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Less than a day following enduring one of the most exhausting losses in Fall Classic history, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will return to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had passed the morning of the next day processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to lead the series and depleted both bullpens. Skipper John Schneider insisted later that “they won a contest, not the World Series”. A day later, his team provided convincing evidence.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a base hit and scored on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 come-from-behind wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one away single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this postseason – a new team mark – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the game.

Shohei's Night

That swing also ended Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

His pitch speed sat below his seasonal average and he labored more as the game progressed. Nonetheless, he displayed glimpses of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when Ohtani eventually lost energy.

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

Anthony 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 fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the game. Treinen came in next but also failed to stop the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger hit RBI singles through the infield, completing a four-score barrage that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to absorb early blows and answer has characterized their whole postseason. They once again did it without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who left the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left multiple baserunners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just 4 throws to get out Max Muncy and Edman, protecting a fragile advantage that soon became safe.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' bats continued to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only 3 runs over their last 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a club that was among baseball's top offenses all season.

Final Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to score Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put runners on base. But Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to develop.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. Six different Toronto players recorded base hits, five brought home scores and the team cashed nearly every scoring opportunity presented in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the championship title will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's iconic walk-off homer in '93. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

The fifth game looms with the matchup even and momentum shifting north. Los Angeles pitcher Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out the starter early in an decisive victory.