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Less than a day after staggering through one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a composed start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the series will return to Canada.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day dealing with their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided convincing proof.

Initial Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, advanced on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered right away in the third. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh homer this postseason – a new team mark – restoring the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 shutout innings and changing the tone of the night.

Shohei's Night

That swing also ended Shohei 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 record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

His fastball velocity was below his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game progressed. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his typical command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and striking out six. He even walked in the first to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were charged to him in six-plus innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what came next when Ohtani finally ran out of energy.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp hit to right field, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Banda came into the mess and immediately fell behind. Giménez battled to a full count before scoring the runner 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 was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring singles through the diamond, capping a four-score barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to withstand initial setbacks and answer has characterized their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order man who left Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Acquired mid-season while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent batting order. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider called on rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. He required just four throws to get out Muncy and Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that quickly grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' offense kept to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only 3 runs over their last 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's top lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers scraped a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to develop.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally efficient. 6 separate Toronto players collected base hits, five drove in runs and the squad converted nearly every scoring chance presented in the final innings.

Next Up

The victory ensures the World Series title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a title since Carter's famous game-winning home run in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the series even and momentum shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an decisive victory.