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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their 18-inning third game defeat – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to lead the series and burned through both relief corps. Skipper John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one away single to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he drove it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a fresh club record – restoring the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

His pitch speed was below his seasonal average and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to continue his World Series record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Surge

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani eventually ran out of energy.

Varsho started the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and right away fell behind. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring the runner with a single to left. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock the pitcher out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Barger punched RBI base hits through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to withstand initial setbacks and respond has characterized their whole postseason. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several runners and silenced the Dodgers' potent lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon became comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a club that ranked among MLB's top lineups all year.

Final Innings

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

Following a game when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. Six separate Toronto players recorded hits, 5 drove in runs and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

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

Game 5 looms with the matchup even and momentum shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an decisive win.