Cardinals' Oli Marmol Makes Poor Judgement Call To Help Keep Losing Streak Alive

St. Louis is headed in the wrong direction

May 22, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol (37) argues with umpire Charlie Roos (111) after he was ejected during the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals have reached their season's lowest point as they sit 10 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

Friday night's heartbreaking 7-6 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers was painful because it was a game the Cardinals could have easily won if things had gone a bit differently.

The most crucial mistake of the game was made when Cardinals manager Oli Marmol neglected to turn to his bullpen in the sixth inning and starting pitcher Miles Mikolas was left on the mound to throw.

"'He was throwing the ball well,' Marmol said," St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Lynn Worthy wrote Saturday morning. "'If you’re just reading the game, you know what’s coming out of his hand — you’re liking the way it’s moving and what he’s able to do with the ball. He’s kind of freezing guys on the corners and not giving in a whole lot. So you trust him to get one more out there, not knowing what it’s going to look like if you go to the pen.'"

Despite having the No. 9 ranked bullpen in the league with a 3.71 ERA, Marmol felt it best to squeeze as many innings out of Mikolas as possible.

Mikolas began the sixth inning by giving up a solo home run to eight-time All-Star Mookie Betts. At this point, Cardinals held a tight 4-3 lead over the Dodgers and Marmol probably should have relieved his starting pitcher of his duties as he inched closer to 100 pitches.

Neglecting to turn to the bullpen at this point allowed the Dodgers to log two more hits off Mikolas and both runners ended up scoring. In a game where the Cardinals lost by one run, it's hard not to look back and think what could have been.

We'll never know how the game might have turned out if the bullpen had been called earlier. Hopefully, costly mistakes like this don't continue to happen -- or there could possibly be new management next season.

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