One of Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol’s common refrains throughout the early months of the season was that the club needed star players like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to be impactful offensive performers for the club to reach its goals.
Marmol’s earlier comments typically came in the context of expressing confidence in their pending turnaround and faith in his veteran cornerstones' work ethic and will despite struggles at the plate.
With fewer than 40 game remaining in the season and the Cardinals looking a long way up at the Milwaukee Brewers in the standings, time has undoubtedly run short for the Cardinals to make a postseason push and for their stars to change the outlook of their individual seasons.
Defeats such as the one the Cardinals suffered at the hands of the Brewers on Tuesday night, a spirit-dampening 3-2 loss in front of an announced crowd of 30,022 — the lowest non-pandemic era crowd in the history of Busch Stadium III — are enough to raise the doubts about whether it’s too late.
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“I just haven’t been able to perform and help us win enough,†Goldschmidt said following his ninth-inning strikeout with the bases loaded. “I’ve had more nights like tonight where I’ve probably cost us the game than helped us in. Obviously, that’s not what you want. I’ll just try to keep working and try to help us win and do whatever I can.â€
With the tying run on third base, the winning run on second base and the game hanging in the balance, Brewers manager Pat Murphy decided to intentionally walk Lars Nootbaar with his two-time All-Star relief pitcher Devin Williams on the mound in order to pitch to Goldschmidt.
Instead of going after the left-handed hitting Nootbaar, who’d singled in his previous at-bat, Murphy assessed the situation and chose the strategic move of walking the bases loaded to keep the double play possibility alive and lean on the platoon matchup with the right-handed Williams attacking the right-handed hitting Goldschmidt — the former NL MVP, seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Murphy's move worked. Goldschmidt struck out swinging. His bat got a piece of the 2-2 changeup from Williams, but Brewers catcher William Contreras held onto the foul tip for strike three.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing, but it’s part of the competition of the game,†Goldschmidt said of his final at-bat. “Yeah, I obviously would’ve loved to get the job done and get a hit and win the game. Give Devin Williams credit. He made some good pitches and struck me out, beat me right there."
The Cardinals offense had scuffled throughout the night. Brewers starting pitcher Frankie Montas held them to one hit and one walk in seven scoreless innings.
The Cardinals (61-64) didn’t even put a runner in scoring position against Montas (6-8).
Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde (8-7) gave his club a puncher’s chance in his fourth start since being acquired from the Chicago White Sox on July 29. Fedde allowed two runs on six hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
The first run Fedde allowed came after he walked two batters with one out in the second inning. Sal Frelick’s two-out RBI single made Fedde pay for those walks and gave the Brewers (73-52) the lead.
Frelick played a key role in the second run Fedde allowed in the fifth inning. Frelick smacked a one-out triple into the right field corner, and he scored one batter later on Joey Ortiz’s single.
“I just look at that run in the second inning as shooting myself in the foot with the two walks,†Fedde said. “That’s obviously a big run in the game. The one later on, a triple and a single, sometimes that happens. I wish I could’ve had that run back earlier in the game.
“Overall, at least I kept us in the game. We played some great defense today. The guys picked me up and made me feel much better about the outing.â€
The Brewers increased their lead to 3-0 on Contreras’ RBI double off of Cardinals lefty reliever John King in the eighth inning.
The Cardinals offense found life in the bottom of the eighth when Nootbaar singled. Then with two outs, Marmol went to veteran slugger Matt Carpenter off the bench as a pinch hitter.
Carpenter bashed an 0-1 fastball from Brewers reliever Nick Mears over the right field wall and an estimated 374 feet from home plate for a two-run home run.
Carpenter’s sixth career pinch-hit home run pulled the Cardinals within a run. The Cardinals got the tying run on base when Masyn Winn beat out an infield single, but they could not get him home to even the score. Pinch hitter Tommy Pham was called out on strikes to end the inning.
In the ninth, the Cardinals had back-to-back hits with one out. Brendan Donovan singled up the middle and Arenado lined an opposite-field double that put runners on second and third.
That set up the decision by Murphy to walk Nootbaar.
"Some would've said I'm crazy, you know? This time it worked,†Murphy told reporters after the game. “I don't plan on ever walking a person intentionally in front of Goldy ever again, but this time it worked. I think we escaped, and it's maybe only with Devin, the way he's throwing the ball.â€
Goldschmidt entered the game batting .230 with a .290 on-base percentage, a .391 slugging percentage and 19 home runs. Goldschmidt, 36, has a career slash line of .288/.382/.510 with 359 career homers and 1,171 RBIs.
“I wasn’t thinking, I was just getting ready for the at-bat,†Goldschmidt said of the Brewers intentional walk in front of him. “Whether it was that situation or (something else), I was probably going to bat in that inning unless something happened. I knew I was up fifth, so it was really going to be, probably, me if we were going to have a chance to win the game unless someone hit a homer before me.
“Regardless of the intentional walk, I was basically getting my mind prepared even the inning before on defense — knowing I was up fifth and knowing they were going to bring in Devin Williams and that if I came up I’d have a chance to tie or win the game with guys on base. The intentional walk didn’t really affect anything.â€
Williams had retired 16 consecutive batters before he allowed back-to-back hits by Donovan and Arenado.
“No one is going to wear it harder than Goldy,†Marmol said. “He’s highly frustrated and wants to come through there. Its’ tough to watch him right now, just because he’s wearing it more than anybody. If there’s anybody working their (butt) off and getting after it and wanting to come through there, it’s him. It’s tough that he didn’t.â€
After Goldschmidt’s at-bat, Nolan Gorman had the final shot to extend the game. Gorman, who has struggled at the plate (.203 batting average) and seen his strikeout numbers climb this season (37.2% strikeout rate), struck out swinging to end the game.
The Cardinals left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in the one-run loss to the team they’re chasing in the NL Central Division. They fell 12 games behind the Brewers with the loss, their seventh consecutive loss to the Brewers at Busch Stadium.