Four hours, 25 minutes later Sunday, the Cardinals finally reached the two-thirds mark of the season in first place by two games in the National League Central Division standings. That means 108 games have been played and 54 remain, but the Cardinals’ record when they’re in first place at this point of a season is gaudy.
After they completed a three-game series sweep of the New York Yankees with a 12-9 victory in a record length for a nine-inning game at Busch Stadium III, the Cardinals’ winning streak had reached seven games. And they are a season-high 12 games over the break-even mark, 60-48.
Since 2000, the Cardinals have won 10 division championships. On eight of those occasions, they were in first place after 108 games played — in 2019, 2015, 2009, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002 and 2000. And 38 of their 54 remaining games this year are against sub-.500 teams.
