TORONTO – Two on, one out in the sixth inning and Max Scherzer at 77 pitches, John Schneider jogged out to the mound rather than walked. When the Toronto Blue Jays manager does that, the man on the mound has a chance to plead his case, which is precisely what the 42-year-old righty did.

There was no expletive-laced venom Sunday afternoon like there was during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, but Scherzer convinced Schneider that he could escape the jam and then he did just that. He then walked off the Rogers Centre field to a standing ovation from a crowd of 41,321 having allowed just one run over six strong innings in what finished as a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The messy defeat – the Blue Jays gave up four runs, three unearned in the ninth right after tying the game – in their final outing before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline left the Blue Jays 52-60 as they headed out to Houston for three games versus the........

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