TORONTO (Interstat) — Trey Yesavage struck out five in five shutout innings for his first major league win, Alejandro Kirk homered and the Toronto Blue Jays stayed atop the AL East heading into the final game of the season by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Saturday evening at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays can clinch the division title and the best record in the American League by matching or beating the New York Yankees’ outcome against the Baltimore Orioles in Sunday’s regular season finale. Toronto entered Saturday tied with the Yankees in the East and holds the tiebreaker after winning eight of 13 meetings this season.

Yesavage, making just his third major league start, earned the victory. The rookie right-hander allowed five hits and walked one, effectively working out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning to preserve an early lead. He improved to 1-0.

The Blue Jays provided their starter with all the support he would need in the second inning against Tampa Bay’s Joe Boyle. Addison Barger sparked the rally with a single and Davis Schneider worked a walk. After two outs were recorded, Ernie Clement lined a two-run double down the left-field line to open the scoring. Andrés Giménez followed with an RBI single to right, plating Clement to give Toronto a 3-0 advantage.

Toronto added a run in the fifth inning when Nathan Lukes singled home Clement, who had led off the frame with a single. The Rays broke up the shutout in the top of the sixth when Jonathan Aranda hit a solo home run off Blue Jays reliever Yariel Rodríguez.

Kirk restored the four-run cushion for Toronto in the bottom of the seventh, launching a solo shot to left field for his 13th homer of the year.

Boyle took the loss for Tampa Bay, falling to 1-4. He was charged with four runs on five hits over five innings, walking three and striking out five.

The Blue Jays bullpen combined for four innings of one-run relief, allowing just two hits while striking out six. Justin Bruihl, Tommy Nance and Seranthony Domínguez each contributed scoreless frames following Rodríguez.

The game, played before an announced crowd of 42,624, took 2 hours, 30 minutes. The result improved Toronto to 93-68, while Tampa Bay fell to 77-84. The two teams conclude their three-game series, and the regular season, on Sunday afternoon.

The final score of 6 runs combined fell under the pregame over/under line of 8.5. The Blue Jays covered the spread as a -1.5 run favorite. The outcome aligned with projections from Interstat, which gave Toronto a 58.7 percent probability to win, though the simulator had predicted a closer 5-4 final.