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Only 24 hours following staggering through one of the most draining losses in World Series annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Bieber delivered a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two games each and ensuring the series will return to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the morning of the next day processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the chance to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they won a game, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered convincing proof.

Initial Innings

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a single and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not rattle a Blue Jays team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a curveball. Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first extra-base hit of the series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a fresh team mark – restoring the Toronto's lead after 13 scoreless frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Night

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game comeback win. But on that night, he took the mound on limited rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the prior extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game progressed. Even so, he showed glimpses of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Rally

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when he eventually ran out of energy.

Varsho opened the seventh inning with a clean single to right field, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' bullpen could not complete the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and right away trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove the pitcher out of the game. Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bo Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the infield, completing a four-score outburst that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to absorb early blows and respond has defined their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who exited the third game after straining his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for mid-season while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left multiple runners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous batting order. He gave up one earned run on four base hits and three walks before the manager called on first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. Fluharty needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that quickly grew safe.

Converted starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have scored only 3 runs over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt downturn for a team that ranked among MLB's elite lineups all season.

Closing Innings

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

After a game when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, Game 4 was brutally efficient. Six different Blue Jays recorded base hits, 5 drove in scores and the squad converted almost every scoring opportunity presented in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The victory guarantees the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a title since Carter's iconic game-winning home run in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup even and energy swinging north. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with rookie Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Blue Jays chased Snell quickly in an 11-4 victory.