TORONTO (Interstat) — Daulton Varsho’s fifth career grand slam ignited a six-run sixth inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays halted a recent skid with a 6-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night at Rogers Centre.

The win allowed the Blue Jays (91-68) to maintain a share of the American League East lead with the New York Yankees. More importantly, it snapped a stretch where Toronto had lost six of its last seven games. The loss prevented Boston (87-72) from clinching a postseason berth, leaving the Red Sox clinging to the second AL wild-card spot, just one game ahead of the Detroit Tigers and two games in front of the Houston Astros with three games remaining in the regular season.

A pitchers’ duel defined the first five innings between Boston’s Brayan Bello and a parade of Toronto relievers. Bello (11-9) was effective, allowing just three hits and two earned runs over five innings while striking out three. The Blue Jays, employing a bullpen game, received a stellar performance from opener Yariel Rodríguez, who was credited with the win to improve to 3-2 after recording two outs.

The game’s complexion changed entirely in the bottom of the sixth. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base to lead off the inning on a throwing error by Boston shortstop Trevor Story. Bello then walked Addison Barger and hit Anthony Santander with a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

That brought Varsho to the plate, and he connected on a 2-2 offering from reliever Chris Murphy, driving it to right-center field for his 20th home run of the season, a grand slam that suddenly gave Toronto a 4-1 lead.

The Blue Jays were not done. After a flyout, Andrés Giménez doubled. Two batters later, George Springer connected for a two-run homer, his 31st of the year, to cap the explosive inning and extend the lead to 6-1.

Boston’s offense, which mustered only four hits all night, broke through in the top of the seventh. Jarren Duran led off with a double and scored on a sharp single by Story. That was the lone run for the Red Sox, who saw their chances to mount a larger rally extinguished when Alex Bregman grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Blue Jays’ bullpen was dominant throughout, combining for 8 1/3 scoreless innings after Rodríguez’s brief start. Eric Lauer was particularly impressive, tossing 3 1/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts. Louis Varland followed with two more hitless innings, striking out three. Brendon Little, Seranthony Domínguez and Jeff Hoffman navigated the final innings to seal the victory.

The announced attendance was 42,129, and the game took 2 hours, 40 minutes to complete.

The result sets up a critical final weekend for both clubs. The Red Sox return to Fenway Park to host the Detroit Tigers, the team directly chasing them in the wild-card standings. The Blue Jays conclude their regular season at home with a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays as they continue their pursuit of the AL East crown.

Boston had won the first two games of this series, outscoring Toronto 11-2, but the Blue Jays’ sixth-inning outburst Thursday ensured they would not be swept on their home field. The victory also meant the season series between the two rivals finished tied at 6-6.