Cardinals on the Verge of Ugly History Not Seen Since 1959

The Cardinals will be hoping to avoid this at all costs.

Sep 22, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante (53) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Tuesday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals fell to 76-81, ensuring that they cannot finish above the .500 mark in 2026. They have five games remaining on their schedule, and they have to win each of them to finish at .500, and the task is pretty tall.

They'll face Paul Skenes on Thursday and then match up with the Milwaukee Brewers, who are still fighting for the top seed in the National League. One more loss will ensure some unfortunate history. Last season, they finished 78-84. If they lose tonight, they'll secure a losing season and will have recorded back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1958 and 1959.

Cardinals closing in on unfortunate history

Sep 16, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) steals second base against the San Francisco Giants in the fourth innning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cardinals were officially eliminated from postseason contention last week. They will sit out October for the fourth consecutive year. However, there was still hope to avoid another losing season.

While winning the rest of their games will ensure that they avoid that, the task is still tall. Given that this team has a lot of holes and has already been eliminated from the playoff hunt, accomplishing that seems unlikely.

The offense was held to just one hit and shut out on Tuesday night. To make matters worse, Matthew Liberatore makes the start for St. Louis on Wednesday. The left-hander was solid in his last start against the San Francisco Giants, but he is still 5-14 with a 5.36 ERA in his 30 starts this year, and he hasn't done too well on the road. Skenes pitches for Pittsburgh on Thursday, and though the Cardinals have historically had a lot of success against the former Cy Young winner, the task will not be easy, especially with Skenes pitching on his home mound.

Kyle Leahy takes the mound on Thursday for the series finale, with Cooper Hjerpe likely to eat most of the innings after he departs. Michael McGreevy starts the series opener in Milwaukee with Quinn Mathews pitching the following day. Sunday's starter has not been announced yet, but starting Pallante on that day would be a good idea if their hopes of finishing .500 are still alive.

The Cardinals are an organization full of winning traditions and have put together some of the best teams in Major League Baseball history, but that is not the case in 2026. Still, even if they do finish under .500, 2026 has been a success in a lot of ways thanks to the development of their young players.