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The series finale against the Boston Red Sox technically wasn’t must-win, but it sure felt like it. After dropping six of their last seven games, the Jays were at risk of limping into the playoffs without a first-round bye. Now, with three games remaining, they still have a chance to end this improbable season on a positive note. And they have the bullpen to thank.

On a night the Jays didn’t have a traditional starter available, three relievers — Louis Varland, Eric Lauer and Yariel Rodriguez — combined to toss six perfect innings. That bought the offence just enough time to erupt for six runs in the sixth inning, en route to a desperately needed 6-1 victory at the Rogers Centre.

“Talking to the guys the last couple days, the analogy I use, which is a weird one, I’m sure some of you have seen the Navy SEALs that get tossed into a pool with their arms and legs tied,” Jays manager John Schneider said prior to Thursday’s win. “You can either go to the bottom and bob back up for air, or you can start thrashing and f——— die, and I don’t want them to start doing that.”

What Schneider didn’t realize at the time was that his relievers would be the ones providing the life vest. Varland got the start and struck out three of the six batters he faced. Lauer retired the next 10 before Rodriguez got two more. It wasn’t until the top of the seventh, when Jarren Duran doubled off Braydon Fisher, that the Red Sox had their first baserunner.

The Jays offence had exploded by then. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base in the bottom of the sixth on an error. Addison Barger followed with a walk and Anthony Santander got hit by a pitch. It was almost like Red Sox starter Brayan Bello was begging the Jays to do something, and they finally did when Daulton Varsho hit a grand slam over the wall in right field.

The antsy sold-out crowd erupted in what was easily one of the loudest ovations of the year. Varsho got to soak it all in while rounding the bases to celebrate his second grand slam of the season and the fifth of his career.

“It’s good to get back in the win column and have a good victory like that, a good team win,” said Lauer, who has a 1.82 ERA in 12 relief appearances this season. “Everybody was involved, everybody did something great. Varsh did something really great. Just a good team win and a good morale booster.”

Prior to Varsho’s heroic moment, it was missed opportunity after missed opportunity. The Jays wasted a one-out triple by Nathan Lukes in the first inning. They left the bases loaded in the third. They had their leadoff man reach base in the second and fifth but each time they came away empty-handed.

That was a continuation of a troubling trend that saw the Jays limited to one run or fewer in six of their previous seven games. Just about everyone in the lineup was pressing and it wasn’t so much what opposing pitchers were doing but what the Jays were doing to themselves.

It’s possible that narrative would have continued to play out for another night if not for the bullpen. But since the relievers came through, the offence had enough chances to do the same. After four close calls, Bello set them up by loading the bases and then Varsho delivered the big blast on a 94-m.p.h. fastball from reliever Justin Wilson. George Springer soon followed with a two-run shot and the rout was on.

“Everybody wants to feel that pressure at the end of the season,” Varsho said. “You want to feel that because it means you’re in it. I think it’s one of those things where you can either crumble and fall and not play well or we can be us, knowing that we’ve played good baseball throughout the season and just trusting it.”

The victory meant the standings remained the same. The Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox with a 5-3 victory. And while the two clubs remained atop the division, it’s the Jays who own the tiebreaker.

With three regular-season games to go, they remain in control of their fate. And Thursday might have been the jolt the Jays needed to finish the job.