Josh Donaldson homered to give Toronto a long-awaited lead, and the Blue Jays finally broke through with the bats, beating the Cleveland Indians 5-1 on Tuesday to avert a sweep in the AL Championship Series.
The Indians still lead the Major League Baseball series 3-1, but Donaldson and a poised Aaron Sanchez handed them their first loss of this post-season.
Edwin Encarnacion added a two-run single in the seventh, a welcome sight for a raucous Rogers Centre crowd that had fallen silent watching their team reach the brink of elimination because of a slumbering offence.
Donaldson's solo shot to left-centre field off Corey Kluber in the third put the Blue Jays ahead for the first time all series.
Sanchez, the American League ERA champion, allowed a run and two hits in six innings, and the bullpen finished with three perfect innings.
Cleveland will try again Wednesday to win to earn the first World Series trip since 1997 when lightly used rookie Ryan Merritt faces Marco Estrada.
