BALTIMORE (Interstat) — Ben Rice’s tiebreaking grand slam in the top of the 10th inning lifted the New York Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday evening at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, keeping the pressure on first-place Toronto in the AL East.

The Yankees remained two games behind the Blue Jays, who won at Kansas City, thanks to Rice, who had four hits and drove in five runs. His shot to right-center in the 10th off Keegan Akin broke a 1-all tie. Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a solo homer and Anthony Volpe an RBI single before the inning was over.

The game was a tense, extra-inning affair largely defined by dominant starting pitching before the Yankees’ offense exploded for six runs in the decisive final frame.

New York improved to 88-68 with the win, while Baltimore fell to 73-83. A crowd of 31,974 watched the game that took 3 hours, 31 minutes.

The contest was a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings. Yankees starter Cam Schlittler was excellent, allowing just one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out six. He was matched nearly pitch-for-pitch by Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish, who was even more overpowering. Bradish tossed six strong innings, surrendering just two hits and one earned run while striking out nine Yankees batters.

The Orioles struck first in the bottom of the fifth inning when catcher Samuel Basallo launched a solo home run to right field off Schlittler, giving Baltimore a 1-0 lead.

New York answered immediately in the top of the sixth. After Bradish recorded the first out, he walked Trent Grisham and hit Aaron Judge with a pitch. Cody Bellinger lined out, but Ben Rice came through with a sharp line drive single to left field, scoring Grisham to tie the game at 1-1.

Both bullpens then took over, putting up zeros to send the game into extra innings. Yankees relievers Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Tim Hill, and Camilo Doval were particularly effective, combining for 3 2/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief with six strikeouts. Dietrich Enns provided a key scoreless inning of relief for Baltimore in the seventh.

Kade Strowd (0-1), who had struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning for the Orioles, returned for the 10th and walked Aaron Judge to start the inning. Keegan Akin was summoned from the bullpen and gave up a single to Cody Bellinger that loaded the bases. That brought Rice to the plate, and the first baseman delivered the game’s biggest blow, crushing a 2-1 pitch for a grand slam to right-center field, his 24th home run of the season.

The Yankees were not done. Later in the inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. blasted a solo home run, his 31st of the year. After a double by José Caballero and a walk, Anthony Volpe singled to left to score Caballero, capping the six-run outburst.

David Bednar (6-5) earned the win for New York with a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning, striking out one.

The Yankees collected 10 hits in the game, led by Rice’s 4-for-5, five-RBI performance. The Orioles managed only four hits against five New York pitchers, with Basallo’s homer accounting for their only run.

The victory gave the Yankees a series win, taking three of four games in Baltimore. The two teams are scheduled to meet again for a three-game series beginning Friday in New York.

New York continues its push for the playoffs with a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox starting Tuesday. Baltimore returns home to host the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game set beginning Tuesday.