ST. LOUIS — Thrilled with the results, the St. Louis Cardinals thanked Mike Shildt.

The Cardinals took off the interim tag from Shildt’s title and promoted him to full-time manager on Tuesday, a reward for steering the team back into postseason contention after taking over for the fired Mike Matheny.

In danger of missing the playoffs three straight years for the first time since the late ’90s, the Cardinals have gone 26-12 since July 15, including a 19-5 mark in August. St. Louis now holds the top spot in the NL wild-card standings.

The Cardinals were 47-46 when Matheny was fired a day before the All-Star break. Since then, they have the most wins in the majors. They’ve also cut their deficit in the NL Central from 71/2 games to 41/2 behind the division-leading Cubs.

“The team’s focused, high-level style of play under Mike is a standard that his teams consistently displayed during his prior years in the minors, and it has continued here at the major league level,” team chairman Bill DeWitt said.

The 50-year-old Shildt, who never played in the minors or majors, joined the Cardinals organization in 2004. He spent most of that time managing in the minors and was a member of the major league coaching staff the past two seasons.

PHILLIES: Philadelphia acquired veteran slugger Jose Bautista from the Mets for a player to be named later or cash.

Bautista has batted .196 with 11 homers and 42 RBI for the Braves and Mets this season. The six-time All-Star has 342 career homers. The right-handed hitter is expected to come off the bench for the Phillies, who are chasing the Braves in the NL East.

METS: David Wright is moving up to Triple-A to continue his rehab assignment, but the team says it’s unlikely the third baseman will play in the majors anytime soon as he attempts an arduous return from back and shoulder injuries.

Wright hasn’t appeared in a big league game since May 2016. He batted .188 with a double, two RBI and two walks in 10 rehab games at Class A St. Lucie this month. He was hoping to play a third day in a row Sunday but didn’t feel comfortable and was given a couple of days off.

On a conference call with reporters, Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said Wright hasn’t hit some of the benchmarks the team established for his rehab stint. But the Mets’ captain will play a couple of games with Las Vegas this week, as previously scheduled, to see how it goes.

BRAVES: Catcher Tyler Flowers agreed to a contract extension that could keep him with the team through the 2020 season.

The agreement includes a $4 million contract for 2019 and a $6 million club option, with a $2 million buyout, for 2020.

The 32-year-old Flowers is hitting .225 with five homers in his third year with Atlanta while sharing playing time with Kurt Suzuki.