TORONTO (AP) – José Berríos pitched seven strong innings to win his seventh straight start, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in his 500th career run and scored twice, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Saturday.
Guerrero, 25, is the youngest player in Blue Jays history to reach 500 RBIs. Davis Schneider went 3 for 4 with a home run and drove in two as Toronto won its second straight.
Addison Barger had two hits and an RBI and Alejandro Kirk drove in a pair as the Blue Jays handed the Cardinals their first series loss against an AL East opponent in more than two years.
Berríos allowed one run and two hits, walked two and struck out four. He’s 3-0 in five career starts against St. Louis.
Ryan Burr worked the eighth and Luis Frías finished for Toronto.
Jordan Walker hit a solo home run, his third of the season, for the Cardinals. St. Louis came in 9-4 against AL East foes. They last lost a series to an AL East team by dropping two of three at Boston in June, 2022.
Walker opened the scoring with a two-out homer in the third, but Schneider tied it by connecting off Cardinals right-hander Kyle Gibson in the bottom half for his 11th home run and first since June 22.
Toronto chased Gibson and took the lead with a four-run sixth. Gibson exited after shortstop Masyn Winn’s throwing error on Ernie Clement’s bases loaded grounder allowed the tiebreaking run to score.
Ryan Fernandez came on and gave up Kirk’s RBI groundout, and run-scoring singles by Barger and Schneider.
Gibson (8-7) allowed five runs – one earned – and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out one.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Leo Jiménez was scratched from the lineup because of a right index finger contusion and replaced by Clement. … OF Joey Loperfido departed after four innings because of left adductor discomfort, the team said.
UP NEXT
RHP Yariel Rodríguez (1-6, 4.42) is scheduled to start for Toronto Sunday as the Blue Jays look for the sweep. RHP Miles Mikolas (8-11, 5.55) starts for the Cardinals.
