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Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed complete control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a steady start as Toronto defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup 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 lengthiest World Series game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager Schneider insisted later that “they won a game, not the championship”. A day later, his team provided convincing evidence.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not rattle a Blue Jays club that topped MLB with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani left a sweeper up and he drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the series and his seventh homer this playoffs – a new club mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and changing the tone of the night.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had hit two home runs and reached safely a record nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the prior marathon.

Ohtani pitch speed sat under his seasonal norm and he labored more as the contest progressed. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even walked 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.

Late Game Surge

The bigger problem for Los Angeles was what followed when he finally lost steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Roberts had no option but to pull the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and right away fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a base hit to left. Ty France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the momentum: Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring singles through the diamond, completing a four-run outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

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

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Acquired mid-season while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks before the manager called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth. He required just four pitches to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon became comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless 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 ranked among MLB's top lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Dodgers scraped a run in the ninth when Edman hit into an out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put two aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, five drove in runs and the squad cashed almost every run-scoring opportunity presented in the final innings.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the championship title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous walk-off home run in 1993. They now know they are assured a full house in Toronto on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 approaches with the series even and momentum shifting north. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Blue Jays's momentum. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Toronto chased Snell early in an decisive victory.