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Less than a day after enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic history, the Blue Jays displayed complete command.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a composed outing as Toronto defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will return to Canada.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series game ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to lead the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. A day later, his team provided emphatic proof.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy walked in the second, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early breakthrough did not shake a Toronto club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new team mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight plate appearances reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his seasonal norm and he labored more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Surge

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when he eventually lost energy.

Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean hit to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and immediately fell behind. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring 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 sufficient to knock Banda out of the game. Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, capping a four-run outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt leadoff man who left the third game after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner left several baserunners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile lead that quickly grew safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats continued to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only three runs over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among MLB's elite lineups all year.

Closing Moments

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put runners on base. But Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to build.

Following a game when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally effective. Six different Blue Jays collected base hits, five drove in scores and the squad converted almost every run-scoring chance available in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous walk-off homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the series reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt 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 Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an 11-4 victory.