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Only 24 hours following enduring one of the most exhausting losses in World Series annals, the Blue Jays played with complete control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the morning of Tuesday processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a loss that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager John Schneider stated later that “they took a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided emphatic proof.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Guerrero stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout innings and changing the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 straight plate appearances reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had hit two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani pitch speed was under his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when he finally ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp hit to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the fence to put two on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the escape.

Banda inherited the jam and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Blue Jays's ability to absorb initial blows and answer has defined their entire run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the injured leadoff man who left Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded several runners and silenced the Dodgers' potent batting order. He gave up one run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only three scores over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among MLB's top offenses all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to develop.

Following a night when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Blue Jays recorded hits, five brought home runs and the team converted nearly every scoring chance available in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the World Series title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a title since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in 1993. They now are aware they are guaranteed a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto 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 decisive victory.