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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most draining defeats in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays played with complete command.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr smashed a two-run homer and Shane Bieber provided a composed outing as the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday night at their home ballpark, squaring the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the series will head back to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of Tuesday dealing with their 18-inning third game defeat – tied for the lengthiest Fall Classic contest ever – a loss that denied them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Manager Schneider insisted afterwards that “they took a game, not the championship”. A day later, his squad provided emphatic proof.

Early Action

The Los Angeles again scored first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second, moved up on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the initial breakthrough did not shake a Blue Jays team that led MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded right away in the third inning. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr came to the plate hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani threw a slider up and Guerrero drove it screaming over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the World Series and his 7th homer this playoffs – a fresh team record – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and changing the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Ohtani's record-setting run of 11 straight at-bats reaching base. The two-way phenomenon had smashed two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' third game comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on limited rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the prior extra-inning game.

His pitch speed was under his regular-season average and he labored more as the contest wore on. Even so, he showed flashes of his typical control, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's homer and striking out six. He even walked in the first inning to extend his World Series streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four earned runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Surge

The larger issue for Los Angeles was what came next when he eventually lost energy.

Varsho opened the seventh with a clean hit to right field, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the fence to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who departed to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda came into the jam and immediately trailed in the count. Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a single to left. France followed with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to knock Banda out of the contest. Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the momentum: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI singles through the diamond, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early setbacks and respond has defined their whole run. They once again succeeded without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who exited the third game after straining his right side.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto required. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the ex- Cy Young winner left several baserunners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year left-hander Mason Fluharty to confront the core of the lineup in the sixth inning. He required just four throws to get out Muncy and Tommy Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that quickly grew safe.

Converted starting pitcher Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. Los Angeles have scored only 3 scores over their last 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a club that ranked among MLB's elite lineups all year.

Closing Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put runners on base. But Louis Varland closed it down without permitting a rally to build.

After a game when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and collapsed after wave upon wave of wasted chances, Game 4 was brutally efficient. Six separate Blue Jays collected base hits, five drove in runs and the team converted almost every scoring chance available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the World Series title will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic walk-off homer in 1993. They now are aware they are guaranteed a packed 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 shifting to Toronto. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's surge. Toronto counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Toronto chased Snell early in an decisive victory.