Nathan Lukes' double in 8th pushes Blue Jays past Cardinals 3-2 to complete 3-game sweep

 

[September 16, 2024]  By IAN HARRISON

TORONTO (AP) — 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 Lukes followed with an RBI double into the left field corner.

“Really good pitching and defense today,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Sweeping a team is really hard, no matter who it is, but it takes a lot of focus and we kind of did that.”

Lukes and Kittredge were teammates with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A team in Durham in 2019, which Lukes felt gave him an edge in their late-game matchup.

“I kind of knew what his stuff was going to do,” Lukes said. “Just tried looking for something in the zone and put a good swing on it.”

Kittredge came in with an NL-leading 33 holds. He hadn’t allowed a run since Aug. 21 against Milwaukee.

“Here’s the thing with our ’pen,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It gets kind of amplified when they give up a run because the margins are so thin for them. It’s been that way all year.”

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.

“Offensively, we just haven’t had the ability to execute, plain and simple,” Marmol said. “There’s no talking around it or excusing it. We just don’t score enough runs right now to win games.”

Blue Jays second baseman Leo Jiménez turned in the defensive play of the game 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.

Toronto Blue Jays' Nathan Lukes hits an RBI double against the St. Louis Cardinals during eighth-inning baseball game action in Toronto, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Paige Taylor White/The Canadian Press via AP)

“The plays that he’s making, it’s just mouth to the ground,” Lukes said of Jiménez. “It’s unbelievable what he’s doing out there.”

St. Louis outfielder Jordan Walker opened the scoring and chased Toronto starter Yariel Rodríguez with an RBI double in the fifth.

The Blue Jays answered in the bottom half when Schneider hit a two-run drive to center off Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas.

Before his solo home run Saturday, Schneider hadn’t homered since June 22. Sunday’s homer was his 12th of 2024.

St. Louis tied it when Nootbaar connected off left-hander Ryan Yarbrough to begin the seventh. The homer was Nootbaar’s 10th.

Rodríguez 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’S ROOM

Blue Jays: Jiménez 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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