For anyone that thought the Cardinals were out of the playoff chase when they fired long-time manager Mike Matheny back on July 14 following a loss to the Reds, that sentiment has turned out to be premature to say the least. The Red Birds were 47-46 at the time of Matheny’s firing, but interim head man Mike Shildt has overseen an impressive surge since he took over at the helm, particularly here in August. With Saturday’s 7-2 win over the Brewers, which gave them control of the N.L.’s second Wild Card spot, the Cards are now 14-3 this month.

Miles Mikolas turned in yet another solid performance for the Cardinals, allowing only one run on five hits and no walks while striking out seven across 6.0 frames. Mikolas has been a stable horse for the St. Louis rotation all season long, as he has worked at least 6.0 innings in 20-of-25 starts while posting a 2.80 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. In addition, the 29-year-old righty has given up two earned runs or less in five of his six outings since the All-Star break.

 

In Case You Missed It

Red Sox ace Chris Sale has been placed back on the 10-day DL with recurring shoulder inflammation. Sale was out of action from July 28 through August 11 due to the issue, and after a dominant five-inning effort one week ago, the Boston brass has not been comfortable sending him back to the mound as of yet.

Jacob deGrom ’s outstanding campaign continued Saturday with his first complete game of the year. In a 3-1 win at Philadelphia, the Mets’ ace surrendered no earned runs (one unearned) on seven hits and no walks while racking up nine punchouts. DeGrom’s MLB-best ERA now stands at 1.71 across 168.0 innings and, during Saturday’s victory, he became the sixth pitcher in the bigs to reach 200 strikeouts on the season.

 

Defending A.L. MVP José Altuve has been out of action due to a knee injury since July 25 but is slated to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Fresno on Sunday. This is certainly welcome news for the Astros, as they have now dropped 7-of-8 games with Saturday’s 7-1 loss to the Athletics which pulled the two clubs into a tie atop the A.L. West.

 

Sunday on the Hill

Jameson Taillon will take his home mound for a battle with the Cubs riding a streak of 14 consecutive starts in which he has given up three earned runs or less. Over that span, Taillon has put up a nice 3.15 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 7.6 K/9 across 88.2 innings. He will duel with lefty José Quintana on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking of hurlers working against the Cubs, Jhoulys Chacin was sensational for the Brewers at Wrigley Field this past Tuesday. The veteran righty fired 7.0 scoreless frames, striking out a season-high 10 batters while allowing only three hits and two walks. Chacin will follow up that performance by attempting to slow down the N.L.’s hottest team; the already covered St. Louis Cardinals.

 

Streaking

Justin Turner - 12 games - 20-for-47, 1.214 OPS, 2 HR, 6 2B

Paul Goldschmidt  - 11 games - 21-for-48, 1.272 OPS, 4 HR, 5 2B

Ronald Acuna  - 11 games - 21-for-45, 1.605 OPS, 8 HR, 3 2B

Cody Bellinger  - 11 games - 19-for-41, 1.166 OPS, 2 HR

Daniel Murphy  - 11 games - 17-for-44, .968 OPS, 2 HR

Greg Allen  - 11 games - 15-for-40, .780 OPS, 4 SB

 

You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.