18 hours Ago
The St. Louis Cardinals lost their second consecutive game against the New York Mets after a questionable bullpen call quickly ended Friday's matchup against the National League East foe. Following Thursday night's disappointing 4-1 loss to the Mets, during which Cardinals' Andre Pallante pitched well despite sacrificing four earned runs in the 2nd inning, St.
Louis and Queens battled through a seesaw game Friday night that showcased seven lead changes. Sadly, the Mets had the last laugh over the Cardinals after four-time Silver Slugger Francisco Lindor belted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning at Citi Field. However, St.
Louis manager Oli Marmol could've prevented Friday night's crushing loss, regardless of whether he sees it that way. "Asked Oli Marmol why closer Ryan Helsley was not brought into the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, regardless of Lindor-(Juan) Soto-(Pete) Alonso due up," The Athletic's Katie Woo reported after the Mets defeated the Cardinals 5-4 Friday night. "'No manager in the league brings their closer in on the road in the ninth (in a tie game),'" Marmol stated after St.
Louis fell to 9-11 and three games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central following Friday's nail-biting loss to Queens, as transcribed by Woo. Considering that the Cardinals were tied heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, it made sense for Marmol to call Ryan Fernandez down from the bullpen instead of Helsley. The Cardinals were the away team, so they would've needed another reliever to pitch the bottom of the 10th inning.
Forcing Helsley to throw without there being an immediate save opportunity might've been an unwise and costly decision. Still, Fernandez has posted a 0-2 record with a 9.00 ERA, four-to-four strikeout-to-walk ratio, .
355 batting average against and a 2.14 WHIP in seven innings pitched for St. Louis in 2025.
Even though Helsley's role in the Cardinals' bullpen is to close games when save opportunities are available, Friday night's situation during the bottom of the 9th inning could've been an exception for the 30-year-old flamethrower. The 2024 Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year would've had a greater chance than Fernandez to survive two-time Gold Glove defender Lindor, $765 million superstar Soto and four-time All-Star Alonso, which could've berthed an opportunity for the prolific Cardinals' offense to log enough runs in the top of the 10th inning to help tie the four-game series against the Mets at one apiece. Unfortunately, Fernandez's third pitch to Lindor was clobbered for an upper-deck solo HR , leaving Marmol and the Cardinals down two games to none as they look to rebound by winning Saturday's matchup at Citi Field with 25-year-old left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore appointed to be St.
Louis' starting hurler -- first pitch is at 3:05 PM Central Standard Time. More MLB: Cardinals Hurler Out To Settle Personal Vendetta Against Mets & Rest Of MLB.
