St. Louis Cardinals: Playing leapfrog into the postseason

The St. Louis Cardinals are the best team in terms of wins in MLB in September and look to ride this trend into October baseball.

The St. Louis Cardinals continue to win and by winning are finding their way into postseason baseball. On last week’s Tuesday podcast, I posited that the only way the Cardinals have a remote chance of playing in the postseason was if they won. In other words, their destiny was in their hands and relying on others to lose to let them in just wasn’t going to cut it.

After a sweep of Cincinnati, some rough outings by the Colorado Rockies (thanks for that, guys), the initial win in Pittsburgh (a come-backer nonetheless), and the Brewers falling to the Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals have just leapfrogged the Brewers in the Wild Card race.

The St. Louis Cardinals do not yet have a Wild Card spot locked, but with the win yesterday, they now sit only 1.5 games back of the second spot. For those of you who have been hiding under a rock thanks to the poor Cardinals performances, the team they trail by only 1.5 games is the one and only Colorado Rockies.

But don’t blink because the Brewers are nipping at the Cardinals’ heels at only two games back in the same Wild Card hunt. All is not lost though as the Cardinals continue their three-game set against the Pirates today and tomorrow. A sweep of the Pirates- something the Cardinals accomplished recently at Busch- would dramatically help the Cardinals inch closer to the postseason.

Let’s look at the remaining contests. The Brewers play the Cubs today and tomorrow and while I refuse to cheer for the Cubs, I will root for a Brewers loss.Should the Cubs sweep the Brew Crew, the Cardinals (if they continue to win) will see the difference between them and the Brewers in the Wild Card hunt increase.

After the Cubs, the Brewers host the Reds for three games before ending the regular season in St. Louis. The St. Louis series could prove to be immensely important since the Cardinals host the Cubs for a four-game set beginning on Monday that is immediately followed by the Brewers series at home.

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Depending on the performance of the Cardinals and the Brewers, the remainder of the season may end up as a constant back and forth leapfrog game.

St. Louis Cardinals fans shouldn’t look for any help from the Rockies as they are playing San Diego. After the Padres series, the Rockies host the Marlins (who could be looking to play spoilers which could be to the benefit of the Cardinals) and then the Dodgers who should put up little competition as they will surely be resting their starters.

After all of these games, the regular season will come to an end. St. Louis Cardinals fans have come to experience seasons that come down to the wire in terms of deciding the Cardinals fate. This season doesn’t look to be any different.

Pushing to the final day or days of the season to determine the fate of the Cardinals, in my opinion, is something that would be a great thing for this year’s team. I’m not sold yet that they will make it into the postseason but I must admit that I am enjoying the surprising run.

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Stay tuned for updates on whether the Cards make it or fall flat on their faces. While I want Mike Matheny on a one-way flight to another team, I will never be disappointed with the Cardinals playing in October. They now must survive a game of leapfrog in order to believe in October.