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There weren’t any noticeable signs of a hangover effect in their return home. Then again, there wasn’t much success either as the offence was almost non-existent and Kevin Gausman surrendered four runs in 5 2/3 innings en route to a 4-1 loss at Rogers Centre.

Just as disappointing for the Jays is that they didn’t get any help from the out-of-town scoreboard. The second-place New York Yankees were one out away from losing to the lowly Chicago White Sox, but they stole the game with a pair of late runs. That means the Jays lead in the AL East is down to just a single game while their magic number is stuck at four.

“We know we have five games left and a one-game cushion to try and win the division,” Jays manager John Schneider said. “I don’t want to say we’re playing with house money, we’re not, the goal is to win the division. But these games are important, they’re all going to be important. Everyone knows that, they’re playing and preparing as such.”

Gausman, a potential Game 1 starter in the post-season, got into trouble in the second inning as Boston’s Masataka Yoshida led off with a double on a sharp line drive to right. Gausman appeared as though he might escape unscathed when he retired the next two batters but Nathaniel Lowe changed that with an RBI single to centre.

The Jays evened the score in bottom of the fourth. Nathan Lukes got things started with a double to right and later advanced to third on a single by Davis Schneider. Andrés Giménez then hit into a fielder’s choice, which allowed one run to score, but the Jays failed to add another despite a two-out single by George Springer.

The score remained tied until the top of the sixth when Gausman got himself into all sorts of trouble. Romy González hit a double to left and two batters later came around to score on another single by Lowe. The inning went from bad to worse a couple batters after that when Carlos Narváez hit a two-run double to the gap in right-centre field.

The game wasn’t without controversy. The Jays thought they had the makings of a big inning in the bottom of the second when they loaded the bases with two outs. Springer hit a sharp groundball down the third-base line that he thought was fair, but it was called foul by umpire Scott Barry. On the very next pitch, Springer took a slider that missed the outside corner on a 2-2 count but it was called strike three by home plate ump Doug Eddings. Just like that, the inning was over.

If the ball that Springer hit down the third-base line had been called fair, it might have been a different kind of night. Instead, the Jays managed to produce just the one run on three hits. Lucas Giolito allowed the run while striking out three across 4 2/3 innings while four relievers combined to keep the Jays scoreless for the rest of the game.

“It’s crazy to play 162 games and it always feels like it comes down to the last week, which is nuts,” Gausman said. “I don’t know how it always happens that way, but it’s exciting as a player. You come to the field with a different edge knowing that every game means a little bit more.”

Tuesday’s result was far from ideal, but the Jays remain in the drivers’ seat with only days remaining in the regular season. If they win four games, it doesn’t matter what the Yankees do the rest of the way. If they go 3-2, the Yankees would need to win their final five. If the Jays manage to win just two more games, their division rival would need to go 4-1 because º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøowns the tiebreaker.

The Jays were sitting pretty a week ago with a five-game lead. But anyone who is old enough to remember the collapse in 1987, when the Jays lost their final seven games to miss out on a division title, knew it was too early to get comfortable.

With five games remaining and the lead down to one — two if you consider the tiebreaker — ​the Jays will have to hope that history doesn’t repeat itself.