4-run 9th inning lets Cardinals beat Toronto 5-1 to avoid sweep

José Fermin hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday, avoiding a three-game sweep.

Matthew Liberatore pitched six shutout innings and George Soriano (4-3) worked one inning for the win as the Cardinals used a four-run ninth to snap an eight-game losing streak against Toronto.

St. Louis won for the fifth time in 17 games since the All-Star break, and scored more than three runs for the first time since a 7-0 win over Cincinnati on July 25.

Blue Jays closer Louis Varland (3-4) walked Masyn Winn to begin the ninth. Winn advanced to third on a base hit by Bryan Torres before scoring on Fermin’s line drive single to center.

St. Louis opened the scoring in the third inning when Nathan Church scored from first on a two-out double by Lars Nootbar.

Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer allowed one run and four hits in six innings. Scherzer walked one and struck out five, boosting his career total to 3,512.

Cardinals RHP Michael McGreevy (4-9, 3.57 ERA) is expected to start at New York on Monday against Yankees RHP Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.04).


(Photo Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)