If you assume the National League Central race is over (which Las Vegas does, after numerous sportsbooks removed the race from their betting cards last week due to the Chicago Cubs’ double-digit …
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If you assume the National League Central race is over (which Las Vegas does, after numerous sportsbooks removed the race from their betting cards last week due to the Chicago Cubs’ double-digit lead), the St. Louis Cardinals are no longer chasing Chicago in the standings.
Technically they are, sure.
But in reality, games against teams in the Wild Card hunt should have just as much importance for Cardinals fans as a big series against the Cubs.
It’s time to start treating the Marlins, Dodgers and Mets like the real competition here, which is convenient because the Cardinals play 13 of their remaining 23 games in July against that trio.
Going into Tuesday’s game, St. Louis trailed the Mets by two games for the second Wild Card spot.
The Dodgers held the No. 1 spot — and home field advantage in the Wild Card game — by 1.5 games.
The Cardinals let Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates slip away, mustering one run through eight innings to waste another solid outing from Carlos Martinez.
The loss let Pittsburgh creep within 1.5 games of the Cardinals in the Wild Card standings, and it was the kind of game that makes hoping for a Central Division comeback look silly.
The Cardinals needed near-perfect performances from across their roster to compete with the 2016 Cubs, which are one of the best teams in years through four months.
But the Cardinals have struggled with consistency all season.
And that brings us to July.
Despite a relatively speaking disappointing first half, the Cardinals have every opportunity to gain control of the Wild Card race in July and beyond.
Even if the club can’t pick up games on Miami, Los Angeles and New York in head-to-head matchups this month, it can feed on bottom-feeders like the Reds, Braves, A’s and Brewers in August.
The aforementioned teams have an average winning percentage of .391, and the Cardinals play 18 games against the group in August.
The Reds and Brewers have the two worst records in the National League.
If the Cardinals haven’t built a sizeable lead in the Wild Card standings (or somehow got within a few games of Chicago) by Labor Day, the 2016 season can be laid to rest.
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