Don’t disturb Oliver Marmol during the challenge.
One Oakland Athletics guard learned that in a tough experience Monday night when the Cardinals manager grabbed him by the chest to keep him out of the way as he tried to challenge him.
This slight delay prevented the Cardinals from requesting a rematch in time, and Marmol was upset. In the end, the call didn’t matter in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory.
Strange things can happen in the Coliseum, and this strange thing happened in the seventh inning after the Athletics turned into an inning-ending double play.
The Cardinals wanted to ask if Brendan Donovan at second base was safe on a tag play, but as Marmol looked at bench coach Daniel Descalso, a security guard walked in front of him.
Marmol first stopped the man who was about to stagger with his right hand, but Marmol grabbed him around the chest while still facing the bench coach.
Ultimately, Descalso gave Marmol a thumbs up to challenge him, and the Cardinals manager indicated his intention to do so to the umpire.
Afterwards, the judges apparently said Marmol missed the cutoff because he was sticking his arm out, saying, “What the hell?” manner.
Perhaps at this point the security official realized he had messed up, and Marmol raised his hands, as if to indicate, “It was my fault,” and pointed at the security official.
Marmol then walked toward the referee while pointing at the security guard, who eventually raised his hand as if acknowledging that he had indeed blocked the coach.
However, the referees did not change their verdict that Marmol had missed the deadline.
“But unfortunately, the Cardinals weren’t too happy about it. They were trying, and security may have gotten in the way a little bit.” said one of the game’s announcers., which you can listen to in the highlights package on the Cardinals’ YouTube channel. “Oli Marmol wasn’t too happy about it and tried to talk it out, but to no avail. It was just a chain of unfortunate events for the Cardinals and Marmol. It’s just tough.”
The Cardinals are 8-9 on the season and will play the second game of this three-game set on Tuesday night, while the Athletics are 7-10.
