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3 takeaways from the Cardinals' final series with the Brewers
Yesterday, the Cardinals wrapped up their final road trip of the 2023 season. They posted an uninspiring 2-4 record on the road trip, losing two out of three games to the Padres and Brewers, respectively.
Now, it's back home for the final series of the season, and the end of what has been a dreadful campaign for the Cardinals, one they should hope to learn from as they shift their focus to the 2024 season.
The Reds are still alive in the playoff hunt, as they sit 1.5 games behind the Marlins for the third NL Wild Card. So, the Cardinals will have a shot to play the role of spoiler one last time this weekend.
What made the final series against the Brewers so difficult was the fact that the Cardinals were without so many key players such as Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, and others.
Despite clinching the NL Central after the first game, the Brewers still took full advantage of the compromised Cardinals and took two out of three. The Cardinals didn't stand much of a chance to begin with, and they continued to struggle in this final road series.
But now is a good time to reflect on the final road series of the season, what went well, and what didn't as the Cardinals head home to finish the 2023 season.
With three games to go, the Cardinals are 69-90 on the year.
Here are three major takeaways from the final series between the Cardinals and the Brewers.
Mikolas, Thompson find their form
We'll start things out on a positive note here. One thing that was very encouraging to see was the resurgence of both Miles Mikolas and Zack Thompson. Mikolas especially had been struggling lately. He had made three consecutive starts in which he allowed five or more runs. Not this time.
He drew the start in the series opener against the Brew Crew. He ran into some trouble in the third inning, but he worked around it and went seven innings, striking out five and walking just two as he allowed only one run. He earned his eighth win of the year in the process.
The Cardinals didn't win on Wednesday night, but Zack Thompson looked more like the guy who went seven innings against the Pirates earlier this month.
In his past three starts, he hadn't made it past five innings, and he had also allowed four runs in two of those starts. This time, he pitched past the fifth inning and only allowed two Brewers runs to score. In 5.1 innings, he struck out five batters and walked just one while scattering five hits.
Sadly, the bullpen let the game slip away, and Thompson wasn't rewarded for his solid effort, but it is still encouraging that he and Mikolas appear to have found their form, and it was a good way for the left-hander to close out the season.
Cardinals reach new low
Unfortunately, the Cardinals hit a new low during this series, which is something they've done a lot of this season. They secured a last-place finish for the first time since 1990 with Wednesday's 3-2 loss, but that wasn't even the end of it.
Thursday's shutout loss also ensured that for the first time since 1990, they will finish with 90 or more losses. Even the 2007 season wasn't this bad. But the Cardinals now have 90 losses and could secure their worst season since 1978.
That year, St. Louis went 69-93. A Reds sweep would make the Cardinals tie that mark, and it would also be the polar opposite of last season, a year in which they finished 93-69.
Waino's pitching days are over
Prior to the first game of the series between the Cards and Brewers, Oli Marmol announced that Adam Wainwright had officially thrown his final pitch in a Cardinals uniform. That came early last week when he dominated the Brewers over seven innings to earn his 200th career win.
While his career isn't officially over just yet, his pitching days are through. Fortunately, he'll have a nice weekend as the Cardinals bid farewell to the two-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star.
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Marmol stated that Wainwright wanted to pitch one more time, but that his body simply wouldn't allow it. However, he may still get an at-bat on the last day of the regular season. But it became official before the start of the Brewers series that Wainwright is now done pitching.