Time has run out for the St. Louis Cardinals to count moral victories

The time for moral victories has run out for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Don't get me wrong, it is important for the team to see what went right and build upon that going into their next outing, but there is no silver lining in losses anymore. The Cardinals have to find a way to pull out more games than they lose the rest of the season, so each loss is detrimental to their playoff chances.

Last night, the Cardinals got off to a hot start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, jumping out to a 4-2 lead after home runs from Paul Goldschmidt, Masyn Winn, and Pedro Pages. The Cardinals displayed power in their bats and were hitting a left-handed pitcher, two things they have struggled with big time this year.

But just as soon as the club was able to get that two-run cushion, the Dodgers came storming back, knocking Miles Mikolas out of the game and taking Andrew Kittredge deep for a three-run homer to give the Dodgers a 7-4 lead in just a half inning of work. To the Cardinals' credit, the bullpen held it down from then on, and the offense was able to make it a 7-6 ballgame before it was all said and done.

There were some encouraging signs for sure in this dissapointing loss, but frankly, it does not matter anymore.

The Cardinals are in the midst of a five-game losing streak and now find themselves 10 games back of the National League Central Division lead and four games out in the Wild Card standings. Barring a complete meltdown from the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, or Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cardinals must cross their fingers that the Braves continue to fade...and that they themselves can play good baseball.

The Braves have struggled big time in the second half, but so have the Cardinals. St. Louis is now 12-18 over their last 30 games and sit two games below .500 for the first time since June 12th.

The schedule is not forgiving after this series. The Cardinals will move on to face the Brewers, Twins, Padres, Yankees, Brewers, and Mariners in consecutive series following this. And after that gauntlet of contenders, the Cardinals then get to face the Reds, who just swept them this week.

On our weekly podcast called "Philosophical Differences", KMOV's Brenden Schaeffer made the case that this is the best possible thing to happen to the Cardinals. After this stretch of baseball, we'll know exactly who this team is. If they get beat up by these teams that are fighting for the playoffs, we'll know St. Louis is in for another lost season. If the Cardinals can dig deep and fight back in the standings against these teams, we'll know they have something left in the tank.

Who are these St. Louis Cardinals? Well, they sure look like a team that doesn't have what it takes to compete for a playoff spot anymore, and it will take a significant turnaround for that to change. They can count all the moral victories they want, but it won't matter in the eyes of fans. Wins and losses will define this team for the remainder of the season, and it's not looking good as things currently stand.