy shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter early in an decisive victory.