The St. Louis Cardinals lost outfielder Lars Nootbaar went down with an unfortunate injury after fouling a ball off of his groin area and rolling around in pain.

“Lars Nootbaar was removed from the game with a ‘lower abdomen' contusion… which sure, I guess is one way to explain it,” tweeted Cardinals reporter Katie Woo.

Nootbaar managed to make it through the rest of the at-bat, where he ultimately struck out. He was forced to exit in a world of pain shortly after in the sixth inning. Lost in the storyline is the Cardinals getting embarrassed at home by the worst team in baseball, ultimately succumbing to the Athletics, 8-0.

Nootbaar has been one of the few bright spots for the St. Louis Cardinals in a season to forget. He is second on the team in OPS at .837, behind only star 3B Nolan Arenado. He is also batting .282 in his third year with the Cardinals, and the organization expects him to be a focal point as they turn their attention to the 2024 campaign.

The Cardinals sit 11.5 games back in their division, and 13 games under .500 as the final month of the season approaches. They haven't landed in last place in over a century, a feat that hasn't occurred since 1918 during World War I.

The Cardinals host the Mets in their next series, another team that was picked first in their division and is trending closer to last. The Cards are tied for last with the Pirates, and the Mets are one game above the Nationals. The loser of this series will likely plummet into sole possession of last in their division, a far cry from the expected playoff runs they anticipated being apart of.