Nicolas Fernandez scored for the fourth straight game early in the first half, but New York City FC lost the lead late in stoppage time before halftime and settled for a 1-1 draw with visiting Toronto FC on Friday night.

NYCFC (7-6-5, 26 points) was unable to win three straight for the second time this season as the offense stalled after Fernandez converted a penalty kick in the ninth minute.

Following a foul by Toronto’s Richie Laryea on Agustin Ojeda in the penalty area, Fernandez scored his fourth goal on a penalty kick, powering a left-footed shot by Toronto goalie Luke Gavran. Fernandez scored his 13th goal and moved into a tie for the league lead with Peter Musa of FC Dallas.

Fernandez had one of New York’s better scoring chances in the 69th minute only to see his left-footed shot from outside the box hook to the left. Before Fernandez’s shot hooked left, Talles Magno and Andres Perea were denied by Gavran. Ojeda missed the net in the 54th minute.

NYCFC needed another goal because of a miscue with about 30 seconds left in first-half stoppage time, which allowed Djordie Mihailovic to net the tying goal.

After a giveaway by NYCFC’s Thiago Martins, James Sands blocked a shot by Toronto’s Josh Sargent but could not gain possession.

Goalie Matt Freese stopped a shot by Daniel Salloi, but NYCFC was unable to secure the rebound. Mihailovic swooped in alone and buried a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner for his second goal of the season.

Freese made four saves, including a stop on Salloi late in second-half stoppage time.

Gavran finished with four saves as Toronto (3-7-8, 17 points) saw its winless streak reach 12 games. Toronto is 0-5-7 since beating Colorado on April 4 and has scored one goal or fewer in nine of those games, including the past six.

–Field Level Media

Portland Timbers interim coach Jack Cassidy hopes to conclude his tenure the way he began it — with a Cascadia Cup victory against the Seattle Sounders.

Cassidy has gone 2-0-1 in three matches in charge of the Timbers (6-8-3, 21 points) since Phil Neville was relieved of his duties heading into the World Cup break. That includes a 5-1 victory at Seattle two weeks ago.

Saturday night’s match will be held at Portland’s Providence Park.

The Timbers have hired Marti Cifuentes as their permanent coach, and he should have his visa issues completed by the time the club plays again Thursday.

“The players have given me and the staff absolutely everything we’ve asked for,” Cassidy said. “I want to make a real point of that.”

Timbers forward Kevin Kelsy, who had a brace at Seattle and has a team-leading eight goals, missed last weekend’s 2-1 victory against Real Salt Lake with a foot/ankle injury but has been a full participant at practice. Cassidy said he’s hopeful to “have him involved in some capacity.”

Portland will be without forward Felipe Mora, who scored both goals against RSL in his last match with the Timbers before joining Atletico de San Luis of Liga MX. Mora also scored in second-half stoppage time in a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas in the previous outing.

The Timbers announced the signing of former English Premier League striker Vincent Janssen this week, but he’ll be unavailable Saturday pending his P-1 visa.

The Sounders (7-6-3, 24 points) have lost five straight games, tied for the longest losing streak in their MLS history, following a nine-game unbeaten run in league play. They’ve been outscored 12-2 during their funk.

“We haven’t hit the panic button yet,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said.

Paul Rothrock leads Seattle with five goals, but the team has scored just 19 overall, with only Atlanta and Kansas City having tallied fewer in the 30-team league.

Sounders All-Star center back Jackson Ragen will miss the match due to a yellow-card accumulation suspension.

Cassidy said he doesn’t expect another lopsided victory.

“I think we’ll get a better version of Seattle. Brian’s an experienced coach knows how to manage those spells very well, so I think we’ve got to be aware it’s gonna look like a different game. … They’re coming off the back end of a bad run of results and are going to want to turn it around.”

–Field Level Media

Pinch hitter Luis Urias snapped a tie with a two-run single in the eighth inning Friday night and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 3-1.

Brandon Valenzuela was 3-for-4 for the Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series.

Jeff Hoffman (6-7) threw a perfect eighth with two strikeouts to earn the win.

Louis Varland pitched around a single in the ninth to earn his 24th save in 24 opportunities this season.

Nathan Church had two hits and a stolen base for the Cardinals, who started a six-game road trip.

Toronto starter Dylan Cease got out of trouble following a leadoff double in the fourth, but Church’s leadoff single in the fifth led to a run. Church stole second and took third on a groundout. JJ Wetherholt walked with two outs and Jordan Walker looped an RBI single to center.

St. Louis starter Kyle Leahy gave up consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the fifth before getting Nathan Lukes to fly out and end the threat.

Cease went six innings and allowed one run, three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

Toronto tied the score in the sixth when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off with a double off the wall in left-center and scored on Kazuma Okamoto’s double to the left field corner.

Leahy gave up one run, six hits and one walk with three strikeouts in six innings.

Toronto’s Spencer Miles bounced back for three straight outs after allowing a leadoff single to Church in the seventh.

In the bottom half, Cardinals reliever Justin Bruihl allowed a one-out single to Valenzuela and an infield hit to Andres Gimenez on a chopper that first baseman Alec Burleson fumbled. Peter Strzelecki (0-1) replaced Bruihl and plunked pinch hitter Myles Straw with a pitch to load the bases before Guerrero grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Strzelecki walked George Springer and Daulton Varsho with one out in the home eighth. He was replaced by Gordon Graceffo, who walked Ernie Clement to load the bases. That’s when Urias came through and grounded his two-run single to left.

Toronto’s Jesus Sanchez returned from a sprained right ankle to get the start in left field Friday and Yohendrick Pinango was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. Sanchez was 0-for-2 before leaving for a pinch hitter.

–Field Level Media