Three takeaways from Cardinals series loss to Padres

The Cardinals head to Milwaukee and will wrap up their final road trip of the 2023 season. They just finished a three-game series with the San Diego Padres over the weekend, dropping two out of three games and falling to 68-88 on the season.

Just two more losses will ensure the Cardinals' first 90-loss season since 1990. Even if the Cardinals win their final six games and the Pirates do the opposite, forcing a fourth-place tie, the Cardinals would be designated last place by virtue of losing the season series. 1990 was also the last time the Cardinals finished at the bottom of their division, and that was before the NL Central was ever even formed.

Alas, here we are. The Cardinals are struggling mightily and have done as much all season long. They were pretty much out of contention from the start after going 10-24 in their first 34 games. There were glimmers of hope, such as an 11-3 stretch in May, but things have continued to go south.

In San Diego, it was just more of the same for the woeful Cardinals, who fell 4-2 in the series opener thanks to a clutch home run by Manny Machado in the eighth inning off of Matthew Liberatore. The Cardinals grinded out a 5-2 win on Saturday night but were blown out on Sunday, losing 12-2.

In this piece, we will discuss some major takeaways from this recent series the Cardinals lost to the Padres.

Here are three things to take away from this weekend's tough series loss.