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Less than a day following staggering through one of the most exhausting defeats in World Series history, the Toronto Blue Jays displayed total control.

Guerrero crushed a two-run home run and Bieber delivered a steady start as the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in the fourth game on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, tying the World Series at two wins apiece and ensuring the matchup will return to Toronto.

The Blue Jays had passed the early hours of Tuesday processing their marathon Game 3 loss – tied for the longest World Series contest ever – a defeat that cost them the opportunity to take the lead in the matchup and burned through both relief corps. Manager John Schneider insisted later that “they took a game, not the World Series”. Twenty-three hours later, his team provided convincing proof.

Early Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Muncy walked in the second inning, advanced on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early breakthrough did not shake a Blue Jays team that topped Major League Baseball with 49 comeback wins this season.

They responded right away in the third inning. Lukes hit a one-out single to centre and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Ohtani threw a sweeper up and Guerrero sent it screaming over the outfield fence. It was his first long hit of the series and his 7th home run this playoffs – a new club record – regaining the Toronto's advantage after 13 scoreless innings and changing the tone of the night.

Shohei's Night

That hit also halted Shohei Ohtani's history-making streak of 11 consecutive plate appearances getting on base. The dual-threat star had hit two homers and got on base a historic nine times in the Dodgers' third game walk-off. But on that night, he started on short rest – his briefest ever – after needing an IV to recuperate from the previous marathon.

His fastball velocity sat under his seasonal norm and he struggled more as the game wore on. Nonetheless, he showed flashes of his usual command, retiring 11 of 12 after Guerrero Jr's blast and fanning six. He even walked 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 Ohtani eventually ran out of steam.

Varsho opened the seventh with a sharp single to right field, and Clement smashed a two-base hit off the wall to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had no option but to remove Ohtani, who exited to a roaring applause from the home crowd. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not complete the escape.

Banda inherited the jam and immediately fell behind. Andrés Giménez fought to a 3-2 count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left. Ty France came up next with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was enough to remove Banda out of the game. Treinen entered next but also was unable to stop the rally: Bichette and Barger punched run-scoring base hits through the infield, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's capacity to absorb early setbacks and answer has defined their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without George Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order hitter who exited Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Bieber, meanwhile, was everything Toronto needed. Acquired mid-season while completing rehab from Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young winner left several runners and silenced the Los Angeles' dangerous batting order. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three free passes before Schneider summoned rookie pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the lineup in the sixth. Fluharty needed just 4 throws to retire Muncy and Edman, preserving a fragile advantage that soon grew comfortable.

Former starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then pitched a clean seventh and eighth as the Los Angeles' offense kept to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only 3 scores over their previous 20 frames, an sudden downturn for a team that was among baseball's elite lineups all year.

Final Moments

The Los Angeles scraped a run in the ninth when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Max Muncy's double put runners aboard. But Louis Varland finished the game without allowing a comeback to build.

Following a night when the Blue Jays left a World Series-record 19 baserunners and fell apart after wave upon wave of wasted chances, Game 4 was ruthlessly effective. 6 different Blue Jays recorded base hits, five drove in scores and the team converted nearly every run-scoring chance available in the late innings.

Next Up

The win ensures the championship trophy will be presented at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Carter's iconic game-winning homer in '93. They now are aware they are assured a packed crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and possibly the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game looms with the matchup reset and energy swinging to Toronto. Los Angeles pitcher Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will attempt to arrest the Blue Jays's surge. The Blue Jays respond with first-year player Trey Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a rematch of Game 1, when the Toronto knocked out Snell quickly in an decisive win.