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Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series annals, the Blue Jays displayed total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays beat 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 guaranteeing the series will head back to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided convincing proof.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded immediately in the third. Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a new team record – regaining the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity was under his regular-season average and he struggled more as the contest progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Rally

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

Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean hit to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Banda inherited the jam and immediately fell behind. Giménez fought to a full count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left field. Ty France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove Banda out of the game. Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring singles through the diamond, capping a four-run barrage that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to withstand initial setbacks and respond has characterized their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who left Game 3 after straining his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous batting order. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the heart of the order in the sixth. Fluharty required just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow lead that quickly became comfortable.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only three runs over their last 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's top offenses all year.

Final Innings

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two on base. But Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

Following a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of missed opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 different Toronto players recorded hits, 5 drove in runs and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring chance available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in 1993. They now know they are assured a packed crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the series reset and momentum shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto chased Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.