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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 complete command.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a steady outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will return to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had spent the morning of the next day dealing with their marathon third game defeat – tied for the longest World Series contest ever – a loss that cost them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated later that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided emphatic evidence.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a single and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a new team mark – restoring the Blue Jays's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and shifting the tone of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two homers and got on base a record nine times in the Dodgers' third game walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

His pitch speed sat under his seasonal average and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Rally

The larger problem for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually ran out of energy.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to remove 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 immediately trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left field. France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger punched run-scoring singles through the infield, capping a four-run outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's capacity to absorb early setbacks and answer has defined their whole run. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who left Game 3 after straining his right side.

Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner stranded several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' potent batting order. He gave up one earned run on four base hits and three free passes before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. He needed just 4 throws to get out Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that quickly became safe.

Former starter Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' offense kept to struggle. Los Angeles have produced only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that was among MLB's top offenses all year.

Final Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a rally to develop.

Following a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after repeated of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Toronto players recorded base hits, five drove in runs and the team converted almost every run-scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Next Up

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

The fifth game looms with the series reset and momentum swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Blue Jays's momentum. 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 victory.