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

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a composed start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will head back to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had spent the early hours of the next day dealing with their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the lengthiest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Manager Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Max Muncy walked in the second, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Blue Jays team that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They answered immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he sent it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his initial long hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new club mark – regaining the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 shutout innings and changing the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight plate appearances getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and got on base a record nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His pitch speed sat under his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually lost energy.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh with a sharp single to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in 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 Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, completing a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb initial setbacks and answer has defined their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt leadoff hitter who exited the third game after tweaking his right side.

Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what Toronto needed. Acquired during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner stranded multiple runners and quieted the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty required just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile lead that quickly became safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' offense continued to sputter. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 frames, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among baseball's top offenses all season.

Final Innings

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth inning when Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Max Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Varland closed it down without allowing a rally to develop.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after repeated of wasted chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. Six separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, 5 brought home runs and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The victory ensures the championship title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning home run in '93. They now know they are assured a full house in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the matchup even and momentum swinging to Toronto. Dodgers pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out the starter quickly in an 11-4 win.