Fermin’s RBI single kick-starts four-run ninth to lift Cardinals over Blue Jays 5-1

TORONTO — Jose Fermin’s RBI single kicked off a four-run ninth inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals over the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday.

Lars Nootbar doubled down the first-base line in the third inning to give St. Louis (55-57) an early 1-0 lead.

He tacked on another run in the ninth when Toronto second baseman Luis Urias misthrew what should have been an easy groundout, allowing Nootbar to reach second and Bryan Torres to score.

Jordan Walker singled in Blaze Jordan and Nootbar in the next at bat to put the game out of reach for the Blue Jays.

Matthew Liberatore struck out seven, allowing just one hit and one walk over six innings. Ryne Stanek, George Soriano (4-3) and Riley O’Brien came out of the visitors’ bullpen.

Urias tied it 1-1 with his own double down the left-field line in the eighth as Toronto (52-60) had its three-game win streak snapped.

George Springer had a one-out triple in the seventh but the Blue Jays were unable to bring him home.

Max Scherzer had his best start of the season, striking out five over six innings of one-run baseball. He allowed four hits and a walk to drop his earned-run average from 9.49 to 7.92.

Spencer Miles, Louis Varland (3-4) and Mason Fluharty came on in relief.

Takeaways

Cardinals: St. Louis made the most of Scherzer’s only walk of the game, scoring Nathan Church in the third with Nootbar’s two-out hit. Liberatore was excellent against a Toronto team hoping to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Blue Jays: After scoring 22 runs over its past five games, Toronto’s offence sputtered. The Blue Jays managed just one hit against Liberatore, who entered the game with a 5.26 ERA. They finished with a total of five hits. Toronto’s 439 runs scored this season are the fewest across all of MLB.

Key moment

Varland has been dominant as the Blue Jays closer for most of the season, but he struggled in the ninth, issuing a leadoff walk to Masyn Winn in the ninth. Bryan Torres moved him to second in the next at bat with a single, then Fermin drove him home before Varland could get an out.

Key stat

Scherzer’s five strikeouts moved him to 3,512 over his storied career. Four more and he will surpass Hall of Famer Walter Johnson for 10th on the all-time strikeouts list.

Up next

Shane Bieber (2-2) gets the start as the Blue Jays begin a three-game set in Houston.

Hayden Wesneski (1-0) will take the mound for the Astros.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press