The St. Louis Cardinals entered a three-game set against division rival Cincinnati Reds with the hope that they could string together a few wins to try and keep up in the National League Wild Card race. However, the series has come and gone in an instant, and the Cardinals find themselves falling even further off the pace in the playoff race, suffering a sweep at the hands of the Reds after Cincinnati closed out St. Louis on Wednesday night with a resounding 9-2 victory.
The Cardinals may as well have gone to the plate with a noodle with the way they swung the bat throughout the course of their series against the Reds. They mustered all of four runs, and this simply will not cut it for a team with ambitions of making the playoffs. All Oliver Marmol could do is throw his hands up in the air and concede that they were outplayed.
“(The Reds) outslugged us. They took some really good swings, and it was more than enough. Hit the ball hard, did damage, and they made us play. We didn't,” Marmol said, per Bally Sports Midwest on X. “Scored one the first game, one the second game, then what we did today.”
Indeed, the Reds dominated the Cardinals in the power department over the past three games. Cincinnati hit 10 long balls to score a total of 19 runs, while the Cardinals mustered all of one long ball. Now at 60-61, St. Louis' push for the playoffs is becoming more and more difficult, although Oliver Marmol is imploring his team not to give up.
“You don't want to get swept here in Cincy, I'll tell you that. But as far as giving in? That's not an option,” Marmol added.
Cardinals fall off in the playoff race with disappointing sweep
After suffering three straight defeats against the Reds, the Cardinals have now fallen below .500. At 60-61, the Cardinals are far from an ideal spot in their bid to make the postseason via the wild card, as they are 4.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves with three other teams (New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Reds) in front of them in the race.
The Cardinals had their chances to start the series off against the Reds on the right note, but they faltered with runners in scoring position, and it snowballed into two more defeats that are just as frustrating as it is disappointing. But it was always going to be difficult for St. Louis to overcome Cincinnati in their home turf, especially for the last two games of the series. Hunter Greene was on the mound for the second game, while the Reds' bullpen banded together to make life miserable for the Cardinals' bats on Wednesday.
The scary part for the Cardinals is that there may not be a light at the end of the tunnel for them. They will be heading into a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees — teams in playoff position at the moment — to end the month of August. That is a hellish stretch that will make or break St. Louis' hopes of making the playoffs, and they'll be hoping that their bats come alive to a degree that they weren't able to in their sweep against the Reds.
Follow Us
Subscribe