Luis Urías hits tiebreaking single in 8th inning as Blue Jays beat slumping Cardinals 3-1

TORONTO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Luis Urías broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run single and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Friday night.

>Cardinals reliever Peter Strzelecki (0-1) exited after one-out walks to George Springer and Daulton Varsho. Gordon Graceffo came on and walked Ernie Clement to load the bases for Urías, who grounded a two-run single through the left side.

>Jeff Hoffman (6-7) worked one inning for the win and Louis Varland finished for his 24th save in 24 opportunities as Toronto extended its home winning streak over St. Louis to seven games.

>The Blue Jays have won five of their past eight games after losing the previous four.

>St. Louis lost for the fifth time in six games. The Cardinals went 10-18 in July.

>Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single off Dylan Cease in the fifth.

>The Blue Jays tied it in the sixth when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto started the inning with back-to-back doubles.

>Cease allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

>Cardinals right-hander Kyle Leahy permitted one run and six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three.

>The Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out in the seventh but Strzelecki got Guerrero to ground into a double play.

>Brandon Valenzuela had three of Toronto’s nine hits.

Up nextCardinals LHP Quinn Matthews is expected to make his major league debut Saturday against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.51 ERA).

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>AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb