The St. Louis Cardinals bounced back after dropping back-to-back series against the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals, besting the Los Angeles Dodgers in two out of three over the weekend. Setting themselves back on the right track, the next four series set up as some of the biggest of the season.
The Cardinals are 4.0 games behind the Chicago Cubs, a team they have yet to play this season. The Cubs are coming off a stretch where they saw sub-.500 teams from May 12 until June 6, when they took on the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs' next four sets include three teams that are above .500, meanwhile, the Cardinals will take on only two clubs above .500 before the longtime rivals face off for the first time this season on June 23.
With the balanced schedule where teams see less of their division rivals and face every team in the league at least once, the Cardinals must use the next three weeks to close the gap on the Cubs. With the Cubs coming off an easy stretch of games, reality smacked them in the face in their series loss to the Tigers. The Cardinals can capitalize on the chance to be within striking distance of the Cubs when they take the trip down I-55 to Busch Stadium in a couple weeks.
The Cardinals are tangling with the Toronto Blue Jays this week, while the Cubs take on the Philadelphia Phillies. It's a bummer that the Cardinals let one slip away on Monday, but again, now that the Cubs are facing genuine competition, it'll be more difficult for them to separate in the NL Central. Chicago dropped the series opener to Philly on Monday, keeping the top of the division standings static.
Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan look to lead the Cardinals' offense as their tough stretches comes to a close this week. Donovan currently projects to start at second base for the National League in the All-Star Game, per Jim Bowden of The Athletic's predictions.
While seeing the Cardinals and Cubs square off less frequently under the balanced schedule is disappointing, it turns up the intensity and importance for each matchup.
Their first meeting of the year is coming soon, and it will be a doozy by the time it arrives, with real implications on the way the race plays out.