cuellar next spent five years in the minor leagues and mexican baseball, including periods with the detroit tigers and cleveland indians farm systems. he was acquired in 1964 by the st. louis cardinals, where his win-loss record was 5–5, primarily as a relief pitcher, while the cardinals made a late-season surge as the philadelphia phillies collapsed in september. this took the cardinals and cuellar to the 1964 world series.