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

Guerrero crushed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a steady start as Toronto beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two wins apiece and guaranteeing the series will head back to Toronto.

Toronto had passed the morning of Tuesday dealing with their 18-inning third game defeat – tied for the longest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Skipper John Schneider insisted later that “the Dodgers won a contest, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered convincing evidence.

Initial Innings

The Dodgers again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Toronto club that led MLB with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one-out base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in looking for a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th home run this postseason – a new team record – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout frames and shifting the momentum of the night.

Shohei's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 consecutive at-bats reaching base. The two-way star had hit two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he took the mound on short rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the previous marathon.

His fastball velocity sat below his regular-season average and he labored more as the game progressed. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his World Series streak. But the Blue Jays made him work: six hits and four earned runs were charged to him in six-plus frames.

Late Game Surge

The bigger issue for Los Angeles was what followed when Ohtani finally lost steam.

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp hit to right, and Clement drilled a double off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had no option but to remove the starter, who exited to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Anthony Banda came into the mess and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a full count before driving in Varsho with a single to left field. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice 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 rally: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring base hits through the diamond, capping a four-run barrage that extended the lead to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to absorb early setbacks and answer has characterized their whole postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the injured leadoff hitter who left the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Bieber, in contrast, was exactly what the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while completing recovery from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner stranded multiple baserunners and silenced the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth. He needed just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon grew safe.

Former starter Chris Bassitt then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to sputter. The Dodgers have scored only three scores over their last 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among baseball's elite offenses all season.

Final Moments

The Dodgers managed a score in the ninth when Edman grounded out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland finished the game without allowing a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays stranded a World Series-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of wasted chances, Game 4 was brutally effective. Six separate Blue Jays recorded base hits, five brought home runs and the team converted nearly every run-scoring chance available in the late stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win guarantees the championship trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Carter's famous walk-off homer in '93. They now know they are assured a full house in Canada on Friday evening – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the series reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to arrest the Toronto's momentum. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays chased the starter quickly in an decisive win.