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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series annals, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run homer and Bieber provided a steady start as Toronto beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at their home ballpark, squaring the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the series will head back to Canada.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of Tuesday processing their 18-inning Game 3 loss – tied for the longest Fall Classic game ever – a loss that denied them the chance to take the lead in the series and burned through both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted afterwards that “they took a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team offered emphatic proof.

Early Innings

The Los Angeles again struck first. Muncy drew a walk in the second, advanced on a base hit and scored on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the initial breakthrough did not rattle a Toronto team that topped MLB with 49 comeback wins this year.

They responded immediately in the third. Lukes lined a one away base hit to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a curveball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he drove it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his first long hit of the series and his 7th homer this postseason – a new team record – regaining the Toronto's lead after 13 shutout innings and shifting the momentum of the night.

Ohtani's Night

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's history-making run of 11 straight at-bats getting on base. The two-way star had hit two home runs and got on base a historic nine times in the Los Angeles' Game 3 comeback win. But on Tuesday, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity sat below his regular-season norm and he labored more as the game progressed. Even so, he displayed flashes of his usual control, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and fanning six. He even walked in the first to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto made him work: six hits and four runs were credited to him in over six innings.

Seventh Inning Surge

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

Daulton Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp hit to right field, and Clement drilled a two-base hit off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Roberts had little choice but to remove the starter, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Dodgers' relief corps could not complete the inning.

Banda inherited the mess and right away trailed in the count. Giménez battled to a 3-2 count before scoring the runner with a single to left field. France came up next with a fielder's choice to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove Banda out of the contest. Treinen came in next but also was unable to stem the rally: Bichette and Barger hit RBI singles through the diamond, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the lead to 6-1.

Toronto's Toughness

The Toronto's ability to absorb early setbacks and respond has characterized their entire postseason. They once again did it without Springer, the hurt leadoff man who exited Game 3 after tweaking his right side.

Shane Bieber, in contrast, was everything the Blue Jays required. Traded for during the summer while finishing recovery from Tommy John surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several baserunners and silenced the Dodgers' dangerous lineup. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty required just four pitches to get out Max Muncy and Edman, protecting a narrow advantage that soon grew comfortable.

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

Final Moments

The Dodgers managed a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman hit into an out to bring home Teoscar Hernández after a walk and Muncy's two-base hit put two aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without permitting a comeback to build.

After a night when Toronto left a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted opportunities, the fourth contest was ruthlessly efficient. Six different Toronto players collected base hits, five drove in runs and the team converted nearly every run-scoring chance presented in the final stanzas.

Next Up

The win guarantees the World Series trophy will be awarded at their home stadium, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now know they are guaranteed a full house in Canada on Friday night – and possibly Saturday – no matter what happens next in Los Angeles.

Game 5 looms with the matchup reset and momentum swinging north. Dodgers left-hander Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to halt the Toronto's surge. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of Game 1, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell quickly in an decisive victory.