The St. Louis Cardinals are going to the postseason

The St. Louis Cardinals are going to the postseason, bumping their winning streak to 17 games.

It took a 17-game winning streak, the longest in the National League since 1951, for the St. Louis Cardinals to even have a chance to advance to the postseason.

On Sept. 7, before the winning streak started, their chances to make the playoffs were 2.8 percent. Yet on Tuesday, in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals clinched a postseason berth with a 6-2 victory.

“FanGraphs had us at like a negative 400 percent chance to make the playoffs,” Adam Wainwright said, “and we just proved everyone wrong. We’re going to try and keep doing that.”

Who are we to doubt them? I mean, after the Cardinals went 14-22 from the beginning of June to the All-Star break, fans and media began to write them off. Harrison Bader was on the injured list. Jack Flaherty was lost for two-plus months. Miles Mikolas was still recovering from elbow/shoulder injuries. The lead they had built in the NL Central had evaporated, with the Brewers soon taking full control and never letting go.

It was fitting that Wainwright was on the mound, against the Brewers, with a chance to clinch a playoff spot. He stabilized the rotation, giving them an ace in his age-40 season, and there is no way the Cardinals are in this position today without him. Now, his next task is getting ready for the winner-take-all wild card game, where he will most likely pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wainwright, who will garner NL Cy Young attention, will be ready. He gives the Cardinals a chance, even as they will be viewed as heavy underdogs. But if their unlikely postseason berth has taught us anything, it’s to not rule them out under any circumstance. No matter the odds.

“I am an optimist by nature,” Shildt said.

They certainly have the pitcher, and the lineup, to pull it off. Paul Goldschmidt is the hottest hitter in baseball. Nolan Arenado is, well, Nolan Arenado. Tyler O’Neill is a home run hitting machine. Harrison Bader is the reigning NL player of the week. Dylan Carlson is another talented outfielder who has 16 home runs this season. Oh, and that’s not to mention all of them, perhaps with the exception of Carlson, are in the running for Gold Glove awards.

It gives them a realistic shot at dethroning the Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions, and sets them up for a potentially deep postseason run should they advance. One step at a time, of course, but it’s hard not to believe in these Cardinals. How could you not?