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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Bieber provided a composed outing as Toronto defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the Fall Classic at two games each and guaranteeing the series will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – equal to the longest World Series contest ever – a loss that denied them the chance to lead the matchup and burned through both bullpens. Skipper Schneider insisted afterwards that “the Dodgers took a game, not the World Series”. A day later, his team offered convincing proof.

Early Action

The Dodgers again scored first. Muncy walked in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Hernández's sacrifice fly. But the early score did not shake a Toronto team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback victories this season.

They responded right away in the third. Nathan Lukes lined a one-out single to centre and Guerrero came to the plate looking for a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a sweeper up and he drove it soaring over the left-center wall. It was his first long hit of the series and his 7th home run this postseason – a fresh team record – restoring the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and changing the momentum of the game.

Ohtani's Night

That swing also halted Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two homers and got on base a record nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 walk-off. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recover from the prior marathon.

His fastball velocity sat below his seasonal average and he labored more as the contest progressed. Even so, he displayed glimpses of his typical command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero's blast and fanning six. He even walked in the first to extend his World Series record. But the Blue Jays forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus frames.

Seventh Inning Rally

The bigger issue for the Dodgers was what followed when he finally lost steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh with a sharp hit to right, and Ernie Clement smashed a double off the wall to put two on with none out. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda came into the jam and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before driving in Varsho with a base hit to left. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the contest. Blake Treinen entered next but also failed to stop the rally: Bichette and Barger hit run-scoring singles through the diamond, completing a four-score outburst that extended the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Toronto's ability to absorb initial setbacks and answer has defined their whole run. They once again did it without Springer, the injured top-of-the-order hitter who exited Game 3 after tweaking his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything the Blue Jays needed. Traded for mid-season while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former award-winning winner left several runners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks before Schneider called on first-year pitcher Mason Fluharty to confront the heart of the lineup in the sixth inning. Fluharty needed just four throws to retire Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon grew safe.

Former starter Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers' bats kept to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only three scores over their previous 20 innings, an abrupt slowdown for a club that ranked among MLB's top lineups all year.

Closing Innings

The Los Angeles managed a run in the ninth inning when Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's two-base hit put runners aboard. But Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

After a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 runners and fell apart after repeated of wasted chances, the fourth contest was brutally effective. 6 separate Toronto players recorded base hits, 5 brought home runs and the squad cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the late stanzas.

Next Up

The win ensures the World Series title will be presented at their home stadium, where the Blue Jays have not won a championship since Carter's famous game-winning homer in 1993. They now know they are guaranteed a packed house in Canada on Friday evening – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the matchup reset and momentum swinging north. Los Angeles left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays counter with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of the opener, when the Toronto knocked out the starter quickly in an decisive win.