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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series annals, the Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a steady start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and ensuring the matchup will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the morning of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series contest ever – a loss that cost them the chance to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Manager Schneider stated afterwards that “they won a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad offered emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays club that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this year.

They answered immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a new team record – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and changing the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat star had hit two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat below his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.

Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the escape.

Banda came into the jam and right away fell behind. Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-run barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early blows and answer has defined their whole postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who left the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the core of the order in the sixth inning. He needed just four throws to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile lead that soon became safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to build.

Following a game when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected hits, five brought home scores and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the late innings.

Next Up

The win guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a championship since Joe Carter's famous walk-off home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the series even and energy shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out Snell quickly in an 11-4 win.