Cardinals beat Blue Jays 5-1 on Fermin's ninth inning RBI

José Fermin's tiebreaking single sparked a four-run ninth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday at Rogers Centre, avoiding a three-game series sweep. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Cardinals against Toronto.

St. Louis opened the scoring in the third inning when Nathan Church scored from first base on a two-out double by Lars Nootbaar. That run held up for most of the game thanks to a dominant start from left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who pitched six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven.

The Blue Jays finally broke through in the eighth inning against Cardinals reliever George Soriano. Andrés Giménez reached on a two-out single, stole second, and scored on a double by Luis Urias to tie the game 1-1.

Toronto's momentum was short-lived. In the top of the ninth, Blue Jays closer Louis Varland, who had not allowed a run since July 10, walked Masyn Winn to start the inning. Bryan Torres followed with a single, moving Winn to third. Fermin then lined a single to center field, driving in Winn for the go-ahead run. After two outs, Torres scored on a throwing error by Urias at second...