The playoff brackets are all set and MLB’s postseason – the best season of them all – is set to begin on today with three games. The Dodgers will be going for a third straight World Series win, the Brewers and Rays will be trying to prove that small-market teams can still do damage in the playoffs, and the Yankees will be attempting to end their 17-year drought without a title.

With the playoff teams all set, let’s let back at how the St. Louis Cardinals fared against the National League clubs still alive. Click here to see how well St. Louis did against the six playoff teams from the American League. (Hint: They were much better against the AL than the NL).

Despite the Cards being fully entrenched in the franchise’s first full-on rebuild in more than three decades, the Cards actually held their own against the best of the best in baseball, save for the National League Central Division champion Brewers. Here is a look back at how the Cards fared against the six playoff teams from the National League in 2026:   

No team in MLB beat up on the Cardinals worse than Milwaukee did while en route to a franchise-best 103 wins. The Cardinals won the first meeting of the season at Busch Stadium, but they proceeded to lose 11 of the next 12 against the Brewers. The true killer came from July 6-9 when the Brewers beat up on the Cards by winning three of four meetings at Busch Stadium. Also, the Cards went 0-for-Milwaukee by losing six straight times at American Family Field. Result: Brewers 11, Cardinals 2

For whatever reason, the Cardinals have played some of their best baseball against the back-to-back champion Dodgers over the past two seasons. The Cards won two of three over the Dodgers at Busch Stadium from May 1-3. They then repeated that feat in Dodger Stadium from Sept. 1-3, and they narrowly missed out on a three-game sweep when closer Riley O’Brien surrendered a two-run double to Teoscar Hernandez in the ninth inning for a 3-2 Los Angeles win on Sept. 3. The Cards 13 runs on Sept. 1 were the most they have ever scored in the storied history of Dodger Stadium. Cardinals' rookie catcher Leo Bernal made his MLB debut in LA, driving in two runs in his first MLB game and homering in his second game. Result: Cardinals 4, Dodgers 2

The Cardinals faced Atlanta six times over a 14-day period from June 30 to July 12, and they won four of those six meetings. St. Louis left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore, who struggled most of the season and finished with a 6-14 record, beat the Braves twice in a period of 13 days. Result: Cardinals 4, Braves 2

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Dustin May, who was traded along with reliever JoJo Romero to Milwaukee on Aug. 3, greatly enhanced his trade value by twirling the first complete-game, shutout of his career against the Padres on June 15. The Cards split a four-game series in San Diego in May, but they could have won the series had O’Brien not allowed a two-strike, two-out homer to Nick Castellanos in the ninth inning to tie the game. The Cards then took two of three games at Busch Stadium in June. Result: Cardinals 4, Padres 3

One thing that the Cardinals can cling to from the 2026 season is how well they played their arch-rivals from Chicago. St. Louis won four of the first six meetings, including a record-setting 17-1 win at Wrigley Field on July 3. Chicago got the best of the Cards at Busch Stadium in late July by winning three of four. The Cards one win in that series was a 3-2 finish in 10 innings where they scored three times in their final at bat – two of which came on a walk-off doubly by Ivan Herrera. Joshua Baez announced his presence to the baseball world against the Cubs on Aug. 15 when he homered in the first three at bats of his MLB career. His first homer came on the first pitch he ever saw and it nearly left Wrigley Field’s stadium grounds all together, while he pulled homer No. 2 into the left field bleachers and hit his third shot the other way and into the basket beneath the right field bleachers. Result: Cardinals 7, Cubs 6    

The Cards enjoyed one of their best wins and suffered one of their most difficult losses against the Phillies in 2026. The Cards won 2-0 at Busch Stadium on Aug. 11 following an RBI single by Masyn Winn, a solo homer by Everson Pereira and Ryne Stanek working out of a bases loaded, nobody-out jam in the eighth inning. Some 12 days later, the Cardinals took a 4-0 lead into the ninth inning and seemed poised to avoid a sweep when O’Brien recorded two outs. Despite the Cardinals having a 99.6 percent chance to win according to MLB win projections totals, the Phillies proceeded to score six unanswered runs – the final blow being a 459-foot, two-run homer by Kyle Schwarber that traveled above the massive batter’s eye in center field. Result: Phillies 4, Cardinals 2