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Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of the next day dealing with their marathon third game defeat – tied for the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Manager Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy walked in the second, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Blue Jays team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They answered right away in the third inning. Lukes lined a one away single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a curveball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new team record – restoring the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout innings and changing the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on that night, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His fastball velocity sat below his regular-season average and he labored more as the game progressed. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when he eventually lost energy.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a clean hit to right field, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Banda inherited the jam and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a single to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the game. Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the rally: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI singles through the infield, capping a four-score outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to absorb initial blows and respond has characterized their entire run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. He needed just four throws to get out Max Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that quickly grew safe.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats kept to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that ranked among baseball's top lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score 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 Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to build.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was brutally effective. Six separate Toronto players recorded base hits, 5 drove in scores and the squad converted nearly every scoring opportunity available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the series even and momentum swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out the starter quickly in an decisive win.