TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Nathan Lukes drove in the winning run with a double in the eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Pinch hitter George Springer singled off right-hander Andrew Kittredge (4-5) with one out in the eighth and
鈥淩eally good pitching and defense today,鈥� Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. 鈥淪weeping a team is really hard, no matter who it is, but it takes a lot of focus and we kind of did that.鈥�
Lukes and Kittredge were teammates with Tampa Bay鈥檚 Triple-A team in Durham in 2019, which Lukes felt gave him an edge in their late-game matchup.
鈥淚 kind of knew what his stuff was going to do,鈥� Lukes said. 鈥淛ust tried looking for something in the zone and put a good swing on it.鈥�
Kittredge came in with an NL-leading 33 holds. He hadn鈥檛 allowed a run since Aug. 21 against Milwaukee.
鈥淗ere鈥檚 the thing with our 鈥檖en,鈥� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淚t gets kind of amplified when they give up a run because the margins are so thin for them. It鈥檚 been that way all year.鈥�
Davis Schneider added a two-run home run, his second homer in two games, to help the Blue Jays sweep their fifth series of the season.
Right-hander Zach Pop (2-4) retired Nolan Arenado, the only batter he faced, for the final out of the eighth. Righty Chad Green stranded two runners in the ninth to earn his 17th save in 20 chances.
Lars Nootbaar homered for the Cardinals, who have lost six of nine to fall below .500 at 74-75. St. Louis was swept for the sixth time.
鈥淥ffensively, we just haven鈥檛 had the ability to execute, plain and simple,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no talking around it or excusing it. We just don鈥檛 score enough runs right now to win games.鈥�
Blue Jays second baseman in the sixth, diving to stop a hard grounder from Luken Baker and flipping to shortstop Ernie Clement to start an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
鈥淭he plays that he鈥檚 making, it鈥檚 just mouth to the ground,鈥� Lukes said of Jim茅nez. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable what he鈥檚 doing out there.鈥�
St. Louis outfielder Jordan Walker opened the scoring and chased Toronto starter Yariel Rodr铆guez with an RBI double in the fifth.
The Blue Jays answered in the bottom half when off Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas.
Before his solo home run Saturday, Schneider hadn鈥檛 homered since June 22. Sunday鈥檚 homer was his 12th of 2024.
St. Louis tied it when to begin the seventh. The homer was Nootbaar鈥檚 10th.
Rodr铆guez allowed one run and three hits in 4 1/3 innings while walking one and striking out two.
Mikolas was charged with two runs and three hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out four.
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Blue Jays: Jim茅nez returned to the lineup after being scratched Saturday because of a right index finger contusion.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Andre Pallante (6-8, 4.13 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday in the opener of a three-game series against Pittsburgh. RHP Paul Skenes (10-2, 2.10) goes for the Pirates.
Blue Jays: Toronto begins a three-game series at Texas on Tuesday.
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AP MLB:
Ian Harrison, The Associated Press
