DENVER -- Sunday’s win won’t be hung in a museum, but the Blue Jays found a way to keep the American League Wild Card race right in front of them.

The Rockies held the door open in the finale at Coors Field, giving the Blue Jays a dozen different opportunities to blow it open, which they finally did in the ninth, securing a 7-5 win and series victory. Toronto has been scraping by against some clubs that have long given up their postseason dreams, though, and it will need to find another level soon.

With the Rangers winning on a walk-off home run and the Astros losing to the Yankees on Sunday night, the Blue Jays are 1 1/2 games back of Texas and Houston for the final AL Wild Card spot.

“We definitely got some help from some other teams these past couple of days,” said Kevin Gausman, who was knocked out after four innings by a 59-minute rain delay. “It would have been huge to somehow come back and win yesterday to walk out of here with the sweep, but we can only control what we can control. All three of these games were pretty crazy, back and forth. We were lucky to come out with two of three, but we can’t focus too much on everybody else.”

Games remaining: at OAK (3), vs. KC (3), vs. TEX (4), vs. BOS (3), at NYY (3), at TB (3), vs. NYY (3), vs. TB (3)
Standings update: Toronto remains 1 1/2 games behind Texas and Houston for the final AL Wild Card spot
Tiebreakers: Down 2-1 in season series vs. Texas; Win vs. Houston; Lose vs. Seattle

• 2023 Postseason tiebreaker scenarios

Whit Merrifield and Ernie Clement delivered the pair of timely singles that the Blue Jays needed, but the road to the ninth inning wasn’t nearly as simple. Facing far inferior pitching, Toronto left some opportunities out there in what turned into a bullpen matchup after the rain delay.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. captured that cumbersome journey all by himself. Guerrero launched his 21st home run of the season to left field to open the scoring in the third, but he nearly cost his team an out the next time he walked to the plate.

On the play in question, Guerrero sent a 110-mph rocket to left field and enjoyed the full show, staring down his shot as he walked slowly out of the box. The only problem? It wasn’t a homer.

When the ball crashed off the top of the left-field wall, Guerrero was only a few steps down the first-base line and had to kick it into second gear. Only when the throw into the infield was booted did Guerrero bolt for second base, and while he danced away from a tag to slide in safe, it was an extremely risky play -- the type that ends in an out more often than not.

“The home run was great,” manager John Schneider said. “A sinker in and he got underneath it. That’s awesome. A great sign. Then he hits another rocket off the wall and we joked that the baseball gods allowed him to get to second on the bobble. We hashed it out. It’s all good.”

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this from Guerrero in 2023. Part of the frustration of this club’s season is the fact that, even in wins, there are moments that tend to take away the shine. It’s why Toronto’s series-opening win, in which the club played a solid game and every other AL Wild Card contender lost, felt so out of the ordinary.

Amid injuries and unpredictable performances, it’s been the Buffalo boys carrying Toronto.

Spencer Horwitz was Sunday’s star, launching his first career MLB home run in a 3-for-4 day. Put that alongside Davis Schneider’s brilliant stretch and a 3-for-5 game from Clement and you see a depth group that’s fit right in, and it’s saving this club.

“We’re starting to click,” said Horwitz, who only found out 22 minutes prior to first pitch that he’d be in the starting lineup, as Brandon Belt dealt with back tightness. “The offense clicked today. The pitching has been clicking all year. This is exciting.”

This isn’t how the Blue Jays planned on winning in 2023, but at this point, Plans A, B and C are out the window. Toronto will need to find a better brand of baseball by the time competitive opponents resurface on the schedule, but the club will take an imperfect series win for now.