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Less than a day after enduring one of the most exhausting losses in World Series annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the series will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the morning of Tuesday dealing with their marathon third game defeat – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager John Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided convincing proof.

Early Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Blue Jays club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out single to centre and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a curveball. Ohtani threw a slider up and he drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial long hit of the series and his seventh homer this postseason – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless frames and changing the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Night

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The two-way star had smashed two homers and got on base a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat under his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

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

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean hit to right field, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the infield, capping a four-run outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early blows and answer has defined their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Acquired during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left multiple baserunners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one earned run on four base hits and three walks before Schneider summoned first-year left-hander Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. He required just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a fragile lead that quickly grew comfortable.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense continued to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only three scores over their previous 20 frames, an abrupt downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's elite lineups all year.

Final Moments

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth inning when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to build.

After a game when Toronto left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally efficient. 6 separate Toronto players collected base hits, five drove in scores and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring chance presented in the late innings.

Next Up

The win guarantees the World Series title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not won a title since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off homer in 1993. They now are aware they are guaranteed a packed house in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and energy shifting to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out the starter early in an decisive victory.