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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with complete command.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two games each and ensuring the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the lengthiest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both bullpens. Skipper Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy walked in the second, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Toronto team that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered right away in the third. Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and he drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a fresh club mark – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and changing the tone of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That swing also ended Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The two-way star had hit two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' third game comeback win. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the previous extra-inning game.

His fastball velocity sat below his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the game wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

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

Varsho opened the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the fence to put two on with none out. Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Banda inherited the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left field. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, capping a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's ability to absorb early setbacks and respond has characterized their whole run. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who exited Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several baserunners and quieted the Dodgers' potent batting order. He allowed one earned 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 inning. Fluharty needed just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow lead that quickly became comfortable.

Converted starter Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense continued to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only three scores over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's elite offenses all year.

Closing Moments

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put runners on base. But Louis Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to develop.

Following a game when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six separate Toronto players collected base hits, five brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the late innings.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a title since Joe Carter's famous walk-off home run in '93. They now know they are assured a packed house in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the series even and energy shifting north. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell quickly in an decisive win.