ST. LOUIS — For the Cardinals, it’s now officially time to start playing for 2025.
Their loss to the Guardians on Friday night at Busch Stadium, combined with Arizona’s win at Milwaukee, eliminated the Cardinals from the playoff race with eight games left in the season.
The loss also dropped the Cardinals back to the .500 mark at 77-77, with their goal now to try to finish the year at .500 or above.
The Guardians, who have already clinched a spot in the AL playoffs, hit three solo homers as they scored in four consecutive innings in the opener of the three-game series.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals scored their only run in the fourth inning when Alec Burleson led off the inning with a double and scored on a two-out bloop double into short left field by Lars Nootbaar … Nootbaar and Thomas Saggese each had two of the team’s seven hits … The Cardinals were 1-of-8 with runners in scoring position.
On the mound: Two of the Guardians’ three homers came off Kyle Gibson, only the second time he has allowed two home runs in a game at Busch this season. He had allowed only two home runs total in his last 33 innings coming into the game … Gibson allowed four runs over six innings as his record fell to 1-5 in 11 starts since the All-Star break … The Guardians other homer came from former Cardinal Lane Thomas off Steven Matz in the eighth inning.
Key stat: Gibson finished his first season as a Cardinal with a 2-5 record in 14 starts at Busch Stadium. His last win came on May 17.
Worth noting: The Double A Springfield Cardinals saw their season end on Friday night with a 6-5 loss to Arkansas that eliminated them from the Texas League playoffs.
Looking ahead: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Saturday night in the second game of the series.
