ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of one of their worst seasons in franchise history. After an extra-innings loss to the San Francisco Giants, the Cards find themselves in last place in the NL Central with a record of 27-42. It was their fifth loss in a row. And they finished their seven-game homestand 1-6.
Fans were hoping that the series against the Dodgers in May, in which the Cardinals took three of four and pulled to within five games of the division lead, would put them on the right track, correct their course, and every other cliché you can think of to describe a team fighting their way out of the doldrums - but it has not happened.
And with that loss to the Giants on Wednesday, the Cardinals' record at home fell to an abysmal 13-21. They are actually better on the road by one game at 14-21.
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On Thursday’s episode of Locked On Cardinals, host JD Hafron didn’t mince words when he opened the first segment of his show, saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that as a fan of the Cardinals, as a fan of the game of baseball that you are being subjected to one of the ugliest and most disappointing seasons in franchise history.” He added, “And I don’t blame any of you for not spending your money or not spending your time watching the embarrassing display of baseball that has been forced upon you this season.”
Wednesday’s game was a disaster for the Cardinals, who didn’t score after the third inning and blew a two-run lead in the ninth to force extra innings. The offense also struck out 17 times and was 3-11 with runners in scoring position.
After Wednesday’s loss, Manager Oliver Marmol said via MLB.com, “At some point, you’ve got to do something about it. You get punched in the face, punch back.”
But the real question is, how many times can a team get punched in the face before they stay on the ground and wait for the 10-count to end?
Not only did the Cardinals blow that two-run lead in the ninth against the Giants, but embattled starter Steven Matz came into the game in the 10th and gave up three runs on three singles, and the Cardinals went down rather quietly in the bottom of the 10th with both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado striking out against Giants' reliever Camilo Doval who picked up his 18th save of the season.
Speaking of Goldschmidt and Arenado, they both backed up Marmol after the loss. Goldschmidt said it would be unfair to fire Marmol when the players are the ones underperforming. "We are the ones out there playing. We have not performed as good as we need to. We have not played better than the teams we are playing against. It hasn't been good enough, and they have beaten us. We are the ones out there playing, and we haven't done a good enough job."
Arenado agreed with Goldschmidt, saying about their coaching staff, "I can't think of a coaching staff that tries to get us more prepared, all of them. They work their butts off, and we just don't execute. I think it's the players. You can pinpoint the coaches all you want, but it's the players. It's us as a group. We don't execute."
The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Cardinals, who are going on a road trip to face the Mets in New York and the Nationals in Washington, D.C. And while those teams are struggling as well, wins aren’t guaranteed. After that trip, the Cards welcome the Cubs, Astros, and Yankees home to close out the month, which is not an easy homestand, to say the least.
So if the Cardinals are going to turn things around and have a shot at saving their season, it needs to happen now.
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