The St. Louis Cardinals have fired manager Mike Matheny and coaches John Mabry and Bill Mueller, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.

Matheny's firing came shortly after an 8-2 home loss to the Cincinnati Reds, extending the team's losing streak to three games. Sitting at 47-46 and falling rapidly out of the playoff race, the Cardinals felt it was time for a change.

And so ends what was otherwise fairly successful tenure for Matheny at manager of the Cardinals. He took them to the NLCS in his first year, where they fell to the San Francisco Giants. A year later, the Cardinals were in the World Series - where they'd fall to the Boston Red Sox.

What followed was another NLCS appearance in 2014 and 100 wins in 2015. However, the Chicago Cubs emerged as the NL Central power and have taken the crown in each of the last two years - winning the World Series in 2016 and reaching three consecutive NLCS series.

But St. Louis is on the verge of missing the playoffs for the third straight year, something that is considered a Cardinal sin (pun intended), for this MLB franchise. The last time the Cardinals missed the postseason in three straight years was 1997-99. They've since reached four World Series and won it all in 2006 and 2011. Expectations have figuratively grown for the organization since then.

Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Entering play on Sunday, the Cardinals sat four games out of the second wild card spot in the National League. The trade deadline is less than three weeks today, so St. Louis does have time to add some impact players as they try to burst out of this slump.

Firing managers mid-season is quite rare in today's MLB, but the Cardinals are desperately trying to find answers. With a new coaching staff taking over for the second half, the Cardinals just might find their solution.

NEXT: JOSE ALTUVE COULD MAKE HISTORY WITH ANOTHER 200 HIT SEASON