Cardinals' Goldschmidt hits walk-off grand slam in 10th to beat Blue Jays

May 24 (UPI) -- All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt punctuated a late-game rally with a walk-off grand slam in extra innings Monday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the Toronto Blue Jays in dramatic fashion.

The game-ending blast was Goldschmidt's lone hit in the 7-3 victory in St. Louis. Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas allowed just four hits and three runs.

The Cardinals bullpen did not allow a hit or a run over the final 2 1/3 innings.

"I just wanted to put something in play and give myself a chance," Goldschmidt told Bally Sports Midwest in an on-field interview.

The Cardinals trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh when Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios retired third baseman Nolan Arenado with a ground out in the first at-bat of the half inning.

Cardinals designated hitter Juan Yepez hit a 376-foot solo homer to left in the next at-bat and outfielders Brendan Donovan and Corey Dickerson followed with singles. Center fielder Harrison Bader plated Donovan with an RBI single in the next at-bat, which tied the score at 3-3.

Neither team scored for the next two innings to send the game to extras.

Blue Jays outfielder George Springer started the 10th on second base, but Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera escaped the inning unscathed.

The Cards started the bottom of the inning with pinch Lars Nootbaar on second and he advanced to third on a wild pitch from Blue Jays relief pitcher David Phelps.

Phelps then struck out Bader and Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols to start the half-inning. He walked Cardinals shortstop Tommy Edman in the next exchange and was replaced by fellow reliever Ryan Borucki, who walked pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa and brought Goldschmidt to the plate with the bases loaded.

The veteran infielder took a ball on the first pitch of the exchange. Borucki then found the strike zone with two sinkers to jump ahead in the count.

The left-handed pitcher tossed in a low-and-inside slider for the final offering of the night. Goldschmidt swooped his bat through the zone, made contact and launched the ball to left field for a 366-foot grand slam. The blast traveled 106 mph off his bat and left the field in 4.2 seconds, according to Statcast.

Goldschmidt, who went 1 for 5 with three strikeouts, is now hitting .338 with seven homers and 33 RBIs this season. He also leads the league with 16 doubles and ranks inside the Top 5 for batting average, RBIs, hits, on-base percentage and on-base percentage plus slugging percentage. He ranks sixth in total bases.

Goldschmidt recorded 22 RBIs over his last 12 games.

Arenado registered a team-high three hits Monday in St. Louis. Donovan went 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI for the Cardinals. Berrios allowed seven hits and three runs over 6 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays.

The Cardinals (24-18) next host the Blue Jays (22-20) in the final game of the two-game series at 7:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday at Busch Stadium.