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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in World Series annals, the Blue Jays played with total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber delivered a steady outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager John Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new team record – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also halted Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat star had hit two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His pitch speed sat under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his Fall Classic record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when he finally lost energy.

Varsho started the seventh with a clean single to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the inning.

Banda inherited the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez fought to a full count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left. Ty France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock the pitcher out of the contest. Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring singles through the diamond, completing a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and respond has characterized their whole run. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left several baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three free passes before the manager called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. He required just four pitches to get out Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that quickly became safe.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among MLB's top lineups all year.

Final Moments

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

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, five drove in scores and the squad converted nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the championship title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Carter's iconic walk-off home run in 1993. They now know they are assured a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Toronto chased the starter quickly in an 11-4 win.