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Only 24 hours following enduring one of the most draining losses in Fall Classic annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a steady outing 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 head back to Canada.

Toronto had spent the early hours of Tuesday processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that cost them the chance to take the lead in the matchup and depleted both relief corps. Skipper John Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers won a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his squad offered emphatic evidence.

Early Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a single and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial score did not shake a Blue Jays club that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Lukes lined a one-out base hit to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani threw a sweeper up and he drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a new team mark – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless innings and changing the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That swing also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two homers and reached safely a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he took the mound on limited rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his seasonal average and he labored more as the game progressed. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to extend his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six hits and four runs were charged to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a sharp single to right, and Clement drilled a double off the fence to put runners on with none out. Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a roaring applause from the local fans. The Dodgers' bullpen could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the mess and immediately fell behind. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a single to left. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to knock Banda out of the contest. Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the rally: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, completing a four-run barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

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

Bieber, in contrast, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the former Cy Young winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He allowed one run on four base hits and three walks before the manager called on first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty needed just four pitches to get out Muncy and Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a team that ranked among MLB's elite lineups all season.

Final Moments

The Dodgers managed a run in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put runners on base. But Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to build.

Following a night when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. Six separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, 5 drove in runs and the squad cashed nearly every scoring chance presented in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the championship trophy will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous game-winning home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what occurs next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup even and momentum swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out the starter early in an 11-4 win.