CHICAGO (Interstat) — The Toronto Blue Jays erupted for five runs in the eighth inning Saturday to overcome a five-run deficit and defeat the Chicago Cubs 8-6 at Wrigley Field, splitting the two-game interleague series before a crowd of 40,706.

The game lasted 3 hours, 12 minutes.

Toronto, which had been routed 16-2 by the Cubs the previous afternoon, improved to 38-39. Chicago fell to 40-37.

The Cubs seized early control behind a three-run homer from Matt Shaw in the second inning. Shaw’s fourth home run of the season, a fly ball to left field, scored Alex Bregman and Ian Happ to give Chicago a 3-0 lead. Cubs starter Colin Rea then dominated, allowing only three hits over 5 1/3 innings while striking out three and not surrendering a run. Rea left with a 5-0 lead after Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run homer in the sixth, his 16th, scoring Dansby Swanson.

Toronto’s offense had been held to one hit through six innings, but the Blue Jays broke through in the seventh. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and Kazuma Okamoto reached on a hit-by-pitch after a successful challenge. Daulton Varsho then crushed his sixth home run of the year to right field, scoring Guerrero and Okamoto and cutting the deficit to 5-3. The home run was Varsho’s second of the series.

The decisive inning came in the eighth. Myles Straw walked and George Springer singled, putting runners at the corners. Alejandro Kirk singled to left, scoring Straw and moving Springer to second. After Yohendrick Piñango entered as a pinch runner for Kirk, Guerrero singled to center, scoring Springer and sending Piñango to second. Chicago reliever Jacob Webb, who had entered earlier in the inning, then faced Okamoto with two outs. Okamoto crushed a 1-1 pitch to left-center for his 16th homer, a three-run shot that scored Piñango and Guerrero and gave Toronto an 8-5 lead.

Okamoto finished 1 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs. Varsho went 1 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs.

Chicago answered in the bottom of the eighth. Miguel Amaya walked, Swanson singled and Crow-Armstrong singled to load the bases. Nico Hoerner grounded into a force out at second, allowing Amaya to score and making it 8-6. But Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman, who had entered the inning, struck out Seiya Suzuki and got Michael Busch to fly out to end the threat.

Hoffman pitched the eighth, allowing one unearned run on two hits with one strikeout, and earned the victory. He improved to 5-4. Webb took the loss, falling to 1-2. Louis Varland pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one, to record his 15th save. Varland worked around a throwing error that put a runner on base, then struck out Matt Shaw and got Pedro Ramírez to ground out.

Lazaro Estrada started for Toronto and lasted 2 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks. He gave up Shaw’s home run. Ryan Rolison pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning for the Cubs, and Ethan Roberts tossed 1 1/3 scoreless frames.

For the Cubs, Crow-Armstrong went 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs. Shaw was 1 for 5 with a homer and three RBIs. Bregman singled and scored twice. Brooks’ double in the fourth was the only extra-base hit for Chicago outside the homers. The Cubs stranded eight runners.

Toronto’s offense, which had managed only five hits through seven innings, finished with nine hits. Guerrero had three hits, including two singles and a fourth-inning groundout. Springer had two hits and scored twice. The Blue Jays also benefited from two Chicago walks and a hit batsman.

The game featured a total of 14 runs, well over the over/under line of 8.5 set by oddsmakers. Toronto entered as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5, while Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 6-5 Toronto victory. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Cubs a 53.30 percent probability to win.

The Blue Jays will look to win the three-game series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The Cubs will then travel to New York to face the Mets on Monday.