ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals will officially miss postseason for a second straight season. The Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention after Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
Friday’s loss ends the Cardinals’ chances of seeking a postseason bid through the National League Wild Card, less than a week after they were mathematically eliminated from winning the NL Central Division crown.
The Cardinals fall short of the postseason for the second consecutive season after making the big dance in the previous four years. Before that, the Cardinals went three previous seasons without postseason baseball from 2016-2018.
At this season’s end, the Cardinals will have won just one postseason series (2019 National League Division) over the last decade’s worth of seasons and just one postseason game over the last half-decade.
What now?
The NL Wild Card looks to be a four-team race for three spots. The San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves all have at least 83 wins to this point of the season. Arizona, New York and Atlanta all within two games of each other with nearly one week remaining in regular season play.
After completing a three-game series with the Guardians to close their home schedule, the Cardinals will close out their regular season with three-game road series against the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants through Sept. 29.
The Cardinals will attempt to salvage a .500 record in a playoff-less season, falling back to exactly that mark with Friday’s defeat.
