ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Dateline, Nadir.

In a roller-coaster season with quite a few lows (and, sure, also some highs for the .500 Cardinals), this is as bad as it gets — losing a home series to the repugnant Rockies … and doing so in front of three announced crowds of 20,836, 20,807 and 20,513.

It just can’t happen.

Heck, even the White Sox shouldn’t lose a home series to the Rockies (32-88), let alone the Cardinals, who are still in the wild card mix. Yes, the Cardinals are playing with house money — they were sellers at the deadline and are in a transition season — but this was inexcusable. You’ve got to win a series at home against the Rockies.

Especially after losing a late-July series at the Rockies.

“Yeah, we’re not very happy about it — no one in the clubhouse is,� said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, whose team is 61-61 with 40 games to go. “I think it’s pretty clear what our goals were going into this series. And we fell short.�

For those around town who haven’t yet given up on the Cardinals’ season, man, Wednesday must’ve been rouuuuuugh.

And while you can put Wednesday’s blame on new closer JoJo Romero, who allowed a walk and then a homer in the top of the ninth, others contributed to the 6-5 day game loss. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ allowed the leadoff runner to get on in the final six innings! Jordan Walker went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. Nolan Gorman went 0 for 4 with one strikeout. And Brendan Donovan, the hero in Monday’s win against Colorado, went 0 for 5 with a K.

All that work to win a tight series against the Cubs, just to lose a series against the Rockies.

“Especially with how things were rolling after the Cubs series, these are the type of games we need to capitalize on,� Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy said. “Really make up some momentum, You know, baseball is a cruel game — it gives and it takes. But, you know, definitely want this one back.�

Entering this series, I wanted to believe the Cardinals had a little something going for them, even if it was by default. So you’ve got the Mets, sitting in the wild card race for the third spot, but they have played embarrassing baseball of late (including some frustrating outings from former Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley). And the Reds, right behind them for the wild card, have the most daunting schedule in the National League from now until the end of this season. The Cards are behind those two clubs. But immediately after Wednesday’s loss, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ fell to 4 1/2 back.

Before Wednesday’s game, I asked Marmol if it was fair to say the Cards are playing with house money.

“It is,� the skipper said. “I mean, you have a bunch of young guys, and part of the message has been exactly that — it is house money. No one’s expecting this group to do a whole lot. And the fun part is showing up and trying to actually do something. But you get to play free, fast, trust your instincts and just go. And that’s fun, especially with this group, because they can play to that. So yeah, there will be ups and downs, but I do like the mentality that they’re bringing every day.�

And, of course, when you score five runs in a game, there will be some ups. Lars Nootbaar had a nice Wednesday. So did Alec Burleson. They both homered, something that seldom happens for men wearing the birds on the bat. In Tuesday’s game — a Rockies 3-0 shutout of the home team — the Cardinals actually did have some quality swings on batted balls that were turned into outs. Good exit velocity and all that stuff. But the difference is — if the Cards had any semblance of a slugger, perhaps a hard-hit ball leaves the stadium. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has the 24th-most home runs in Major League Baseball.

Oh, guess who’s coming to town this weekend?

The New York Yankees, who lead all of baseball in round-trippers.

Though the way things are going of late, one wonders if the Cards will sweep the Bronx Bombers — after all the Cards have fared well against some big-time teams lately, notably the Los Angeles Dodgers, but struggled against, well, the Rockies of the world.

But that’s the thing with this team. It’s a .500 team. Not everyone will be dialed in simultaneously. As Marmol said: “I don’t have a blanket statement for offense, because different guys are in different spots, working on different things, feeling their swing, not feeling their swing. So each guy’s in a different part of their progression or development, however you want to think about it. So there’s not a blanket statement other than — there’s going to be highs and lows with this group. I really like where several of these guys are, even when I’m looking at the results and some of them not having it, but they’re taking good at-bats like with Masyn (on Tuesday) night?�

But baseball is cruel, as McGreevy said.

Here’s the fear. These recent losses to the Rockies and Pirates — and the terrible starts by Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde — will be the difference in whether the Cardinals are playing baseball or golf in October.

“Obviously, this series didn’t go our way, but we’re not far out from a playoff spot,� Nootbaar said. “Just trying to keep our eyes on that.�