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Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series annals, the Blue Jays displayed complete control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady outing as Toronto defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their marathon third game defeat – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to lead the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided emphatic evidence.

Early Innings

The Los Angeles again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Blue Jays club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind victories this season.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Lukes lined a one away base hit to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this postseason – a fresh club record – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That swing also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The two-way star had hit two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His fastball velocity was below his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Nonetheless, he displayed flashes of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Toronto made him work: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp hit to right, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-score outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to absorb initial blows and answer has characterized their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured leadoff man who left Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing recovery from elbow surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and silenced the Dodgers' potent batting order. He allowed one run on four base hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the heart of the order in the sixth. Fluharty required just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that soon became safe.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense continued to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a club that was among baseball's top offenses all season.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles managed a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Louis Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to build.

Following a night when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, Game 4 was brutally efficient. Six separate Blue Jays collected hits, five brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the World Series title will be awarded at their home stadium, 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 guaranteed a packed crowd in Canada on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and momentum shifting north. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out Snell early in an decisive win.