Magic Number update: Blue Jays regroup and show themselves the "sky is not falling"

It could be Daulton Varsho's signature at-bat as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. The 29-year-old center fielder has made plenty of highlight reel catches during his time with the Blue Jays, but on Thursday night against the Boston Red Sox, Varsho came through in the clutch.

His sixth inning grand slam gave the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead in a game they desperately needed to win. It was a huge response to the previous two games in which they failed to come up with a clutch hit over and over again, dropping two games to the Red Sox and allowing the Yankees to tie them for the top spot in the AL East.

It was also a response to Manager John Schneider's comments after Wednesday's loss in which he firmly stated, "the sky is not falling," and asked his team to play loose.

So as the team responded, and picked up the win, it became an even bigger deal following the outcome in New York. The Yankees beat the White Sox for their fifth straight win and remain tied with the Blue Jays with identical 91-68 records with just three games to go in the regular season.

That means Toronto can't potentially clinch until Saturday as the Magic Number is down to three. Toronto begins a series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, the only team in the AL East they have a losing record against. Meanwhile, the Yankees host the 75-84 Baltimore Orioles to finish out their season.

It is also worth remembering that the Yankees have to play one game better than the Blue Jays over these final three games as Toronto holds the tiebreaker against New York. Toronto still control their own destiny and don't actually need any help from the Orioles - although a win by Baltimore in any of these games would go a long way to helping the Blue Jays clinch the AL East.