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Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic history, the Blue Jays played with complete command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a steady outing as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both bullpens. Skipper Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a contest, not the championship”. A day later, his team offered convincing proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Toronto club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded right away in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a fresh team record – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and changing the tone of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

Ohtani pitch speed sat below his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his typical control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what came next when he eventually lost energy.

Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right field, and Clement smashed a double off the wall to put runners on with none out. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Banda came into the mess and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, completing a four-run outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has defined their entire run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous batting order. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three walks before the manager summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty required just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly became comfortable.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only three scores over their last 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's top lineups all season.

Final Innings

The Dodgers managed a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to develop.

After a night when Toronto stranded a World Series-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after repeated of missed chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. Six different Toronto players collected hits, 5 brought home scores and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the series even and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. Toronto respond with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto chased Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.