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Less than a day after enduring one of the most exhausting losses in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total command.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a composed outing as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will return to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic contest ever – a loss that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both relief corps. Manager Schneider stated later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered emphatic proof.

Initial Innings

The Los Angeles again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not shake a Blue Jays club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Lukes lined a one away base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a slider up and he sent it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his 7th homer this postseason – a new team record – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat under his regular-season average and he labored more as the game progressed. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his World Series 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 Rally

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

Daulton Varsho started the seventh with a clean hit to right field, and Ernie Clement drilled a double off the fence to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. Ty 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. 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 outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to absorb initial blows and answer has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured leadoff man who exited the third game after straining his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for during the summer while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left multiple runners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one run on four base hits and three free passes before the manager called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. He needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile lead that soon grew comfortable.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only three scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among MLB's top lineups all year.

Final Innings

The Dodgers managed a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman hit into an out to score Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put two aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to develop.

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 different Blue Jays recorded base hits, five drove in scores and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning home run in 1993. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the series reset and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an decisive victory.