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The St. Louis Cardinals had won their 17th game in a row on Tuesday night and almost lost in the shuffle was that they had also clinched a playoff spot. The victory was an important one over their divisional foe the Milwaukee Brewers. The team had been on their longest win streak in franchise history and were heating up at the right time to make a playoff push. The Cardinals' last loss came on September 10th and the team had just a 2.8% chance of making the postseason, per The Athletic. In a day of 17s, pitcher Adam Wainwright playing in his 17th season for the Cardinals notched his 17th win of the season and the 17th win of their win streak.
The Cardinals last won the World Series in 2011 against the Texas Rangers. Their last trip to the World Series came in 2013 when they lost four games to two against the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals have made the playoffs the last two seasons, but lost in the NLCS in 2019 and lost in the Wild Card Series in 2020. Overall, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series and are hoping for their 12th this year.
The Cardinals had -124 odds to make the playoffs on April 1 at DraftKings Sportsbook. When the 2021 season began, the season outlook for the Cardinals was that of a predicted good, not great season. Their win total was set at 86.5 (which they hit on 9/26) and they had +105 odds to win the NL Central. They had +1050 odds to win the National League Championship Series and +2200 odds to win the World Series.