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Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting losses in World Series history, the Blue Jays played with complete control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a composed outing as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Manager Schneider insisted later that “they took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 comeback victories this year.

They answered right away in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero sent it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this postseason – a fresh club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless frames and changing the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Night

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed was below his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his World Series streak. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when he eventually ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh with a clean hit to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to remove Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Banda came into the jam and right away trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded several runners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. He required just 4 throws to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats continued to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only three scores over their last 20 frames, an abrupt slowdown for a club that was among MLB's elite lineups all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles managed a run in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to develop.

After a game when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Toronto players recorded base hits, 5 drove in runs and the team converted nearly every run-scoring chance available in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Carter's iconic walk-off home run in 1993. They now are aware they are guaranteed a packed house in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter 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 quickly in an 11-4 win.