In winning seven of their last 10 games, including impressive series victories over postseason-tested clubs like the Yankees and Phillies, the upstart Cardinals have started looking more like a playoff-worthy team.

And, in the afterglow of some of their most thrilling wins of late, the young and feisty Cardinals have even started to sound like a team that feels it is capable of being in the playoffs come October.

“This is huge because that’s a really good (Phillies) team over there,” slugging star Jordan Walker said after his Cardinals beat the Phillies on Tuesday and Wednesday for their third straight series win. “I think we’re fighting with (Philadelphia) for a playoff spot, so this is huge for us. I’m proud of how we played because they not only have a good offense, but they have a good pitching staff as well.

“We also feel like we’re a better team than how we’ve played recently and we believe that we have a shot to make a playoff push, for sure. That’s what the vibes are right now.”

The Cardinals certainly deserve to think like a playoff team after besting a Phillies squad that All-Star aces Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler on the mound over the final two games of the series. On Tuesday, Andre Pallante matched Sanchez over six innings of scoreless work and the Cards won 2-0 thanks to clutch performances from Masyn Winn, Ryne Stanek and Everson Pereira. On Wednesday, the Cardinals throttled Wheeler for five hits and four runs in the fifth inning of a 7-1 victory.

“We’ve been consistent with that aspect – flushing the previous day and taking care of business of what’s in front of them – and this series was a great example of that,” Cards’ manager Oliver Marmol said. “You fight back in the first game of the series, and you come up short. … To be able to take that, and punch back the way we did was awesome.”

At 61-60, the Cardinals have already achieved far more than most expected of a steam that traded established veterans Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras over the winter and unloaded Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar at the MLB Trade Deadline.

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Still, the Cards sit 2 1/2 games back of the National League’s final Wild Card slot – held currently by the Dbacks (64-58) and Phillies (64-58) – and a game behind the Marlins (62-59). The Cards would lose out on the tiebreaker if dead even with the Dbacks or the Marlins, but they own the tiebreaker over the Padres (65-57) should San Diego fall in the standings. They will take a 2-1 edge into next weekend’s series in Philadelphia against the Phillies.

Marmol said that, more than anything, the Cardinals will go into that big series in Philadelphia next weekend, knowing that they have the staying power to go toe to toe against the veteran-laden Phillies.

“What I love about a series like this is you’re playing against a team that’s built to make a deep run in the playoffs,” Marmol said, “and we played like one, too.”

Marmol’s Cardinals struggled offensively much of July, and the club lost their first six series after the break for the MLB All-Star Game. With the team struggling and it becoming clear that the Cards would sell off veteran talent before the MLB Trade Deadline, Marmol spoke up on behalf of his youth-filled roster and stressed that the club still has plenty of fight left in the tank. Marmol boldly said in mid-July, “I want this club to taste the playoffs,” and it responded by turning around its season with the recent series wins over the Yankees, Rockies and Phillies.

The next tests, however, will test the Cards’ staying power. They play three games against the rival Cubs at Wrigley Field before heading to Cincinnati where they will play five times in four days. The three-city, 11-game road trip then veers toward Philadelphia for another three-game showdown.

Being in the midst of a playoff race and feeling the pressures and expectations that come with that will benefit the young Cardinals – whether they make the playoffs or not, Marmol said.

“My goal, the staff’s goal and the players goals are to continue to play meaningful baseball all the way through the end,” Marmol stressed. “That’s important when you talk about development and growth and every game having a purpose. That matters.”