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Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a steady outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Toronto.

Toronto had spent the morning of Tuesday processing their 18-inning third game defeat – equal to the longest Fall Classic game ever – a defeat that cost them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Skipper John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they took a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered convincing proof.

Initial Action

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's fly out. But the initial score did not shake a Blue Jays club that led Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Lukes lined a one away single to centre and Guerrero stepped in looking for a curveball. Ohtani left a slider up and Guerrero drove it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new team record – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 shutout innings and shifting the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight plate appearances getting on base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two home runs and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after requiring an IV to recuperate from the previous marathon.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat under his regular-season norm and he struggled more as the contest wore on. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even drew a walk in the first to continue his World Series record. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four earned runs were credited to him in over six frames.

Late Game Surge

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what came next when he eventually ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh with a sharp single to right field, and Ernie Clement smashed a two-base hit off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not finish the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left. Ty France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove Banda out of the game. Blake Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the momentum: Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring singles through the infield, completing a four-run barrage that extended the margin to 6-1.

Blue Jays's Resilience

The Toronto's capacity to withstand initial blows and answer has defined their entire postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt leadoff man who left the third game after tweaking his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays required. Acquired mid-season while completing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several runners and quieted the Los Angeles' dangerous batting order. He gave up one run on four hits and three walks before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty needed just four pitches to retire Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile lead that soon grew safe.

Former starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' offense kept to sputter. Los Angeles have produced only three scores over their previous 20 innings, an sudden slowdown for a team that was among MLB's elite lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles managed a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Hernández after a walk and Muncy's double put two on base. But Varland closed it down without allowing a comeback to develop.

Following a game when the Blue Jays left a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of missed chances, the fourth contest was ruthlessly effective. 6 separate Blue Jays collected hits, 5 drove in runs and the squad converted almost every scoring chance available in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the World Series trophy will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a title since Carter's famous game-winning home run in 1993. They now know they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what happens next in LA.

Game 5 approaches with the series reset and energy swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out the starter quickly in an 11-4 victory.