Mathews actually held up his end for most of the day — 2 runs, 6 hits, 3 strikeouts across 5-plus innings isn't a bad line for a first look at big league hitters. The problem was what happened after he left.
St. Louis had already dropped the series opener 3-1 on Friday, and this one followed the same script — a lineup that's scored 2 runs or fewer in four of its last five games simply couldn't back up a promising start. Masyn Winn's RBI double off Gausman in the 6th was the only blemish the Cardinals could put on the board all afternoon.
Toronto did the damage late, breaking a two-run game open with a 3-run 7th that featured RBI knocks from George Springer, Alejandro Kirk and Luis Urias off St. Louis' bullpen. That's the difference between a competitive debut and a laugher — the Cardinals' relief corps couldn't hold a line that Mathews had mostly kept intact.
The Cardinals leave Toronto having dropped both games of this set and now sit at 54-56, four games clear of a Blue Jays team they're still chasing in the loss column. Mathews will get another look soon enough — the stuff was real even in defeat — but St. Louis needs its lineup to show up before his next start means anything in the standings.