Cardinals' Oli Marmol Confident In Club's Direction Following Electric Walk-Off

St. Louis isn't throwing in the towel yet

Aug 21, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pinch hitter Luken Baker (26) is congratulated by right fielder Alec Burleson (41) and third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) after hitting a two run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals didn't garner much confidence from fans heading into Wednesday night's match-up against the Milwaukee Brewers but still got the job done.

After Nolan Arenado's heroic 10th-inning walk-off grand slam, the Cardinals appear to have life again and St. Louis manager Oli Marmol isn't ready to throw in the towel yet.

"'That was a big swing that could lead this group in a lot of ways moving forward,' said Marmol, who tapped second-year slugger Luken Baker to pinch-hit in the seventh inning before he delivered a game-tying, two-run home run," MLB.com's John Denton wrote when quoting the Cardinals manager talking about Arenado's game-winning home run. "'We needed that. … For Nolan to do what he did in the 10th, that could be very meaningful moving forward. I loved every second of it.'"

Arenado is a five-time Silver Slugger who has batted .272 with 33 extra-base hits including 14 home runs, 59 RBIs and a .732 OPS in 119 games played for St. Louis this season.

This has been one of the worst seasons of Arenado's illustrious career but luckily, he's been hitting much better in recent weeks and is starting to look like the eight-time All-Star Cardinals fans know and love.

The 33-year-old is batting .319 with eight extra-base hits including three home runs, 14 RBIs and a .895 OPS in 18 games played for the Cardinals throughout August.

If the Cardinals can also get five-time Silver Slugger Paul Goldschmidt to start hitting again, St. Louis should be in a much better spot to compete for a playoff spot.

There are still 36 games left for the Cardinals and hopefully, Marmol is right that Wednesday night's dramatic victory was a precursor of what's to come down the final stretch of this season.

More MLB: Cardinals Fans' Most-Hated Active Player Set To Make Return In Season Debut