ST. LOUIS — One of the most unique seasons in St. Louis Cardinals history is going to be extended a bit longer.
The Cardinals clinched a spot in the 2020 MLB postseason on Sunday with a 5 to 2 win against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. This is the second year in a row the team has qualified for the postseason, making it to the NLCS last year against the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals.
The Cardinals will be the number 5 seed in the National League, and head to San Diego to play the Padres in a best of three series.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt has now made the playoffs in both of his full seasons as St. Louis manager.
St. Louis became the seventh team out of eight teams in the National League to clinch a playoff spot, with the Dodgers, Braves, Cubs, Padres, Reds and Marlins all punching their tickets to October in the past week.
Due to their COVID-19 outbreak that caused the team to sit idle for more than two weeks and cram 10 doubleheaders into the remainder of their schedule, the Cardinals are slated to play 58 games instead of the 60 the league had been counting on. They could still play a doubleheader on Monday if MLB dictates they need to to sort out seeding.
The NLDS, NLCS and World Series, should the Cardinals reach any of those rounds, will all be held in Arlington, Texas. Major League Baseball has taken a "bubble" approach to the postseason during the pandemic, to help avoid any possible outbreaks during the playoffs.
