Babe out of the woods

How Schneider got his groove back after ice-cold months at plate

- MIKE WILNER

It was a long, tough slog through the baseball wilderness, but it finally appears as though the Babe is back.

Davis Schneider homered in the fifth inning on Sunday — a two-run drive belted 413 feet to left field — to give the Blue Jays the lead in an eventual 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at the Rogers Centre, finishing a three-game sweep.

After Lars Nootbaar of the Cardinals tied it with a seventh-inning solo shot off Ryan Yarbrough, Nathan Lukes cashed the winning run for the Jays with an eighth-inning double that scored George Springer, aboard with a pinch single. Chad Green threw a shutout ninth inning for his 17th save, but first in September.

It was Schneider’s second home run in as many games — and second since June 22. The bespectacled second-year player had gone almost half a season between homers.

“I’m glad the jacket still fits,” manager John Schneider said with a smile after his namesake went deep on Saturday. But the skipper later noted the reality of Davis Schneider’s tough year: “It could have been a different outcome for him if we were in a different spot this season."