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

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a steady start as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of Tuesday processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted later that “they won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided convincing evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a single and scored on Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Blue Jays club that led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out base hit to center field and Guerrero stepped in hunting a curveball. Ohtani threw a slider up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new club mark – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had hit two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. But on that night, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his regular-season average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of energy.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean hit to right, and Clement smashed 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 local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Banda inherited the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a full count before driving in the runner with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI base hits through the diamond, capping a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to withstand initial setbacks and respond has characterized their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who exited Game 3 after tweaking his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while completing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 pitches to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that quickly became safe.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats kept to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only 3 runs over their previous 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among baseball's top offenses all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

After a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 different Blue Jays collected hits, 5 brought home runs and the team cashed nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off homer in 1993. They now know they are assured a packed house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup even and momentum swinging north. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto chased Snell quickly in an decisive victory.