TORONTO (Interstat) — Kevin Gausman pitched into the sixth inning and George Springer and Alejandro Kirk each drove in two runs as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Saturday at Rogers Centre before a crowd of 41,819.

Gausman (5-10) allowed one run on nine hits over 5.2 innings, striking out four and walking none. The right-hander bounced back from two straight losses, including a rough outing July 26 at Boston in which he gave up three runs over six innings. Toronto’s bullpen finished with four scoreless innings, with Jeff Hoffman, Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher and Tyler Rogers combining for one hit allowed and two strikeouts.

Quinn Mathews (0-1) took the loss in his first major league decision of the season. The left-hander gave up two runs on six hits over five innings, striking out three and walking two. Peter Strzelecki followed with 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Blue Jays broke a scoreless tie in the third inning. Davis Schneider walked with one out, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a single to put runners at first and second. After Kazuma Okamoto flied out, Springer lined a sharp single to left field that was deflected by shortstop Masyn Winn, allowing Schneider to score and Guerrero to advance to third. Springer moved to second on the play. Alejandro Kirk then walked to load the bases, but Daulton Varsho popped out to end the inning.

Toronto added a run in the fourth. Ernie Clement singled and Myles Straw doubled, putting runners at second and third with no outs. Schneider struck out on a foul tip, and Luis Urías lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Clement and moving Straw to third. Guerrero flied out to left to end the inning.

The Cardinals got on the board in the sixth. Iván Herrera led off with a double to left, and after Lars Nootbaar grounded out, Herrera advanced to third. Masyn Winn then doubled sharply to center, scoring Herrera and cutting Toronto’s lead to 2-1. Nathan Church grounded out and Blaze Jordan grounded out, leaving Winn at third.

The game remained 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when Toronto broke it open with three runs. Andrés Giménez was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Guerrero singled to put runners at first and second. Okamoto popped out on the infield fly rule, but Springer followed with a double to right field, scoring Giménez and sending Guerrero to third. Kirk then singled to right, driving in Guerrero and Springer and giving the Blue Jays a 5-1 lead. Daulton Varsho walked and Ernie Clement popped out, but the damage was done. Myles Straw flied out to end the inning.

St. Louis threatened in the eighth when Winn walked and Blaze Jordan doubled, putting runners at second and third with two outs. Bryan Torres grounded out to first baseman Guerrero to end the inning. The Cardinals went down in order in the ninth.

St. Louis finished with 11 hits, but managed only one run. The Cardinals left multiple runners on base in the fourth, when they put two on with two outs before Jimmy Crooks struck out swinging. In the fifth, JJ Wetherholt walked with one out but was left stranded.

Toronto finished with nine hits. Springer went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double, while Kirk went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks. Guerrero had two hits and scored twice. Winn led St. Louis with a 1-for-3 day that included a double and an RBI. Herrera doubled and scored the Cardinals’ only run.

The loss dropped St. Louis to 54-57, while Toronto improved to 52-59. The teams played the second game of a three-game series, with St. Louis having lost the opener 3-1 on Friday. The Cardinals continue their road trip Monday at the New York Yankees, while Toronto travels to Houston on Monday.

The game lasted 2:43. St. Louis pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts, 41 balls and 12 balls in play, while Toronto pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, 46 balls and 17 balls in play.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto Blue Jays 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Toronto with a 56.30 percent probability to win. Toronto had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 8.5.