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Less than a day after enduring one of the most draining defeats in World Series history, the Blue Jays played with complete control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two games each and ensuring the series will return to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the morning of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Skipper Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers won a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not shake a Blue Jays club that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Lukes hit a one away base hit to centre and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero 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 team record – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the tone of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 consecutive plate appearances reaching base. The dual-threat star had hit two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity was below his regular-season average and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in over six frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani eventually lost energy.

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

Banda inherited the jam and right away fell behind. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a single 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 contest. Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit RBI base hits through the infield, completing a four-run barrage that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial blows and respond has defined their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured leadoff man who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous batting order. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's top lineups all season.

Final Innings

The Dodgers scraped a run 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 two on base. But Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

Following a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. 6 separate Toronto players recorded hits, 5 drove in runs and the team converted nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The victory ensures the championship title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Joe Carter's iconic game-winning home run in '93. They now are aware they are assured a full crowd in Canada on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 approaches with the matchup even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's surge. Toronto counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out the starter early in an 11-4 victory.