The Cardinals proved over the course of the nearly four months that they were capable of regrouping and resetting in a meaningful way that kept their season from spiraling out of control and sinking to unsalvageable depths.
Now, they’ll get a few days to enjoy resting and reclining before they resume their pursuit of an NL Central Division championship and a return to the postseason following the franchise’s worst season in more than three decades .
The Cardinals certainly held designs on riding into the MLB All-Star break on a high with a series win against the longtime rivals the Chicago Cubs. Instead, Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas got roughed up to the tune of six runs and four home runs in an 8-3 loss in the finale of a four-game set in front of an announced crowd of 39,314 at Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Mikolas (7-8) allowed six runs on eight hits, including four home runs, in 5 1/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two. All six runs came after the Cardinals staked him to an early two-run advantage in the second inning.
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The Cubs hit a total of six home runs in the game, two by Christopher Morel. One of Morel’s homers came in the eighth off of reliever Andrew Kittredge, one of two home runs Kittredge allowed in the inning. It’s the first time since June 4, 1989, that a Cubs team hit six or more home runs against the Cardinals.
“Early, you saw some soft contact get through for a couple runs,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Then they had some hard contact that left the yard. A ton of strikes, and then even pitches that were out of the zone that guys took good swings on and hit them a long way.
“We couldn’t keep them in the park today, and they won.â€
The Cardinals (50-46) split the series thanks to sweeping a doubleheader Saturday. They’ll head into the break in second place in the division 4½ games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (55-42), and ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates (48-48), Cincinnati Reds (47-50) and the Cubs (47-51).
The Cardinals also currently hold a NL wild-card playoff spot, but they’re one of eight teams within four games of each other.
“OK, whatever happened, happened,†Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said of the approach going into the All-Star break. “Now, let’s go out and take a few days to get away from it then come back and be ready to go.
“You know it’s probably going to go down to the last few games. There are so many teams that are piled up. Hopefully, we can play well.â€
Through May 11, the Cardinals posted a 15-24 record, the third-worst mark in the NL and the worst record in the division. They went into Mother’s Day mired in a seven-game losing streak and in the middle of a trip that had them playing the division-leading Brewers.
Since then, the Cardinals have gone 35-22. They entered play on Sunday with the third-best record in the majors since May 12. The reached the 50-win plateau with Saturday’s doubleheader sweep after they’d dropped the series opener on Friday night.
“(Saturday) was really good for us,†outfielder/first baseman Alec Burleson said. “We wanted to get that win today to take into the All-Star break. Obviously, we started out a lot slower than we wanted to, but to be able to fight back and play really good baseball, consistent baseball is really good. We’ll definitely carry that into the break.â€
The Cardinals have operated within a very small margin to put themselves in smack-dab in the middle of the NL playoff picture. Sixty-six of their 96 games (69%) have been decided by three runs or fewer. They’ve already played 30 one-run games.
“It’s good to get to (the break) the way we did,†Marmol said. “It’s no secret that we started off in a bad spot. We dug ourselves a pretty good hole, and we were able to get out of it. We’ve played good baseball now for a couple months. The guys feel good about where they’re at. … I feel like it’s just now actually starting to click. I know we’ve played well for the last six to eight weeks, but it’s, offensively, starting to come together.â€
Offensively, they haven’t gotten typical production from stars Nolan Arenado and Goldschmidt. Arenado reaches the break with an OPS of .704, while Goldschmidt’s is .664. For their major-league careers, Goldschmidt’s OPS is .894 and Arenado’s is .861.
Burleson, who came into the season with 123 career games played (94 starts), has turned into one of the driving forces for the offense. He leads the team in batting average (.288), slugging percentage (.494), RBIs (53) and is tied for the lead in homers (17).
Burleson’s 17th home run of the season came in Sunday’s loss. He also doubled against Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon.
“Wanted to take a series win today, but I was fortunate enough to have a good plan against the guy and put some good swings on it,†Burleson said. “I think everybody up and down that lineup put some good swings on it. I think we ran into some bad luck today, but that’s part of the game.â€
Rookie shortstop Masyn Winn went into spring training as a question mark as far as his ability to hit consistently enough to warrant everyday playing time in the majors. At the break, Winn has been one of the top three offensive producers on the club with a slash line of .284/.332/.406.
Brendan Donovan, who leads the club in on-base percentage (.345), has also helped fill some of the void left by Arenado and Goldschmidt having slow starts.
Donovan called the team being where it is at the break a testament to the bullpen and the defense.
He offered an optimistic outlook for the club, that recently got starting catcher Willson Contreras back from a broken forearm. Since Contreras’ return on June 24, the Cardinals have ranked third in the majors in batting average and 10th in on-base percentage.
Asked what aspects of the team’s play give him confidence going forward, Donovan replied, “I think it’s just the style of play, something we hammer down in spring training — being able to take care of the baseball. I think if you do those things, you’ll be in every game.â€
“Offensively, with two outs knowing that you still have one key out left — what we did (in the first game on Friday) in the first inning with two outs, taking advantage of some mistakes and getting some big hits. Obviously, you’ve got ‘Burley’ who is on a heater right now. That’s big. ‘Nado’ is heating up. ‘Goldy’ took some really good swings this series. ‘Willy’ is a keystone in this lineup as well. I think all those pieces are starting to trend in the right direction.â€