Gausman ends win drought as Blue Jays beat Cardinals 5-1
Gausman ends win drought as Blue Jays beat Cardinals 5-1
By The Sun, August 2, 2026 at 3:05 AM UTC
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TORONTO (AP) — Kevin Gausman pitched 5 2/3 innings for his first win since May 22, George Springer had two hits and drove in a pair, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Saturday.
The slumping Cardinals have lost three straight and eight of 10. They’ve scored three runs or fewer in each of their past seven games.
Springer hit an RBI single in the third and added an RBI double in the seventh.
Alejandro Kirk added a two-run single as Toronto won for the sixth time in nine games and extended its winning streak over St. Louis to eight. Kirk went 1 for 2 and walked twice.
The Blue Jays are the first AL team to win eight straight against St. Louis. For the Cardinals, it’s their longest losing streak against a single opponent since dropping nine consecutive meetings with the Mets from April 28, 2024 to May 2, 2025.
Gausman (5-10) snapped an 11-start winless streak by allowing one run and nine hits. The veteran right-hander walked one and struck out four.
The sellout crowd rose for a standing ovation when manager John Schneider replaced Gausman with Braydon Fisher in the sixth. The subject of trade rumors ahead of Monday’s deadline, Gausman tapped his heart in acknowledgment of the cheers as he walked to the dugout.
RAYS 1, WHITE SOX 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Drew Rasmussen struck out 10 in six strong innings and Nick Fortes drove in the game’s only run as Tampa Bay beat Chicago.
Bryan Baker recorded his American League-leading 31st save of the season, converting his 20th consecutive opportunity by retiring Chicago’s third, fourth and fifth hitters in the ninth.
Rasmussen (10-5) allowed four hits, all singles, and gave up one walk. Only two baserunners advanced past first base for Chicago, which had its three-game winning streak halted.
Noah Schultz (3-8) allowed three hits in five innings.
Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 batters as the Rays recorded their 10th shutout victory this season and fourth in the past seven games. Saturday marked the third 1-0 victory of the season and second in the past week.
MARINERS 4, TWINS 3
SEATTLE (AP) — Randy Arozarena scored in the ninth inning on Cal Raleigh’s groundout to first base, and Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Minnesota.
Arozarena led off the inning with a double off Andrew Morris (4-3) and advanced to third on a flyout to deep left field from Dominic Canzone. After the Twins intentionally walked Julio Rodríguez, Raleigh hit a sharp grounder to first baseman Royce Lewis, who stepped on first for the out.
Arozarena broke for the plate, and Lewis’ throw home was too late. Arozarena reached base three times and scored three of Seattle’s four runs.
Andrés Muñoz (4-4) got the win for Seattle. Gabe Speier pitched two-thirds of an inning before Muñoz came in with two outs in the eighth.
The Mariners struck early, taking a two-run lead in the first inning. Rodriguez drove one in with a bases-loaded infield single, and Mitch Garver drew a bases-loaded walk off Connor Prielipp to end an 11-pitch at-bat
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert pitched well early, allowing just one baserunner through the first four innings. But Luke Keaschall hit a solo homer in the fifth, and Trevor Larnach hit another in the sixth to cut Seattle’s lead to 3-2.
MARLINS 6, METS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Javier Sanoja and Griffin Conine homered to power Miami to a victory over New York.
Liam Hicks had a pair of RBI singles for the Marlins, who entered Saturday 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the final National League playoff spot. Otto Lopez lofted a sacrifice fly and scored twice.
Esteury Ruiz and Heriberto Hernández each stole a base for the Marlins, who are second in the majors with 122 thefts. Miami has swiped at least two bases in a game 35 times this season.
Tyler Phillips (3-5), who grew up about 100 miles south of Citi Field in Pennsauken, New York, allowed two runs and struck out three in five-plus innings.
Lake Bachar, Miami’s third pitcher, notched his second save by throwing three scoreless innings.
Tyrone Taylor remained hot for the Mets by hitting a two-run homer off Phillips in the second. Taylor, an impending free agent who is a candidate to be traded by the last-place Mets before Monday’s trade deadline, is batting .341 (14 for 41) with seven homers and 14 RBIs in 19 games since July 4.
PHILLIES 5, ORIOLES 0
BALTIMORE (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez struck out 11 in six innings, helping Philadelphia snap their four-game losing streak with a win over Baltimore.
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Sánchez kept the Orioles off the scoreboard despite five walks. Twice, he retired Baltimore’s Leody Taveras with the bases loaded to end an inning.
Sánchez (14-4) allowed just two hits after yielding 35 in 21 1/3 innings in July.
Shane Baz (4-10) gave up a run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He was pulled after a 15-pitch battle with Bryson Stott that ended with an infield single.
The Phillies blew a two-run lead in the seventh Friday night and entered the middle game of this series with only a one-game lead for the final wild card in the National League. The bullpen held on this time, and the offense added four runs in the eighth.
BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 3
ATLANTA (AP) — Martín Pérez held Washington hitless until the seventh inning, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and Dominic Smith hit home runs, and Atlanta beat the Nationals, their third straight win in the series.
Pérez (7-6) started in place of Reynaldo López, who was scratched 35 minutes before the game with left knee inflammation.
He allowed one hit, no runs and had six strikeouts in seven innings on 78 pitches against the highest scoring team in Major League Baseball. Brady House broke up the no-hit bid with a clean single to right field.
The Braves have not had a no-hitter since 1994, when Kent Mercker shut down the Dodgers in a 6-0 victory. They have just four since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966.
Austin Riley was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and Mike Yastrzemski had two hits and scored a run for the Braves, who are 8-2 at home since the All-Star break.
Acuña and Olson hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to give the Braves a lead they would not relinquish. Smith added a 403-foot home run to lead off the fourth. Smith’s home run came after he kept his at-bat alive by successfully challenging what would have been strike three.
CUBS 5, YANKEES 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning triple and scored twice as Chicago evened their series with New York with a win.
Nico Hoerner started the winning rally with his sixth home run, tying the score off Fernando Cruz (4-6), before Crow-Armstrong scored Pedro Ramirez with a line drive into the right-field corner off Brent Headrick. Crow-Armstrong then came home on Seiya Suzuki’s single to center.
Crow-Armstrong scored the game’s first run in the first inning by walking and advancing on a pair of wild pitches by Max Fried.
Michael Busch made it 5-2 in the eighth with an RBI single off Yovanny Cruz.
Cubs reliever Trent Thornton (4-4) pitched 2/3 of an inning for the win. Caleb Thielbar allowed one hit in the ninth but for his third save.
ASTROS 5, RANGERS 4
HOUSTON (AP) — Taylor Trammell had two RBIs and Christian Walker added two hits and drove in a run to held give Houston a victory over Texas that increased their lead in the AL West.
It’s the fifth straight victory for the Astros and their 10th in 11 games that has propelled them to a 1 1/2-game lead over the Rangers atop the division.
Wyatt Langford and Elias Díaz hit solo homers for the Rangers, who dropped their fourth in a row.
The Rangers trailed by 2 with one out in the sixth when Díaz’s homer to right field to cut the lead to 5-4.
But Houston’s bullpen shut Texas down the rest of the way. Closer Josh Hader struck out one in a scoreless ninth to improve to 15-for-15 on save opportunities.
DIAMONDBACKS 12, GUARDIANS 8
CLEVELAND (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll homered during a seven-run seventh inning, and Arizona beat Cleveland for their fourth straight victory.
Perdomo also had the fourth four-hit game of his six-year career and drove in three runs for the Diamondbacks, who hold the second wild-card spot in the National League. The shortstop is 6 for 10 with four RBIs in the first two games of the series.
Brian McCann had three hits while Nolan Arenado also went deep with a solo shot in the eighth inning.
Rhys Hoskins and Chase DeLauter homered for Cleveland, which is 5-10 since the All-Star break. Steven Kwan added three hits as the Guardians (56-56) fell to .500 for the first time since May 10.
Gerardo Carrillo (2-0), the second of six Arizona pitchers, got the win after throwing two scoreless innings.
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Source: “AOL Sports”
