TORONTO — A four-run inning turned a tie game into a comfortable lead for the Toronto Blue Jays and a considerable deficit the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t overcome on a day when they mustered limited offense.

The Cardinals had just one run through the first eight innings, and that came on a solo home run by Jordan Walker. They added a run in the ninth inning but finished with just three hits in a 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays in the second game of their three-game series at the Rogers Centre on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals (74-74) fell to .500 with their second straight loss, and they’ll try to avoid being swept in Sunday’s series finale.

Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (8-7) allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Four of the five runs scored against him came in the sixth inning when the Blue Jays (71-78) broke a tie score.

Alec Burleson (1 for 4, double) and Brendan Donovan (1 for 4) joined Walker with the club’s hits. Nolan Arenado and Walker also had the Cardinals only walks.

Walker whacks one into the seats

Walker got the scoring started with his third-inning solo home run off Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios.

Walker gave the Cardinals their first hit and first run all with one swing on a 1-1 breaking ball that stayed up and over the inner half of the plate. He hammered it an estimated 397 feet to left-center field, and it came off his bat exit velocity of 104 mph. It marked Walker’s third home run since the start of September.

Walker, who batted in the No. 9 spot in the batting order, entered the day having gone 1 for 10 in his previous four games.

Walker drew a walk in his second plate appearance against Berrios, the lone Cardinals player to reach base in each of his first chances on Saturday.

Blue Jays get one right back

In the bottom of the third inning after Walker’s homer in the top half of the frame, the Blue Jays tied the score with a solo home run of their own against Gibson.

Second baseman Davis Schneider came through with a home run swing on a 2-1 sinker that stayed up and over the heart of the plate. Schneider smacked it over the wall in right-center field for the first hit allowed by Gibson.

The Blue Jays threatened to do more damage in the frame when Joey Loperfido followed Schneider’s big swing with a double to put a runner in scoring position with one out.

However, Gibson got George Springer to pop up to second base followed by an inning-ending fly ball to right field that stranded the runner on second.

Gibson gets into trouble in the sixth

Gibson held the Blue Jays to just one run and the score remained tied 1-1 entering the sixth inning.

After he got Springer to ground out to start the sixth, Gibson allowed three consecutive batters to reach base. Nathan Lukes singled to left field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Spencer Horwitz drew back-to-back walks that loaded the bases in advance of Ernie Clement’s at-bat.

Clement hit a grounder to shortstop Masyn Winn, who threw home for the force out. Winn’s throw came in on a hop and bounced into the chest protector of catcher Pedro Pages, who attempted to pin the ball to his body as he stood with a foot on home plate.

Instead, the ball squirted away from Pages and fell to the ground. Pages scrambled to pick the ball up, but he was a split second too late as Lukes scored from third.

That gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead and opened the floodgates on a four-run inning.

After Clement’s grounder, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol went to reliever Ryan Fernandez out of the bullpen. Fernandez gave up an RBI groundout on a slow roller than second baseman Thomas Saggese had to charge in on. Then Addison Barger swatted an RBI single on the ground in right field, and Davis Schneider lined an RBI single to left field to drive in the fourth run of the inning.

All four runs were unearned runs charged to Gibson in that inning.

O’Brien still trying to find footing

With the Cardinals trailing 5-1 in the seventh, reliever Riley O’Brien took the mound for his first outing since last Sunday against the Seattle Mariners.

O’Brien, who missed most of the season due to right forearm flexor strain, went to Triple-A Memphis when the Cardinals activated him from the injured list on August 12.

Since being recalled on August 27, O’Brien appeared in six games and allowed seven runs on eight hits, including two home runs, and five walks in five innings entering Saturday. Opponents were batting .364 with a 1.21 OPS against him during that brief span.

Saturday, O’Brien struck out the first batter he faced, George Springer, but then gave up a triple to Lukes, an RBI single to Guerrero a walk to Horwitz and then a two-out single to Alejandro Kirk. The Blue Jays tacked two runs onto their lead in the seventh and made the score 7-1.

In the eighth inning, O'Brien gave up a leadoff single and then retired the next three batters on a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to first base.

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