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Only 24 hours after enduring one of the most draining losses in World Series annals, the Toronto Blue Jays played with total control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber delivered a composed outing as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two games each and ensuring the matchup will head back to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the early hours of the next day processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series game ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers took a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad provided convincing proof.

Early Action

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

They answered right away in the third. Lukes lined a one away single to center field and Guerrero came to the plate hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new team mark – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Performance

That swing also halted Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The dual-threat phenomenon had hit two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on that night, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

Ohtani pitch speed sat under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed glimpses of his usual control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when Ohtani finally ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right, and Ernie Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put two on with none out. Roberts had no option but to pull Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Anthony Banda inherited the mess and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in the runner with a single to left. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the infield, capping a four-score barrage that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Toughness

The Blue Jays's capacity to withstand early setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who left Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Acquired during the summer while completing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner stranded multiple runners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent batting order. He allowed one earned run on four base hits and three free passes before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the order in the sixth inning. He needed just four pitches to retire Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' bats continued to struggle. The Dodgers have produced only three runs over their last 20 innings, an sudden downturn for a team that was among baseball's top offenses all season.

Closing Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Muncy's two-base hit put two on base. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to develop.

Following a game when the Blue Jays stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of missed chances, the fourth contest was brutally efficient. Six different Blue Jays collected hits, 5 brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the late innings.

Looking Ahead

The victory guarantees the World Series trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's famous walk-off home run in '93. They now are aware they are guaranteed a packed crowd in Canada on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the series even and momentum shifting north. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with rookie Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an 11-4 win.