Oliver Marmol is pushing every button to try to make the playoffs.
The St. Louis Cardinals lost 2-1 in the final game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, and following the offensive struggles, manager Oliver Marmol spoke about the batting order and how it might look down the stretch as the Cardinals try to earn a playoff spot, saying that where we are in the season and the standings dictate those decisions.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s what we did in April, May, June, and July,” Oliver Marmol told Bally Sports Midwest. “August, we provided them, so you have 40 games left. You need to take your best shot. It might look different every day.”
The Cardinals are using platoons to try to get the best matchups every day, despite the fact that Marmol’s side may not have a steady lineup. St. Louis is in a difficult situation, behind the Atlanta Braves by five games for the National League’s last Wild Card slot. The New York Mets are three games ahead of the Cardinals, and the San Francisco Giants are also a game ahead, thus the Cardinals must leapfrog two teams before passing a third to secure a playoff position.
Cardinals lineup disappoints in rubber game vs Dodgers
It was a surprising setback in the rubber game versus the Dodgers, as most teams expected to win by keeping them to two runs. Marmol echoed this attitude in the postgame as well.
“We navigated that lineup as well as we could, and we gave ourselves a shot,” Marmol told Bally Sports Midwest. “At the end of the day, it will come down to whether we hit enough, drive the ball, slug, situationally hit, and execute runners in scoring position once we create those opportunities, which we were unable to do tonight.
The Cardinals’ situation does not improve as they visit the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game home series this week. It is a crucial series for the Cardinals, even though they are unlikely to challenge for the division crown at this point in the season. The schedule does not lighten much in August, as St. Louis faces the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, and other playoff clubs. It will be intriguing to see if St. Louis can make a push down the stretch this season.
