BALTIMORE -- One out away from a messy marathon ending in a loss, George Springer delivered with one of the biggest home runs of the Blue Jays’ season.

Springer’s two-run home run in the top of the seventh capped a four-run inning as the Blue Jays surged back to win 11-10 in Game 1 of a seven-inning doubleheader at Camden Yards, avoiding a second straight loss to the AL-worst Orioles.

In a game that looked lost from the first inning, Springer and the dangerous Blue Jays’ offense stole a win from a loss, something we didn’t often see with this team through the heart of the summer. The timing couldn’t be better, either, as the AL Wild Card race has become the tightest race in baseball following Toronto’s charge.

• Box score

With Toronto’s historic seventh inning in Game 2 of the doubleheader, plating 11 runs on 11 hits to pull off an 11-2 win, the Blue Jays now sit tied with the Yankees for the second AL Wild Card spot, just one game back of the Red Sox for the first.

• Wild Card standings

Playing at well less than 100 percent, Springer has been in and out of the lineup as he continues to deal with a bad left knee, but the home run trot suited him just fine. Springer looked much healthier running the bases earlier in the game, too, after missing three games in New York when he fouled a ball off that left knee. This season has been long and frustrating for Springer on the heels of signing a six-year, $150 million deal with the Blue Jays, but it’s moments like this that make it worth it.

“It’s one of those things where it’s not the end goal, but I’m glad it was. I was honestly just wanting to hit something hard. I know I have a guy [Jarrod Dyson] on first base who can fly, so I’m just trying to extend the inning and get Marcus [Semien] or [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.] up. I’m happy I was able to hit a homer. I’m feeling good.”

This incredible comeback picked up Hyun Jin Ryu, who had his worst outing with the Blue Jays, allowing seven runs on eight hits over just 2 1/3 innings. Ryu clearly didn’t have his best stuff from the very first pitch, but was still given every opportunity by manager Charlie Montoyo, who left him in with the bases loaded after a mound conversation in the third. Two pitches later, Ryu surrendered a two-run double into the left-field corner, another piece of hard contact on a day filled with it.

“As a starting pitcher in a game like this where we have a doubleheader with two seven-inning games, giving up a lot of runs earlier felt like I haven’t done what I have to do,” Ryu said through a translator. “I felt really bad for the position players and all of my teammates. On the other side of that, they were able to compete and fight in every at-bat to get us the win.”

Ryu now owns a 4.11 ERA, the highest among all five Blue Jays starters. That’s a compliment to the rest of the rotation as much as anything else, but Ryu has fallen short of the incredible form he showed in his 2020 debut with the club, pitching to a 2.69 ERA and finishing third in AL Cy Young voting. Ryu was great in his last outing, throwing six shutout innings before leaving early with some arm discomfort, but the Blue Jays need the old, reliable Ryu down the stretch.

What Saturday’s comebacks really showcased, though, is the Blue Jays’ newfound ability to pick one another up. For too much of this season, a starting performance like Ryu’s would lead to a quiet loss. More recently, in their eight-game winning streak, they had every single phase working together, but this was finally another example of what it looks like when this star-studded lineup steps on the gas and wipes out anything that happened in the innings prior.