As Cardinals skid continues, FIFA just handed St. Louis something it almost never gets

The St. Louis Cardinals could probably use a break right now. As it turns out, they're getting one. After dropping their third straight game Friday night and watching another late comeback fall short against the Kansas City Royals, the Cardinals won't take the field Saturday. That may not sound unusual until you realize one important detail:

Major League Baseball teams almost never have scheduled Saturdays off. Yet that's exactly what is happening in the middle of one of the Cardinals' most frustrating stretches of the season.

And FIFA is the reason why.

The Cardinals suddenly have a Saturday off

For most MLB clubs, Saturdays are sacred. Weekend games drive attendance, television ratings and revenue. That's why off days are typically reserved for Mondays and Thursdays, allowing teams to travel between series while keeping weekend schedules intact.

But this weekend is different.

The Cardinals and Royals were forced into a rare Saturday break because Kansas City is hosting a FIFA World Cup match. Ecuador and Curacao are scheduled to play Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium, which sits directly next to Kauffman Stadium and shares the same parking complex. With tens of thousands of soccer fans expected to flood the area, trying to stage a Cardinals-Royals game on the same day would have created a logistical nightmare.

So MLB made the unusual decision to pause the series for a day before resuming Sunday.

The timing couldn't be more interesting

If there was ever a time for a reset, it's now. The Cardinals have lost three straight games and have watched Kansas City clinch the series after Friday night's 6-5 defeat. St. Louis appeared to have a chance to salvage the game late.

Trailing 6-2 entering the ninth inning, the Cardinals mounted one final rally. Blaze Jordan delivered a two-run single, cutting the deficit and bringing the tying run to base. For a moment, it looked like the rookie might become the hero.

Instead, the comeback stalled just short of the finish line. The loss continued a troubling trend for a team that suddenly looks very different from the club that spent much of the spring surprising people around baseball.

MORE: Colson Montgomery making MLB history as White Sox star strengthens All-Star case

One number should concern Cardinals fans

The Cardinals' offense has quietly developed a major problem.

Power. Friday marked the fifth consecutive game without a home run for St. Louis. The club has not gone deep since JJ Wetherholt homered in Minnesota earlier in the week. Since then, the Cardinals have gone 178 consecutive at-bats without a home run.

In today's game, that's almost impossible to ignore. The lineup continues to generate some traffic on the bases, but the lack of extra-base damage has made it increasingly difficult to overcome mistakes on the mound. That was evident again Friday night.

A strange baseball weekend now belongs to FIFA

Even longtime baseball fans may struggle to remember the last time the Cardinals were scheduled off on a Saturday in the middle of a series. Yet because the World Cup has arrived in Kansas City, one of baseball's most traditional schedules has been temporarily altered.

For Cardinals players, the day offers an unexpected opportunity to regroup. For fans, it creates one of the strangest quirks of the 2026 season. And for St. Louis, it may provide a much-needed chance to stop the bleeding before Sunday's finale.

Because after three straight losses, the Cardinals probably won't mind letting FIFA have center stage for one day.

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