CHICAGO -- The Cardinals didn't leave Wrigley Field celebrating.
They also didn't leave discouraged.
Sunday's 6-4 loss cost St. Louis a chance to sweep the Cubs after Jordan Walker's go-ahead three-run homer briefly put the Cardinals in front.
But after taking two of three from one of the National League's top clubs on the heels of another series win in Atlanta, the clubhouse message sounded remarkably consistent:
The Cardinals are exactly where they believe they should be.
"I've always had confidence in our team," Walker said. "We played two of the best teams in baseball, and we did what we did against them. That's really good for how our team's rolling right now."
That confidence wasn't born from Sunday's result. It came from everything surrounding it.
The Cardinals finished a demanding 4-2 road trip through Atlanta and Chicago, navigating six consecutive games against clubs in playoff position, little sleep after Thursday's late finish in Atlanta and the intensity of one of baseball's fiercest rivalries. They watched Walker earn his first All-Star selection Saturday, and they spent much of the weekend looking every bit like a club capable of contending in the National League, leaving Wrigley with a 47-40 overall record and currently holding the final NL Wild Card spot.
Even Sunday's loss did little to change that feeling.
"It's cool that that's not the case," manager Oliver Marmol said when asked about where this team stands past the halfway point. "You don't want to take that for granted. ... There's a reason why they've been able to bounce back. A lot of that is culture and overall mentality."
The game itself offered another glimpse of why the Cardinals remain confident in the foundation they've built.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, St. Louis slowly chipped away before Walker delivered what appeared to be the defining swing of the afternoon.
Facing new reliever Tyler Ferguson with runners on first and second in the sixth, Walker hammered a hanging sweeper a Statcast-projected 409 feet into the left-center-field bleachers for his 20th home run of the season, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
The homer placed Walker alongside rare company. Through the club's first 87 games, only Rogers Hornsby and Albert Pujols have matched his combination of 20 home runs and 10 stolen bases in a Cardinals season.
"Those guys are legends," Walker said. "Super cool."
The lead disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived.
The Cubs answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, aided by two costly throwing errors that turned a manageable inning into the game's turning point. Third baseman José Fermín's throw sailed wide of second base while he attempted to start a double play, and moments later right fielder Walker's aggressive throw to third skipped past the bag, allowing another run to score.
"We made some mistakes today," Marmol said. "We don't do that very often, and it cost us. But it's part of playing 162. We handed them some runs, still made it interesting and brought the tying run to the plate."
Matthew Liberatore experienced a similar afternoon. After laboring through a two-run first inning, the left-hander settled in to retire 10 of the next 11 hitters before running into trouble again after Walker's homer.
"I was pretty proud of what I did from innings two through five," Liberatore said. "Innings one and six, I really shot myself in the foot."
Even in defeat, the Cardinals continued playing with the same edge that has defined much of their first half.
Marmol pointed to Masyn Winn's eight-pitch walk in the ninth as one example of the club's team-first mentality, while Walker praised Winn's quality of at-bats throughout the weekend. The skipper also cracked a smile when recalling the way his young roster embraced the atmosphere at Wrigley throughout the series, even during Saturday's unusual fog delay.
"I love the fact that we came in here on five hours of sleep," Marmol said. "I love bringing them here in this environment with all that other stuff built into it."
That mentality hasn't gone unnoticed inside the clubhouse.
"I feel like last year the energy after a loss was way more negative," Winn said. "This year, it sucks, but we're already on to the next one. We've got a job to do at home against the Brewers. This team is just ready to go."
The Cardinals wanted the sweep.
Instead, they left Chicago with something they believe carries even more value over a 162-game season.
Not proof that they're perfect. Proof that the foundation they've built is sturdy enough to withstand days like Sunday -- and strong enough to keep carrying them forward.