The final 60, the final hope

Back on June 20, I made the case why there is still hope for the Cardinals by pointing out the advantages of the schedule.

Interleague play had ended, there were plenty of games left in the division and St. Louis was anticipating the return of pitcher Chris Carpenter, among others.

While Carpenter won't be back -- a huge blow to any chances of a comeback -- the other two factors are still in play. Here's how the last 60 games shape up.

37 of the final 60 games will be played against teams in the NL Central. One-sixth of all games left are against tonight's opponents, the Pittsburgh Pirates. With so many games left in the division, I expected there to be more games left with teams below .500 but that's not the case.

Games against teams above .500 - 31

Games against teams below .500 - 29

But the Cardinals still control a piece of their own destiny. They have 14 games left against the two teams above them in the standings, Milwaukee and Chicago.

The Cardinals close out their season with a seven-game road trip -- three at Milwaukee, a make-up game in New York and a final series in Pittsburgh. Will they matter?

With a three-percent chance of making the playoffs and with little to no help apparently arriving at the trade deadline, the schedule is the last best hope in the season.