TORONTO (Interstat) — Matthew Liberatore struck out seven over six one-hit innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

The Cardinals, who won for just the second time in their past 10 games, improved to 55-57. Toronto dropped to 52-60 with its third consecutive loss. St. Louis had dropped the first two games of this three-game series, both by two-run margins, before rallying late in the finale.

Liberatore was sharp from the start, allowing only a second-inning single to Alejandro Kirk. He walked one batter, hit none and faced the minimum in three of his six innings. The left-hander retired the side in order in the first, third and fifth frames, and he worked around a two-out walk in the sixth by striking out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a foul tip.

Max Scherzer, Toronto’s starter, matched Liberatore for most of the afternoon. He allowed one run on four hits over six innings, walked none and struck out five. The only run Scherzer allowed came in the third inning, when Nathan Church walked, Blaze Jordan struck out and Lars Nootbaar doubled to left field, scoring Church from first base. Nootbaar’s double gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

Toronto threatened in the seventh when George Springer tripled with one out, but Ryne Stanek struck out Alejandro Kirk and got Ernie Clement to pop out to the catcher. Stanek worked a scoreless inning. Riley O’Brien then took over for the eighth and allowed Toronto’s tying run. Andrés Giménez singled with two outs, and Luis Urías doubled sharply to left, driving in Giménez to knot the score at 1-1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out to end the inning.

The tie lasted only briefly. In the top of the ninth, Masyn Winn walked, Bryan Torres singled to right and José Fermín singled to center, scoring Winn and sending Torres to third. Nathan Church bunted into a foul popout, then Blaze Jordan grounded into a force out, with Fermín retired at second and Torres holding at third. Lars Nootbaar then reached on a throwing error by second baseman Luis Urías, allowing Torres to score and putting Jordan at third. Jordan Walker followed with a line-drive single to left, scoring both Jordan and Nootbaar and extending the lead to 5-1. Walker finished the game 2 for 5 with two RBIs.

George Soriano, who pitched the bottom of the ninth, was credited with the win, his fourth of the season. He allowed a leadoff single to Kazuma Okamoto, who advanced to second on a fielding error by center fielder Nathan Church, but Soriano induced a lineout to Church, struck out Kirk and got Clement to ground out to end the game. Louis Varland took the loss, his fourth, after giving up the ninth-inning rally.

The Cardinals collected eight hits to Toronto’s five. Besides Walker’s two-run single, St. Louis received RBIs from Nootbaar, Fermín and Walker again on his second hit of the game. Nootbaar’s only hit was the third-inning double. Jordan Walker also singled in the sixth, and Alec Burleson had a hit. Blaze Jordan, Nathan Church, José Fermín and Bryan Torres each had one hit for St. Louis. Torres’s hit came in the ninth, as did Fermín’s go-ahead single.

Toronto’s five hits included Kirk’s single, Springer’s triple, Giménez’s single, Urías’s double and Okamoto’s ninth-inning single. Urías drove in the lone Toronto run. Daulton Varsho, who played center field, went hitless. Myles Straw started in right field and went hitless. George Springer, the left fielder, was 1 for 4 with the triple.

The game took 2 hours and 34 minutes to complete. Attendance was 41,321. The Cardinals used four pitchers: Liberatore, Stanek, O’Brien and Soriano. Liberatore threw 83 pitches, Stanek 13, O’Brien 12 and Soriano 18. Toronto used three pitchers: Scherzer, Spencer Miles and Varland. Scherzer threw 77 pitches, Miles 24 and Varland 21. Scherzer allowed four hits, Miles allowed one, and Varland allowed three runs, though only one was earned because of the error on Urías.

St. Louis’s ninth-inning outburst was its biggest in a single inning since the Cardinals scored five in the fifth on July 3 at Chicago. The four-run frame matched their largest inning of the series. The Cardinals had scored just two total runs in the first two games of the series, both losses. Their nine runs in the series all came via timely hitting, but Sunday’s rally was the decisive swing.

Toronto had a chance to add to its lead in the sixth, when Urías walked with two outs, but Liberatore struck out Guerrero to escape. In the seventh, Springer’s triple was the Blue Jays’ best scoring opportunity until the eighth, when Giménez and Urías connected. The Blue Jays stranded two runners in the game, while St. Louis stranded seven.

The Cardinals’ bullpen combined for two scoreless innings before O’Brien’s eighth-inning slip. Stanek worked around the triple, and O’Brien allowed the one run. Soriano cleaned up the ninth despite the defensive miscue. St. Louis committed two errors in the game, one on Church in the ninth and one that did not result in a run. Toronto’s error on Urías in the top of the ninth proved costly, extending the inning after Nootbaar’s ground ball and allowing the second run of the frame to score.

Walker’s two-run single in the ninth was the third hit of the game for the designated hitter. He also singled in the sixth, when he advanced to third on a lineout by Iván Herrera but was stranded. Nootbaar, who struck out in the first, grounded out in the second and sixth, and also grounded out in the eighth before his error-forced reaching in the ninth. His double in the third drove in the game’s first run.

The victory was St. Louis’s first in three games against Toronto this season. The Blue Jays won the first two meetings, 5-1 on Saturday and 3-1 on Friday. The Cardinals are scheduled to open a three-game series at New York on Monday, while Toronto travels to Houston for a three-game set beginning Monday.

St. Louis’s Liberatore had lost his previous two starts, allowing eight hits and three earned runs over 3 2/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs on July 27, and nine hits and five earned runs over 5 1/3 innings at Los Angeles on July 21. His Sunday outing marked his longest and strongest start since the All-Star break.

Scherzer, who had been effective despite the loss, lowered his season earned-run average with his six-inning effort. He did not walk a batter and induced 11 groundouts. The Cardinals challenged a pitch call in the fourth inning against Guerrero, and the call was confirmed. Another challenge in the eighth inning by the Blue Jays, on a pitch to catcher Iván Herrera, was overturned, resulting in a called third strike.

The game’s pace was steady, with both starters working efficiently. The teams combined for 25 balls in play, with St. Louis putting 12 balls in play and Toronto putting 13. Pitchers combined for 25 strikes, with St. Louis pitchers totaling 12 and Toronto pitchers totaling 13. The total of 45 balls was equal for both teams.

The ninth inning, which began with the score tied, lasted nearly 20 minutes and featured six batters reaching base, five hits, one walk, one error and one sacrifice-like force out. After the Cardinals took the lead, the Blue Jays mounted a mild threat in the bottom half, but Soriano settled down after the error and closed the game.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto 5, St. Louis 3, and its ELO system had projected Toronto with a 57.10 percent probability to win. St. Louis 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 9.