Sunday’s season finale for the St. Louis Cardinals was not pretty, but it was somewhat symbolic for how this rebuilding organization compares to one of the best in the National League. The Brewers easily handled the Cardinals finishing their season with a series sweep as they prepare for the National League playoffs while St. Louis prepares for a long offseason wondering what the next steps will be to get the team back to constant competitiveness.
If you love singles, you’ll never see a better inning
than the Brewers bottom of the 1st. There were a grand total of 6 singles off of Cardinals starter Andre Pallante from Mitchell, Bauers, Chourio, Turang, Yelich and Pratt. The end result was an early 3-0 Brewers lead after 1 inning. A typical Milwaukee rally where they peck away hitting balls where fielders aren’t. Is it irritating to watch as a non-Brewers fan? Yes. Is it affective in winning baseball games? They’ve proven it is.
Milwaukee would add to their lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning again in a typical Brewers way. After another single by Jackson Chourio, Gary Sanchez lifted an 88 mph Pallante slider 355 feet to the opposite field for a 2-run homer and a 5-0 Milwaukee lead. They would add another run in the bottom of the 4th inning with (you guessed it) 3 more singles which along with a walk equaled another Brewers run upping their lead to 6-0.
How would the Cardinals fare against likely Cy Young winner Jacob Misiorowski? Considering that the starting lineup for St. Louis saw them sitting Wetherholt and Burleson among other normal regulars, about like you would expect. Thomas Saggese managed a bloop single in the top of the 2nd inning and Pedro Pagés managed to draw a walk in the top of the 3rd inning and get a solid single in the top of the 6th inning, but that was about all during Jacob’s outing before being taken out by Brewers manager Pat Murphy with one out in the top of the 6th after he struck out Jordan Walker. St. Louis would offer a mild scoring threat in the 6th with two runners on thanks to a Leo Bernal walk, but Nolan Gorman popped out to end that faint hope.
Andre Pallante didn’t have the kind of start that he would want for his final 2026 appearance, but if not for singles given up to the Brewers, it might have been awesome. His final stat line for the season was 5 innings complete allowing 10 hits and 6 earned runs while striking out 4 and walking 1. Justin Bruihl took over for Andre in the bottom of the 6th inning and set down the Brewers 1-2-3 and he did the same in the bottom of the 7th inning.
The first real scoring threat of the game for the Cardinals wouldn’t come until the top of the 8th inning when Cesar Prieto led off with a triple off of Brewers reliever Chad Patrick. Pedro Pagés managed another walk to give St. Louis runners at first and third with no outs and Jordan Walker coming up. Instead of bashing home run #30, Jordan grounded into a fielder’s choice that could have been a double play without an errant throw from Brewer’s shortstop Pratt scoring Prieto and giving St. Louis a token run making it 6-1 Milwaukee. After Iván Herrera walked, Leo Bernal would wake everyone up as he wrecked a 96 mph four-seam fastball and launched it into the upper deck for a 3-run bomb cutting the Brewers lead down to 2 at 6-4. If nothing else, Bernal’s blast is a reminder of the future many of us St. Louis Cardinals fans believes will be bright – eventually.
Hancel Rincon was the Cardinals bottom of the 8th inning answer with the hope of keeping the game reasonably close going into the 9th inning. No umpires had a problem with his hat position, by the way. He did a fine job getting Sanchez out on a groundout and he struck out Christian Yelich. Rincon also struck out Pratt.
The St. Louis Cardinals 9th would be up to Nathan Church, José Fermín and Cesar Prieto. Church led off with a groundout to first. Fermín popped out to first bringing the St. Louis season down to just one remaining out. Prieto struck out and that was that.
That’s it for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2026. The months ahead will reveal what Chaim Bloom and his team’s plans are for this roster as the rebuild moves forward. Then there’s that collective bargaining agreement topic that threatens to disrupt our favorite sport. Let’s hope the St. Louis Cardinals 2027 season is better than 2026 and begins without any bargaining delays.
