ST. LOUIS — Although Willson Contreras provided a three-run jolt that clawed his team back within one run and set fireworks off Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, the threat of a Cardinals comeback ended one pitch later.

A groundout from Alec Burleson in the following at-bat sealed a 10-9 win for the Toronto Blue Jays, who staved off a Cardinals comeback by regaining an early lead they lost and adding to it.

Within the first three at-bats of the fifth inning after Nolan Gorman’s three-run homer in the fourth swung the Cardinals into a 4-4 tie, Toronto pushed across one run against Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas to regain their lead. Toronto added another run to Mikolas’ pitching line before the inning ended and tacked on an additional two in the seventh inning against the Cardinals bullpen.

An eighth-inning jolt from Nolan Arenado in the form of a two-run homer pulled the Cardinals within two runs to spark some momentum. But two runs allowed by Chris Roycroft slimmed the chances of a comeback before Contreras's tape-measure three-run homer with two outs in the ninth provided some late-inning hope.

Coming off a quality start that marked his third in his previous four outings before facing a high-contact Blue Jays lineup, Mikolas’s six runs allowed in five innings on Tuesday were his most in a game since giving up nine in an early April start vs. the Red Sox.

Mikolas surrendered a three-run homer in the first inning to Andres Gimenez that put the Cardinals down 3-0 and allowed another run to cross in the fourth inning on a single from Alan Roden. Three consecutive hits to open the fifth inning and a sacrifice fly from George Springer put the Cardinals in a 6-4 hole.

Following Mikolas’s departure after five innings and six runs allowed, the Blue Jays pushed across two runs in the seventh inning when Alejandro Kirk homered off Kyle Leahy. One of the two runs that scored on Kirk’s two-run homer was charged to left-hander John King, who completed 1 1/3 innings before Leahy was summoned in relief.

Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt held the Cardinals to two hits through three innings before Alec Burleson’s one-out single put runners on first and third base following Brendan Donovan’s hit by pitch to open the frame. A single by Arenado scored Donovan, allowed Burleson to go from first-to-third and set the table for Gorman.

Donovan, who started in left field while leadoff hitter and primary left fielder Lars Nootbaar received his first day off in over two weeks, exited at the start of the ninth inning because of left toe discomfort. Donovan fouled a pitch off his left foot during his nine-pitch at-bat that led off the eighth inning.

An early 3-spot

Bo Bichette’s leadoff single and a softly hit fly ball Kirk dropped into shallow center field put traffic on the bases for Mikolas before he could get through the first inning.

That was all before a fastball left over the middle of the strike zone to Gimenez put the right and the Cardinals in an early deficit.

Gimenez pulled a 92.1 mph fastball from Mikolas to right field for a three-run homer that marked Gimenez’s third of the season and his first since March 31. The Platinum Gloved infielder opened his first season with Toronto with three homers in his first five games of the year but did not hit one in his next 36 games heading into Tuesday’s matchup.

The homer was the fifth Mikolas has given up this year — all of which have come in his six most recent outings. Despite the homers, Mikolas whittled his ERA down from 4.66 to 3.96 over that stretch.

The five runs allowed left the veteran's ERA at 4.48.

Going Going Gorman

After the Cardinals pushed one run across with one out in the fourth inning on Arenado’s single to left field, Gorman pulled the Cardinals to a tie when Bassitt threw him a third consecutive cutter during their encounter.

Gorman took a sweeper in the dirt to begin the at-bat with runners on first and third base. He fouled off a back-to-back cutter from the Blue Jays’ right-hander before seeing a third that was pulled 391 feet to right field for three RBIs.

Gorman’s homer had a 111.6 mph exit velocity behind, per Statcast. It marked just his third in 39 games, but his second since the start of June

As the Cardinals’ continue work in at-bats for Gorman, the 25-year-old infielder has made the most of them. He had five hits in 12 at-bats before making Tuesday’s start and reached base three times in the loss. After his homer and a walk in the second inning, Gorman added to his night with a single in the eighth.

Scott snaps homestand skid

Hitless through his first 16 at-bats since the Cardinals’ current homestand began a week ago against the Kansas City Royals, Scott snapped his skid with his second at-bat against Bassitt.

After flying out to right field on a ball hit with a 101.1 mph exit velocity in the third inning, Scott lined a single up the middle with two outs in the fourth. The single was Scott’s second in 33 at-bats dating back to May 26.

The 24-year-old collected one hit during the Cardinals’ two-city road trip to face the Orioles and Rangers prior to the current homestand. Scott owned a .277 batting average before the Cardinals traveled to Baltimore but saw it sink to .236 following a hitless night on Monday.

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