Jordan Walker stroked a two-run single to cap a four-run ninth Sunday afternoon and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1.
Toronto’s top reliever Louis Varland (3-4) allowed four runs (one earned), three hits and one walk in two-thirds of an inning.
The Cardinals salvaged the finale of the three-game series and snapped a three-game losing streak while ending Toronto’s run of three straight wins.
George Soriano (4-3), who allowed the tying run in the eighth, got the win.
The Cardinals could not take advantage of Blaze Jordan’s leadoff single in the eighth while clinging to a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Jays tied the game in the home eighth against Soriano. Andres Gimenez singled with two outs, stole second and scored when Luis Urias hooked a 3-0 pitch to the left field corner for a double.
To open the ninth, Masyn Winn walked, scampered to third on a single to right by Bryan Torres and trotted home on Jose Fermin’s single to center. Two outs later, the Cardinals added a run when Urias threw wildly to first on Nootbaar’s grounder to second. Walker followed with his two-run single to left.
Riley O’Brien pitched around a leadoff single in the Toronto ninth.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead against Max Scherzer in the third inning. Nathan Church walked with one out and scored on Lars Nootbaar’s two-out double into the left field corner.
Scherzer worked around one-out singles by Walker and Alec Burleson in the sixth.
He allowed one run, four hits and one walk with five strikeouts in six innings. Scherzer is three strikeouts short of Walter Johnson’s 3,515 strikeouts, which is 10th on the all-time list.
St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore retired 13 batters in a row after Alejandro Kirk’s infield single with one out in the second. The streak ended when Urias walked with two outs in the sixth. The left-hander struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the third time to end the inning.
Liberatore allowed one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings.
Springer tripled to the right field wall despite Nootbaar’s attempt at a catch near the corner with one out in the home seventh against Ryne Stanek. Kirk struck out and Ernie Clement fouled out to end the threat.
