Cardinals Reminded Again of Sizeable Gap Between Them and NL Central Champion Brewers

Despite being in a rebuilding season where they put a value on development over success, the St. Louis Cardinals still held their own against baseball’s upper crust this season. Not only did they go a respectable 41-45 against teams with better than .500 records, they also had winning marks against playoff-bound teams such as the Dodgers, Braves, Cubs, Rays, Yankees, Guardians and Astros.

As for the National League Central Division champion Milwaukee Brewers, that was a completely different matter.

For all the strides that the Cardinals made in 2026 while providing launch pads for Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, JJ Wetherholt, Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, Riley O’Brien and others, the Brewers had a way with continually reminding St. Louis of just how far they still have to go.

Milwaukee built an early six-run lead behind presumptive National League Cy Young award winner Jacob Misiorowski and held on for a 6-4 victory that was its 11th win over the Cardinals in 13 meetings.

"Obviously we didn't finish as strong as we would have liked to, based on how we played early on, but it wasn't because of a lack of attention to detail or competition," said manager Oliver Marmol to Cardinals TV. We competed really well, but we're not a full strength in certain areas and it showed.

"But, overall, I'm proud of this group for a lot of reasons. We set out to have a certain identity and culture in this first year of the rebuild and I feel they nailed it because they continued to show up and show up for each other. They had a heck of a lot doing it, too. I like this group and I have a lot of confidence in where it is headed."

The Cardinals, who clinched consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1958-59 earlier in the week, closed 2026 at 77-85, some 26 games behind the surging Brewers (103-59). The Cards also went 0-for-Milwaukee, losing all six games played at American Family Field in 2026.

Rookie catcher Leo Bernal, who has had an MLB debut for the ages over the final month, gives the Cardinals hope that those kinds of lopsided stats against the Brewers could be coming to an end very soon. The switch-hitting catcher drilled a 397-foot, three-run homer in Sunday’s eighth inning off Chad Patrick to make the game somewhat competitive.

Bernal, who was promoted on Aug. 31, hit five home runs and drove in 21 runs in just 24 games, while batting .284, with a .333 on-base percentage, a .474 slugging percentage and an .807 OPS. Just 22 years old, Bernal has already gotten strong endorsements from Cardinals Hall of Famer Yadier Molina and he has locked down the right to be the incumbent at the catching position going into Spring Training in 2027, manager Oliver Marmol confirmed recently.

Walker, who was used at the leadoff spot for the first time in his career on Sunday, failed in his bid to hit a 30th home run on Sunday, but he did push his career-best RBI total to 102 when he plated a run in the eighth inning with an infield grounder. Walker set career highs in hits (164), doubles (33), homers (29), RBI (102) and stolen bases (22) while slashing .269/.327/.466/.793.

Walker paired all season with Alec Burleson, who was given Sunday off after leading MLB in RBI with 116. He became the first Cardinals player to lead all MLB in RBI since Joe Torre in 1971 and the first Cardinals’ left-handed hitter to do so since Enos Slaughter in 1946. Burleson also finished third in MLB in doubles (37) while setting a new career high in homers (26) and slashing .279/.343/.473/.816.

"There were some cool moments throughout the year, but (the culture being built) is one thing that you want to make sure stays consistent," Marmol said. "When we had those guy punches and games that we lost late, how they showed up the next day is indicative of where the group is mentally. I felt like those were some of our best games, and that says a lot."  

Misiorowski, a Missouri native, struck out Walker in the sixth inning for his 252nd strikeout of the season. He weas lifted to a rousing ovation following a season where he went 16-5 and had MLB's best ERA at 1.80.

Sunday offered up a disappointing finish for 12-game winner Andre Pallante, who allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in five innings of work. Pallante struck out four and walked one.