Gausman solid in potentially final Jays appearance as Toronto beats Cardinals 5-1

TORONTO — Kevin Gausman got a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd at Rogers Centre in what may have been his final appearance with the Blue Jays as Toronto topped the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Saturday.

Gausman (5-10) pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball, striking out four, but allowing nine hits and a walk. The veteran pitcher is considered a valuable asset for playoff-bound teams ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

George Springer hit an RBI single in the third and drove in another with a double in the seventh as Toronto (52-59) won its third straight. Alejandro Kirk tacked on two more runs with a single in the seventh and Luis Urias hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Jeff Hoffman and Tyler Rogers followed Gausman to the mound.

Masyn Winn’s RBI double briefly cut Toronto’s lead to one run in the sixth as St. Louis (54-57) lost its third game in a row.

Quinn Mathews gave up two runs over five innings in his Major League Baseball debut. He struck out three and allowed six hits and walked three. Luis Gastelum and Peter Strzelecki came out of the visitors’ bullpen.

Takeaways

Cardinals: Despite Gausman allowing nine hits, St. Louis couldn’t get anything going at the plate. St. Louis dropped to four games back of the National League’s final wild card berth.

Blue Jays: Generating offence has been an issue for Toronto all season, but the Blue Jays bats produced enough for Gausman to get the win. Springer has been particularly hot in the past month, hitting .290 in July with four home runs and a .362 on-base percentage.

Key moment

Manager John Schneider pulled Gausman with two outs in the sixth, allowing him to say goodbye to Blue Jays fans, if he does get traded before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline. Gausman patted his heart and looked up at the ballpark’s stands before heading into the home dugout.

Key stat

Gausman’s rate of 9.62 strikeouts per nine innings is the most by a starting pitcher in Blue Jays history with a minimum of 100 starts. J.A. Happ (8.34) and Jose Berrios (7.99) are second and third in the team’s 50-year history.

Up next

Surefire Hall of Famer Max Scherzer (1-4) takes the mound for Toronto in Sunday’s matinee.

Matthew Liberatore (5-8) gets the start for St. Louis in the finale of the three-game series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press