Tied for last in MLB in batting average with runners in scoring position and 29th in OPS in that same area, the Cardinals lost 7-4 to the Rangers on Tuesday after going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
ST. LOUIS – The game tied following a two-run rally and runners still at the corners with no outs in the seventh inning, the Cardinals seemed poised to grab control of Tuesday night’s game at Busch Stadium.
That didn’t happen, but rookie catcher Jimmy Crooks opened the eighth inning with a double that seemingly put the Cardinals back in position again to take the lead.
Again, poor execution on a bunt try and an inability to deliver a big hit all but doomed the Cardinals’ hopes of pulling ahead of the suddenly surging Rangers.
With the Cardinals momentum fading late in the night because of various fizzled rallies, Texas scored three times in the top of the ninth off closer Riley O’Brien and escaped with a 7-4 win for its fifth straight victory under first-year manager Skip Schumaker.
As for Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, he was highly perturbed by the hitting approach taken by several players late in the game with runners in scoring position. From the strikeouts by Nelson Velazquez and Masyn Winn on fastballs up and out of the zone in the seventh to the botched bunt attempt by Victor Scott II in the eighth inning, Marmol felt his team got just what it deserved on Tuesday night.
Marmol had the box score to back up his claims. A Cardinals team that is tied for last in MLB in batting average with runners in scoring position (.222) and 29th in OPS in those same scenarios, the Cards went 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base against the Rangers.
“You have to execute at a really high level, and we didn’t do that and we didn’t deserve to win that game,” Marmol said after the Cardinals third loss in the past four games and second in row to the Rangers. “If we end up snatching it at the end there, that’s fine. But you’re not proud of how that game unfolds. You have to execute at a much higher rate to be consistent at this level, and that’s just the bottom line.”
O’Brien (3-3) did not allow an earned run over his first 13 appearances of the season, but he’s allowed 12 earned runs over his last 13 appearances. An inability to throw his sweeper for strikes has led to more walks and it has allowed foes to sit on his triple-digit sinker. In the ninth, Joc Pederson and Josh Jung had looping singles after O’Brien allowed the first two batters in the inning to reach.
“The lead-off walk and then he fell behind two guys that led to (RBI) singles,” Marmol surmised of O’Brien. Who had a 6.30 ERA in May. “It’s the life of a reliever, quite honestly. You’ve got to be able to turn the page and figure out a way to throw up zeroes, which he has done a lot of. When you’re a reliever, the game is going to be on the line, and it stands out more in the ninth. So, we’ll keep figuring out how to get him there and we’ll be fine.”
Velazquez, Winn chase balls out of zone
Fine was not the way to describe the emotions of Winn, who chased a letter=high pitch with runners at the corners in the seventh and one out. Before Winn’s appearance, Marmol opted for Velazquez in place of Bryan Torres even though lefty Jalen Beeks has reverse splits (lefties hit .308 off him and righties are just .231 with a nearly .300 difference in OPS).
Both Velazquez and Winn failed to put the ball in play in spots that could have given the Cardinals the lead.
“You’re trying to get a run in, and he made some really good pitches -- a good change up and a heater up and we were chasing really trying to get that run in and just didn’t do our jobs,” said Winn, who had two hits earlier in the night. “We were trying to get that run across and get the (win).”
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