Cardinals look for spark after manager Matheny’s shock firing

ST. LOUIS » As the St. Louis Cardinals took stock of their situation a day after the firing of manager Mike Matheny, some players said they bear some responsibility for Matheny’s sudden dismissal.

Matheny was fired Saturday night after an 8-2 loss to the last-place Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals entered Sunday’s game one game over .500 and 7½ games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs and are in danger of missing the playoffs for a third straight season for the first time since 1999.

“We all feel bad for Mike and ultimately it comes down on us,” veteran infielder Jedd Gyorko said Sunday. “We’re the guys that go out there and play and perform. I feel like we haven’t done that good enough.”

Bench coach Mike Shildt will serve as interim manager, starting with Sunday’s final game before the AllStar break.

“As a player, for me, it’s like, ‘What could I have done better to keep this from happening?”’ reliever Greg Holland said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily fair. It’s just the way the world works.”

The Cardinals’ recent mediocrity simply isn’t something the franchise is used to. Owner William DeWitt Jr. said a change was necessary to put the team in position for another playoff run.

“It’s not like we were 20 games under .500 and desperate,” DeWitt said. “We haven’t played to our capabilities. It just didn’t seem to be happening. It was a logical time to make a change.”

The 47-year-old Matheny was a Gold Glove-winning catcher for St. Louis from 2000-04. He compiled a 591-474 record in his sixplus seasons, reaching the postseason in each of his first four years while compiling a 375-273 mark.