Two balls, one strike.
It was a rough night for Lars Nootbaar and Cardinals. Not only did St. Louis lose to the hapless A’s, but in the bottom of the fifth ball met balls in the worst way.
You know it’s bad when you’ve been hit in the nuts so hard that you do that weird circular Three Stooges walk around home plate. This feat of ball-busting physics occurred as Nootbaar tried to drive the ball into right field, cannoning it right into the ground, and then up into his danger zone.
Thankfully Noorbaar wasn’t hurt too badly, though his pride definitely took a hit — as did the Cardinals, who were blanked 8-0 by the A’s.
If this is a lesson in anything it’s the physics are a cruel, terrible mistress. Oppenheimer started teaching us that, and Nootbaar continues to remind us in 2023. The Cardinals are now 11.0 games back in the NL Central.
