MIAMI -- The Blue Jays have been waiting for everything to click. When one thing was working, something else was wonky -- like when one shoe is tied just right, but the other one is too tight. You keep adjusting until both fit comfortably.

On Tuesday night in Miami, though, everything fit snug.

Between a stellar showing from “the best defense in the league,” per opposing manager Skip Schumaker, a quality start from Yusei Kikuchi and two clutch pinch-hit knocks from some unlikely heroes, Toronto reversed its luck and secured its 10th shutout victory of the season with a 2-0 win over the Marlins to even the series at loanDepot park.

“These guys don’t quit,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “These guys understand that there’s going to be ups and downs, and today was big. … You get a chance to win a series against a team playing really good with Kevin Gausman on the mound in about 12 hours. … But yeah, huge win today.”

In the field, Toronto was on fire. Matt Chapman showed off his hops with a leaping snag on a line drive in the second inning. The next inning, it was Kevin Kiermaier with a soaring jump at the wall in left-center to keep Miami hitless through three.

“One of the better defenses, if not the best defense in the league,” Schumaker said. “Kiermaier -- it feels like he's diving all over the place and getting everything. And whoever they put out there -- Springer, [Whit] Merrifield last night -- they just have a good group of guys. Daulton Varsho's a really good center fielder playing left field.”

Kikuchi didn’t allow a hit until the top of the fourth, when Luis Arraez singled on the eighth pitch of his at-bat, but that threat ended quickly when Toronto turned a smooth double play on Jorge Soler -- who had hit a home run in the same situation on Monday night -- for the first two outs of the frame.

Backed by his defense, Kikuchi’s six scoreless innings (two hits and no walks with six strikeouts) marked his fourth quality start and best overall outing of the season. It was much needed for a Blue Jays club whose bullpen has been stretched thin of late.

“He threw the [expletive] out of the ball, really. I mean, he threw the [expletive] out of it,” Schneider said. “Fastball, slider, changeup, curveball -- [that was the] best he’s been. It looked like he was on a mission. … He was outstanding tonight.”

Flash forward to the eighth inning, when the real magic began.

It started in the top half, when Santiago Espinal hit a one-out pinch-hit double on the first pitch he faced from Marlins reliever Tanner Scott. Then, pinch-hitter Ernie Clement -- who pitched the eighth inning of Monday’s blowout loss -- stepped to the plate and dropped an RBI single into no-man’s land in shallow center field. George Springer followed with an RBI single.

“[That was] huge,” Chapman said. “Santi comes in, pinch-hit, first pitch he gets a double, and then Ernie comes up and pinch-hits, gets another hit. And then he has a great baserunning decision to score on George's hit, and we're up 2-0 late in the ballgame where we haven't been able to put much together. So that was big for us. It's awesome to see those guys contribute, and it's a lot of fun when we're able to come through like that.’

Clement played hero again in the bottom of the frame, the turning mechanism of an inning-ending double play with runners on the corners -- the closest the Marlins got to scoring, as the Blue Jays kept them off third base in the other eight innings.

“Just a big out,” Chapman said. “You don’t want to let them creep back into that game and get a run, so to be able to keep the score 2-0 at that point was big.”

To close it out, Daulton Varsho showed off his vertical with two leaping snags in center field. The first, on a Statcast-projected 102.4 mph Soler knock, had a 65% catch probability.

The second, a lineout from Yuli Gurriel that ended the game, required Varsho to cover 93 feet and had a 40% catch probability. But Varsho made it look easy as he cruised under the ball with a 28.6 feet per second sprint speed (30 feet per second is considered elite).

“Makes a huge difference,” Marlins catcher Nick Fortes said regarding the Blue Jays’ defense. “They made some unbelievable plays out there today that definitely saved them some runs, which is unfortunate for us. But all you can do is just continue to put together good at-bats, and if they make plays like that, you've just got to tip your cap. There's nothing really you can do.”