Blue Jays bring 1-0 series lead over Cardinals into game 2

St. Louis Cardinals (54-56, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (51-59, fifth in the AL East)

Toronto; Saturday, 3:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Quinn Mathews (0-0); Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.51 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 123 strikeouts)

LINE: Blue Jays -142, Cardinals +119; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays lead 1-0 in a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Toronto has gone 27-30 at home and 51-59 overall. The Blue Jays have the eighth-ranked team ERA in the AL at 4.12.

St. Louis has a 26-24 record in road games and a 54-56 record overall. The Cardinals have the ninth-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .314.

The teams meet Saturday for the second time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kazuma Okamoto has 15 doubles and 24 home runs for the Blue Jays. George Springer is 12 for 38 with two doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Alec Burleson leads the Cardinals with a .282 batting average, and has 27 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs, 37 walks and 71 RBIs. Ivan Herrera is 10 for 41 with a home run and five RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 5-5, .256 batting average, 3.83 ERA, outscored by seven runs

Cardinals: 3-7, .210 batting average, 4.11 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Cody Ponce: 60-Day IL (knee), Joe Mantiply: 60-Day IL (knee), Lenyn Sosa: 10-Day IL (wrist), Jonatan Clase: 10-Day IL (foot), Yimi Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: day-to-day (hamstring), Addison Barger: 60-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Corbin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jose Berrios: 60-Day IL (elbow), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Cardinals: JoJo Romero: 15-Day IL (appendix), Ramon Urias: 60-Day IL (elbow), Max Rajcic: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.