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Less than a day following enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, 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 Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the morning of the next day processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider stated later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered emphatic evidence.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not shake a Blue Jays team that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded right away in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new team record – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless innings and changing the tone of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That swing also ended Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed was below his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when he eventually ran out of energy.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp hit to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Anthony Banda came into the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before driving in Varsho 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 game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI base hits through the diamond, capping a four-score outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to withstand early setbacks and answer has defined their whole postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who left the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Traded for mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner left multiple runners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider summoned first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow lead that quickly grew comfortable.

Converted starter Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among baseball's top lineups all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to build.

After a game when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. Six different Toronto players collected base hits, 5 drove in runs and the team converted almost every scoring opportunity presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning homer in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a full house in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in LA.

Game 5 looms with the series even and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto chased Snell early in an 11-4 win.