Following the Cardinals 9-2 win over the San Francisco Giants, the club maintained their position in the NL Central/wild card after big wins from the Brewers and Cubs. With six games remaining, the Cardinals face both teams in the final week of the season with their remarkable second half run hanging in the balance. Having won six of their last seven games, the Cardinals trail Milwaukee by two games for the right to host the potential one-game wild card playoff game and four-and-a-half games behind first place Chicago.
St. Louis will hold no worse than a one-and-a-half game lead over Colorado for the final wild card spot. The Rockies will have seven games remaining on their schedule starting on Monday at home against Philadelphia for four and then hosting Washington on the final weekend.
To put the playoff race in perspective for the Cardinals, if they finish the season 3-3 against the Brewers and Cubs, Colorado would need to finish on a 5-2 run to pass the Cardinals for the second wild card spot. The Central Division is still open for the Cardinals mathematically, but their elimination number is three of any combination of Cubs wins and Cards losses.
Jack Flaherty will face Chase Anderson in the first game of the series Monday night at 7:15. Flaherty threw six shutout innings against Milwaukee in a 5-2 win back on August 17. Austin Gomber will battle former Nats’ pitcher Gio Gonzalez who is 2-0 in three starts since coming over to the Brewers. John Gant is scheduled to start Wednesday’s finale which would be a rematch with Jhoulys Chacin which ended in a 2-1 loss for the Cardinals on August 19. Gant gave up both runs while pitching 4.1 innings.
