The Cardinals took their frisky and increasingly bold attitude to the mean streets of Philadelphia, squared up with one of the best teams in baseball, and banked a 3-2 win at Citizens Bank Park to extend their winning streak to nine games.
The game offered an intense and exciting viewing experience. It felt more important than it actually was. The pitching battle between lefties Matthew Liberatore and Cristopher Sanchez was the main event – and it was fantastic.
OK, it wasn’t Chris Carpenter vs. Roy Halladay in the same spot for the winner-take-all Game 5 of the Cards-Phils in the 2011 NLDS showdown. I was there, writing a column about it, and Carpenter fiercely outlasted Halladay in a classic duel that became a precious and eternal memory in my sportswriter’s brain.
But dang, the Cardinals’ one-run triumph over the Phillies revved up similar feelings. It was a helluva game, and a suspenseful game, that went down to the last at-bat.
The Cardinals have an underdog look and feel, and that becomes more imprinted as we move closer to the two-month mark of the season.
When you watch Kyle Leahy dismiss Bryce Harper on a called third strike to end the seventh inning of a one-run contest – then you know the underdog vibe is real.
Leahy was drafted in the 17th round in 2018, the 513th overall selection. He was dropped from STL’s 40-man roster in 2021 and still holds a career 6.21 ERA in the minors.
Harper was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 MLB draft, entered the show in 2012 at age 19, and in his 14th consecutive big-league season.
Leahy makes a salary of $767,000 this season. The Phillies are paying Harper slightly more than that – $26 million – in ‘25.
Leahy was also unfazed – isn’t he always – when he retired a combined $39 million worth of offensive talent (Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber) for the first two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
More than any St. Louis player, this relatively unknown, deep longshot and non-celebrity reliever Leahy represents the team’s ethos. I thought we could see him smiling – just a little – as he walked off after striking out Harper. When Irish eyes are smiling? Hey, it works for me.
I thought we knew who the Cardinals were, or what they would be, in 2025.
We may have to reassess.
And if you were wrong about underestimating the possibility of seeing a good baseball team representing St. Louis this season – that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing to feel awkward about. You can stand in line with me, because I felt the same way. Skeptics are holding off, and that’s swell. I just like watching this team compete, and that’s all I need right now.
I don’t know how this will play out over 162 games. The Cardinals went on a 33-18 run during the 2024 season and couldn’t follow through and make it last. The ‘24 Redbirds failed to make the playoffs, and that’s a textbook lesson in maintaining a calm perspective over six months of baseball.
But there’s something different about this ‘25 team. And yeah, I did a video about this earlier today, so please accept my apology for stealing my own work. And I don’t believe everyone who watches my videos read my columns – or vice versa.
The 2025 Cardinals have a strong and appealing underdog vibe, and it's pretty powerful. The 2024 Cardinals didn’t have that. They had a solid rotation, a tremendous bullpen, and a malfunctioning offense. It wasn’t enough, and the Cardinals maxed out at 83 wins.
The St. Louis players on the 2025 roster thrive on being overlooked, underrated, put down, denigrated, doubted, and dismissed. They like being laughed at, scoffed at, and viewed as a horse that won’t win a race no matter how many times they enter the starting gate.
(Sidebar: I’m thinking of Haru Urara, an energetic and determined Japanese horse that lost 113 races without ever winning – and became a national sensation for having the perseverance to keep coming back to try again. Haru Urara was the subject of an ESPN documentary, and I highly recommend watching it. You will like it.)
And hey, despite what some of your grumpy fellow fans say, the Cardinals are actually winning – nine in a row, as a matter of fact – and might develop into something that’s an unexpected delight.
There have been times, this season, when counting the Redbirds out seemed like the logical thing to do. When your team keeps getting knocked to five games under .500 – and it’s happened three different times this season – then it’s natural to downgrade postseason aspirations.
Ah, but Cardinal players don’t have to go along with that. Heck, they refuse to go along with it. They resist. They rebel. They get pushed down, jump right up, and play on.
Oh, so Busch Stadium is half empty, and the team doesn’t have the full support of the fan base? No problem – here’s their 15-6 record at home. Does that look OK?
Of course the players want to play before 40,000 fans. For now, those days are gone. In 2022, the Cardinals ranked second in the majors in average tickets sold per home game at 40,994. So far in 2025, that average is down by 12,357 – to an average of 28,637 tickets sold per game at Busch.
In terms of fan support, the Cardinals no longer have their customary home-field advantage. From the time that the “new” Busch Stadium opened in 2006, through 2022, the Cardinals had the third-best home winning percentage in the majors at .589. Only the Yankees and Dodgers were more successful at home than St. Louis over that time – but unlike the Cardinals, the two those franchises are financial powerhouses.
The players are on a different mission, one that doesn’t require 35,000 spectators at Busch Stadium for a normal home game. These guys are playing to prove something, playing to build a career, playing to establish themselves as big-league stars or fixtures. And if home games at Busch Stadium seem more like home games in Pittsburgh, well, so be it. The empty seats don’t bring this team down. And I love that about them.
Here’s another “prove it” thing. Oh, so the Cardinals are told they can’t beat good teams? Well, as it so happens they’re tied for the ninth-best record in MLB for their record against winning teams. So far the Cardinals have a better record in games against winning teams than the Phillies, Red Sox, Braves, Blue Jays and Twins.
This nonsense about the Cardinals being softies against the stronger teams may come as a surprise to the Phillies. They’re 1-3 against the Cardinals this season.
In a related note, here is each team’s current 40-man payroll for 2025:
Cardinals $140 million.
Phillies $284.5 million.
So if you love the Cardinals, you aren’t hurting their feelings if you think they’re just average, or slightly below average or just OK … which could turn out to be the case over 162 games.
But these cheeky Cardinals are determined to prove us wrong, and this stuff can work in sports. And if you don’t think that the underdog spirit matters, then talk to me about Kurt Warner 1999, David Freese in 2011 and Jordan Binnington in 2019.
It may seem silly, but it isn’t. The 2025 Cardinals already were a motivated and energetic team, but they’re propelled to charge through this Prove It Season. Which I think is more fun than calling this a Runway Season.
Here’s Masyn Winn, speaking to reporters after Monday’s win at Philadelphia: “I just feel like we’re just playing free. Obviously, we’ve been winning a lot of games, but we show up every day pretending like we’re still negative. We’re fighting every day to try and get a win.”
And here’s team elder Nolan Arenado, speaking to the media after Sunday’s 6-1 win at Washington: “We’re excited to come to the ballpark. First time in a couple years where it feels like we’re coming to the ballpark ready to win a ballgame instead of coming to the ballpark hoping for something good to happen. It’s a different vibe, for sure.”
In Monday’s 3-2 win, the Cardinals scored in a couple of different ways. Arenado walked, tagged up on a deep fly ball, got to second (after a replay review), advanced to third base on a wild pitch, and gave the Cards a 1-0 lead on a ground-out by Pedro Pages. The next two runs were powered by solo home runs from Ivan Herrera in the 6th and Winn’s winning shot in the 7th.
To date my fossil self and quote from a 1967 Buffalo Springfield hit song: “There's something happening here. But what it is ain't exactly clear.”
That was from an anti-war song, “For What It’s Worth.” The Cardinals aren’t at war; they’re playing baseball. A game. Philly’s yard is a tough place and all … but it ain’t the Mekong Delta.
That said, for what it’s worth:
– Your Cardinals are 23-19 and remain a game behind the highly touted, first-place Cubs in the NL Central.
– Your Cardinals have a nine-game winning streak that’s the longest in the majors this season. And it’s the lengthiest by a Cardinals team since the 2021 Cards won 17 in a row in September.
– Your Cardinals are tied for MLB’s best record (13-4) since April 25 and have the best record in the bigs (11-2) since April 30.
If the Redbirds can at least split Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Phillies, it would give them four consecutive series wins, and a 5–0-1 series ledger since April 25.
PLAYOFF ODDS: They’ve changed. When the Cards dropped to 14-19 on May 3, FanGraphs listed them with a 6.3 percent chance to win the NL Central, gave them a 3.7% shot at grabbing a wild-card ticket, and an overall postseason probability of 10%. And now? A 23.1 percent shot at winning the division, an 8.6% crack at seizing a wild card, and a 31.7% probability of making the playoffs.
OBLIGATORY BULLPEN UPDATE: I completely understand the heavy focus on the nine-game winning streak. But because I am a stubborn old coot, my point of emphasis is April 25 – the day the Cardinals rolled out their remodeled bullpen that no longer included Ryan Fernandez. On April 24 the Cards had a 10-15 record for a winning percentage that ranked 25th among the 30 teams.
Since that day (as I mentioned earlier), the Cardinals are 13-4 for a .765 winning percentage that’s No. 1 in the National League – and is tied with the Royals for the best record in the majors over that time.
What’s my point? Well, without the bullpen renovation, the nine-game winning streak doesn’t happen. No chance whatsoever.
The Cardinals lost six of seven games to the Mets and Braves from April 17 through April 23. The bullpen was nuked for an 8.37 ERA in 17 and ⅓ innings. The Mets and Braves hammered the STL relievers for five home runs, six doubles, a .292 average and .583 slugging percentage.
The bullpen was strafed for two walk-off losses and two one-run defeats. Several games were up for grabs, but before it was closing time for Ryan Helsley, the Cardinals couldn’t hold on during a 4-4 tie with the Mets, a 3-3 tie with the Mets, a 4-4 tie with the Braves, and a 3-2 lead over the Braves.
All of four of those games ended in losses – and each slipped away during the final three innings.
During that disgusting 1-6 breakdown, the St. Louis bullpen had a 9.42 ERA from the start of the 7th inning through the end of the game. Their setup relievers were assaulted for six doubles, four home runs and a .613 slugging percentage – walked 14 percent of the hitters faced. I mean, seriously. This was a baseball massacre.
So, what do you think would have happened if the Cardinals stayed the course? The late-innings meltdown would have continued. But manager Oli Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake decided to get Fernandez away from the pack of attacking hitters and put him into the shop at Triple A Memphis for a retooling. (It isn’t going well; Fernandez has a 10.13 ERA in 5 and ⅓ innings at Memphis.)
In the shakeup, the Cardinals turned to the rookie reliever Gordon Graceffo, who saved a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. They called on another rookie, rookie Michael Greevy, for an emergency 5 and ⅓ innings of shutdown relief to defeat the Mets in the second game of the doubleheader sweep.
Veteran lefty Steven Matz started one game and relieved in three others – playing an important role in four wins by not yielding a single run in 7 and ⅓ innings.
Leahy has appeared in six games since April 25 and has pitched six scoreless innings. Leahy faced 14 hitters in high-leverage situations during the six appearances and allowed a .167 batting average.
Lefty reliever JoJo Romero hasn’t been touched for a run in his last five relief outings after pitching coach Dusty Blake fixed a delivery flaw.
And Helsley is benefitting from a more regular workload – simply because the Cardinals have held onto late leads and handed them to their All-Star closer.
So, what did all of this add up to?
Read on …
SINCE THE 25TH DAY OF APRIL: The updated St. Louis bullpen has a 2.24 ERA (ranked 4th in MLB), saved six games in seven opportunities (86%) leads the majors with 17 holds, allowed only three homers while facing 231 batters, and is the top-ranked bullpen in MLB over that time based on the Win Probability Added metric. I’m not finished. Since April 25, Cardinals relievers have allowed a .210 batting average, .287 onbase percentage and .273 slug while holding opponents to a .175 average with runners in scoring position.
So remember the day – April 25th – as the day the season began to change. Yeah, and it happened before the nine-game winning streak. The winning streak is just an extension of what the St. Louis bullpen started. And of course, the relievers have been ridiculously great during the 9-0 run, pitching to an 0.68 ERA and rolling to their current streak of 24 and ⅓ innings without getting dinged for a run.
A NOTE THAT PLEASES ME: Since being activated from the IL before the start of the Washington series, Ivan Herrera has a home run, double and three runs batted in only 13 plate appearances as the DH.
Before that, St. Louis designated hitters had just one home run, four doubles and four RBIs in 151 plate appearances.
So yeah, Herrera is already making a difference.
One home run in 10 at-bats at DH.
The team’s other DH participant had one home run in 132 at-bats.
And Herrera has nearly as many RBIs (3) in 10 at-bats as the DH as the rest of the DH crew had (four RBIs) with 122 more at-bats than Herrera.
On top of the home run, the double and the RBIs, Herrera has hit .300 and slugged .700 with two walks, a 15.4 percent walk rate, and a .385 onbase percentage.
Alec Burleson got into the act as the DH in Saturday’s win at Washington, going 2 for 3 with a walk.
Herrera jump-started a stalled DH spot, and gee that’s been nice to see … a designated hitter who actually HITS.
Because of Tuesday’s rainout, I saved some material for Wednesday’s column and will crank it out in the morning.
Thanks for reading …
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting. You can access all of his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on SportsHubSTL, catch him weekdays on the “Gashouse Gang” or “Redbird Rush Hour” on KMOX (104.1-FM and 1120-AM, and he is a regular guest of “Cardinal Territory” video show hosted by the great Katie Woo of The Athletic.