The St. Louis Cardinals' chances of earning a National League Wild Card spot remain slim. St. Louis sits 3.5 games out of an NL Wild Card spot with only four games remaining this season. However, their 9-8 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday kept their playoff hopes alive. Star third baseman Nolan Arenado reacted to the crucial win following the contest.
“That was awesome, a great team win,” Arenado said, via Katie Woo of The Athletic. “It was a really crazy game. To come back with so much fight and have contributions from everybody was really great.”
The Giants initially held a lead but the Cardinals scored six runs to complete the come-from-behind victory. As a result, the Giants were eliminated from postseason contention while the Cardinals still technically have an opportunity to play meaningful baseball in October.
At 78-80, the Cardinals are in fourth place and 17 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central division. St. Louis clearly won't be winning the division this year. However, the ball club is only 3.5 games back of an NL Wild Card position.
The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres hold comfortable leads for the top two NL Wild Card spots. The New York Mets currently have the third and final position, but their lead is far from safe. Both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds are only a game back. Meanwhile, as mentioned, the Cardinals sit 3.5 games behind the Mets.
One could argue that the Cardinals should enter a rebuild this offseason. The team has been quite inconsistent. A number of Cardinals players are already emerging as trade candidates.
At the moment, however, St. Louis is hoping to sneak into the postseason. The Cardinals will complete their series with the Giants in San Francisco on Wednesday night. Following an off-day on Thursday, St. Louis will finish the 2025 season with a three-game series against the Cubs in Chicago over the weekend.
