On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals experienced yet another meltdown.
Ahead 5-3 in the top of the ninth inning, they were one strike away from ending their four-game losing skid.
However, Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run home run to tie the game and force extras, where the San Francisco Giants scored three unanswered runs to pull off a sweep at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals are now a season-high 15 games below the .500 mark.
They have not been 15 or more games below since September 23, 1997.
After the game, star third baseman Nolan Arenado commented on yet another excruciating loss and gave a blunt assessment of the team’s latest collapse.
Arenado: “I don’t know if you’d call it a stretch anymore. It’s just bad baseball. We have been playing bad baseball for awhile now. Do I think we can play better baseball with the players we have in here? Sure But that remains to be seen.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/9vnuTTXFX8
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) June 14, 2023
Arenado went as far as to say that the team’s struggles are not merely due to a bad stretch anymore.
The Cardinals have been playing what Arenado referred to as “bad baseball” for almost three months.
He expressed confidence that the team can ultimately play better baseball with what they have, but that it remains to be seen if they truly can.
Arenado also made sure to shift any blame away from manager Oli Marmol and his coaching staff, taking responsibility for the team’s struggles and the fact that they have been unable to execute in key spots.
At 27-42, St. Louis owns the worst record in the National League.
They got some help in the NL Central race on Wednesday as both the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates lost their respective games.
But the clock is ticking on their season, and soon, they may be forced to consider becoming sellers at the deadline and punting on the 2023 season.
NEXT:
Cardinals Announce Pitching Plans For London Series
