TORONTO — Three Blue Jays pitchers have combined for six perfect innings against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. Right-hander Louis Varland struck out three of the six batters he faced and lefty Eric Lauer followed by retiring 10 straight.

The win keeps Toronto tied with the New York Yankees atop the AL East, and while New York eked out a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox, the Blue Jays still hold the upper hand, clutching the tiebreaker like a trump card as the regular season winds down.

With Boston beating Toronto on Wednesday and Houston losing to the A's, the magic number for the Red Sox is just one entering Thursday.

1) The Red Sox (87-72) had a chance to clinch a postseason berth with either a win or Astros loss Thursday, but neither scenario happened. Houston won 11-5 over Oakland. Boston will need to wait at least one more day before clinching a spot in October baseball.

The Red Sox playoff celebration will have to wait at least another night after the club was stymied by the Blue Jays in Thursday night’s series finale.

The Red Sox will have another chance to clinch a playoff spot on Friday with a win over Detroit or an Astros loss. The post Red Sox playoff picture: Thursday’s loss to Jays means no postseason clinch

The Boston Red Sox are looking to stay hot and sweep the Blue Jays in Toronto on Thursday night. The Jays have scored just two runs so far in this series while

Brayan Bello will take the mound Thursday as the Red Sox look to complete a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays and punch their ticket to the postseason.