MIAMI — When Jose Berrios took the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday, the Blue Jays had a 4-0 lead and appeared to be well on their way to a clean win.

Berrios had pitched well, recovering from some recent struggles, and George Springer had just homered to give the Blue Jays a little more breathing room. But after a quick out from Berrios, the Marlins started rallying, setting in motion a wild game that finally ended when Bo Bichette drove Springer home in the 12th and Brendon Little earned his first save of the season.

Along the way, the Blue Jays used six relievers and blew three leads, but three hours and 34 minutes after first pitch, they finally had reason to celebrate.

“We fought every inning,” Springer said following the game. “Just an absolutely huge win.”

Ineffective relief outings from Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman let the Marlins force the game into extras, and while Mason Fluharty and Tommy Nance had chances to finish the game off, Miami scored each time, offsetting Ty France’s sac fly and Andres Gimenez’s RBI single. But in the end, the positives outweighed the negatives for the Blue Jays.

“This game was the epitome of guys knowing their roles and doing what we ask of them,” manager John Schneider said. “Whether it was a pitch, a play, getting a guy over, making a play, turning a double play, blocking a ball in the dirt, it was what we’ve done (this year). That’s what sticks out to me.”

With the win, the Blue Jays took yet another series, improving to 76-54 on the season (including 8-4 in extra innings) and setting up a possible sweep Sunday, when Kevin Gausman will take the mound opposite Eury Perez.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. successfully completed a full range of pre-game workouts and could be seen holding a bat in the dugout late in the game, but the Blue Jays wanted to stay away from him if at all possible, preferring to bring him back carefully – potentially as soon as Sunday afternoon. Regardless, the Blue Jays’ lineup did just enough damage without him, thanks in large part to a four-hit day from Bichette and Springer’s team-leading 22nd home run of the season.

Beyond his offensive performance, Bichette also showed off his arm and decision-making on defence, throwing out Troy Johnston at the plate to save a run in the seventh and astutely nabbing Otto Lopez at second for the first out of the 12th.

“The play in the 12th was unbelievable,” Springer said. “And he hit the ball hard all night.”

As Berrios said: “When the team needed (Bichette) pretty bad, he showed up and did his thing.”

“Hell of a game,” Schneider added.

But for most of the day the focal point was Berrios, who showed once again that he’s capable of making adjustments on the fly when he needs to. This start was especially noteworthy considering the 5.68 ERA he had posted in his previous nine starts dating back to the beginning of July.

Over the course of 6.1 innings Saturday, he allowed two runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking none. Berrios ended up pitching with slightly less velocity than usual, as his sinker averaged just 91.4 m.p.h., down from his season average of 92.1. But thanks to an effective change-up and good command, he still kept Miami’s hitters off-balance.

“I was locating pitches at the bottom of the zone,” Berrios said. “The big key today was I was executing location.”

“He was great,” Schneider added. “The difference maker was really, really good change-ups to both righties and lefties. That’s becoming a pitch that’s generating more and more swing and miss.”

Berrios was particularly efficient on Saturday, holding the Marlins scoreless until they strung three consecutive hits together in the seventh. All told, he threw 81 pitches – a relatively light load at a time the Blue Jays are especially mindful of their starters’ rest.

“It’s going to be a little bit flexible with a lot of guys,” Schneider said. “With the (upcoming) off days, guys are going to get extra rest. We’re going to do a little bit of mixing and matching. I think there is a way to kind of get not only (Berrios), but other guys some extra rest going into September and hopefully beyond.”

After Berrios exited, Varland allowed an inherited runner to score before allowing another run that was charged to his line, marking four straight appearances in which he has allowed a run. Seranthony Dominguez came through with a scoreless eighth before Hoffman walked the leadoff man in the ninth, setting up the Marlins’ fourth run of the day.

While Eric Lauer was available out of the bullpen Friday, the Blue Jays are planning to re-insert the left-hander into their starting rotation against the Twins next week. That move will give Shane Bieber a little extra rest before his Blue Jays home debut, a buffer that’s “kind of important” to the Blue Jays, according to Schneider.

As a result, the rotation lines up like this for the week ahead:

Sunday at Marlins: Kevin Gausman 
Monday vs. Twins: Max Scherzer
Tuesday vs. Twins: Chris Bassitt
Wednesday vs. Twins: Eric Lauer
Thursday: off day
Friday vs. Brewers: Shane Bieber

It’s a strong group featuring multiple Cy Young Award winners and enviable depth. And after Saturday’s bounce-back performance, there’s some more reason for optimism with Berrios, too.