BALTIMORE -- With Lars Nootbaar feeling the doldrums of a 1-for-19 slump that included eight strikeouts and just one walk -- a skid that was particularly jarring considering his strong start to the season -- Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol made it a point to get the attention of the usually bubbly leadoff hitter for a brief chat.
Marmol’s pick-me-up session didn’t last more than a couple of minutes. And rather than go over technical stuff, such as hitting mechanics or swing decisions, Marmol’s message was instead heavy on perspective for the 27-year-old left fielder.
“I just stared at him, I smiled and I said, ‘I love you, buddy,’” Marmol said of the talk. “[Nootbaar] said, ‘Man, sometimes, this game is miserable, and we sign up for it every year.’ You just continue to encourage them. Because this game is hard. When they make adjustments, the league makes adjustments and then they have to make another adjustment.
“The better they understand this game is hard, and this is just a small window of this happening, the better perspective they will have. So, he’ll be fine. He actually has the right attitude, but there are times when [slumps] are going to suck.”
Marmol’s advice worked wonders as Nootbaar broke out with a three-hit night, which included a two-run home run. That bounce-back effort from Nootbaar, combined with close friend Nolan Arenado’s tiebreaking homer contributing to a three-run rally in the eighth inning, allowed the Cardinals to beat the Orioles, 7-4, on a rainy Tuesday night in Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
“It’s nice [to have a breakout performance] and it’s also nice when you know your manager’s got your back, too,” said Nootbaar, who delivered his first three-hit game since May 7. “Everybody, one through nine, really battled and had great at bats, and we were able to win.”
Nootbaar scored the game’s first run off a Willson Contreras single, then his two-run homer in the second inning gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. A member of the Japanese team that won the World Baseball Classic in 2023, Nootbaar tipped his helmet to Japanese pitching legend Tomoyuki Sugano before his first at-bat and then homered off him his second time at the plate.
“Sometimes when you’re in such a bad rut, you don’t even know what you’re doing. And I think that was one of those moments where I kind of got lucky,” Nootbaar said. “[Sugano] has got different shapes on his cutters, so it’s hard to even know which one is coming. But I was lucky to put a good swing on it and it [reached] the seats, and [I was fortunate] that we’re not at Busch [Stadium].”
The Orioles got on the scoreboard in the fourth following an Alec Burleson throwing error and a botched double play by Masyn Winn. Then, in the fifth, the O's grabbed their only lead of the night when Ryan O’Hearn launched a center-cut pitch from Andre Pallante into the seats for a three-run home run.
“With the way we’re hitting now, my mindset was, ‘Just keep us in it and we’re going to win that game,’” said Pallante, who struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings.
With the game knotted at 4, Arenado hit his sixth home run of the season in the eighth inning. Arenado was back in the lineup after resting on Monday following his body slamming into a steel chair arm when he tumbled into the stands while catching a foul popup late in Sunday’s win over the D-backs. Arenado, who homered for the first time since May 20, won Friday’s game with a tiebreaking three-run triple and then had stellar defensive plays late in wins over Arizona on Saturday and Sunday.
Arenado hit Bryan Baker’s first pitch to him for a Statcast-projected 400-foot home run, and in five at-bats in the game, he saw just 10 pitches total.
“That wasn’t really the plan, but I was just trying to be ready to hit, and today it worked out,” Arenado said. “With some of these relievers, you don’t want to get behind and you just don’t want to give them a strike. So, I was able to hit one pretty good.”
Arenado said he was the happiest about seeing Nootbaar break out of a slump that has mostly been a product of some tough luck. Nootbaar also got something of an assist from Arenado after he got thrown out in the seventh inning while trying to stretch a single into a double.
“Nolan knows himself better than anybody, and seeing him hit that homer pull side was huge,” Nootbaar said. “And what a relief that was for me after getting thrown out at second. So, big brother came in and helped out little brother, and that took some weight off my shoulders, for sure.”