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Only 24 hours following staggering through one of the most draining losses in World Series annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total command.

Guerrero smashed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a steady outing as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the series will return to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of the next day dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series game ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Skipper Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Toronto club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one away base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he drove it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a fresh club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat star had hit two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

Ohtani pitch speed was below his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Late Game Rally

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

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not finish the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left field. France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring singles through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial blows and respond has characterized their whole run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who left the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider summoned first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a fragile lead that soon became comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' offense continued to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only 3 scores over their last 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among baseball's elite offenses all year.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers managed a score in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to build.

After a game when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of missed chances, Game 4 was brutally effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected base hits, five brought home runs and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the late innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning home run in '93. They now are aware they are assured a packed house in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the matchup reset and momentum swinging north. Los Angeles pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's surge. Toronto respond with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased the starter early in an 11-4 victory.