For the second day in a row, the Blue Jays found themselves in a slugfest with the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon. Unlike the day before, Toronto came out on top, 10-8. Toronto did it without the hot-hitting Teoscar Hernández, who sat out with a rib-cage injury.

The Blue Jays improved their record to 22-18 and are now in sole possession of second place in the American League East, one game ahead of the Yankees. Under this year's postseason format, the top two teams in each division and two Wild Card teams advance to the three-game Wild Card Series.

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The Blue Jays and Yankees play a big three-game series in Buffalo, N.Y., starting Monday night. For Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo, he isn’t looking that far ahead. For now, he is thankful that his team was able to win Sunday’s game and take the series, 3-2.

“I was thinking the way we came back today after losing the game yesterday,” Montoyo said. “Guys keep stepping up for each other. That’s a good sign of a good team. I’m very proud of this team. I knew coming in [to Fenway], you have to swing the bats. We had to and we did. I’m proud of my team. ... I’m really happy about this victory.”

Early on, it looked like it was going to be a bad afternoon for Toronto. Left-hander Robbie Ray had a long first inning, throwing 35 pitches and allowing a three-run homer to Kevin Plawecki. After four innings, Ray left the game, charged with four runs on six hits. But he ended up with a no-decision.

“I felt like I made some really good pitches [in the first inning],” Ray said. “I felt I threw some really good sliders. That fastball was elevated up and away. Maybe next time, [the fastball] should be more down. I felt like I executed my pitch, but the guy clipped it [for a home run]. The one inning was tough for sure.”

Down 4-1, the Blue Jays poured it on in the fifth inning against left-hander Matt Hall, scoring six runs. Joe Panik highlighted the scoring with a two-run single. The following frame, the Blue Jays batted around for the second consecutive inning, scoring three more runs. Rowdy Tellez highlighted the scoring with a solo homer against right-hander Robinson Leyer.

“Today was huge,” said catcher Caleb Joseph, who hit a solo home run in the third inning. “We lost a big guy in Teoscar. You really have a band of brothers that really have to pull together. It shows the character of this team, the resilience of this club. We can attack you and beat you in multiple different ways. It was the long ball a little bit today, but a lot of it was taking the baton and passing it, not trying to do too much. … It was a full-fledged attack, every weapon we had.”

For five innings, Toronto’s bullpen took over and allowed four runs on four hits. Right-hander Thomas Hatch arguably had the best outing, striking out two batters in 1 2/3 innings. With runners on first and second in the seventh inning, Hatch struck out Bobby Dalbec to end the threat.

“It’s going to be special here for the rest of this season and from here on out,” Joseph said. “There are so many great pieces of this puzzle that are coming together. I’m really excited and happy to be part of it.”