Oli Marmol finally did something that helped Cardinals win a baseball game

Oli Marmol's seat is currently the equivalent of a metal deck chair sitting in the Las Vegas sun during the heart of July. The St. Louis Cardinals manager was much maligned throughout last season but, after being "rewarded" with a contract extension in the offseason, he returned to helm the 2024 campaign for the Redbirds.

Predictably for most fans, it's gone just as well as last year.

Entering Sunday's series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers trying to avoid a four-game sweep against the NL Central rival, the Cardinals were nine games under .500 overall. And in the Brewers series, it had looked quite bad, both for the players and Marmol alike. What's more, many thought the manager only added to that when he was ejected from Sunday's contest after winning two challenges and still getting into it with the umpires.

In actuality -- or at least if you ask Marmol -- he may have actually been helping the cause.

Oli Marmol ejection actually helped spark a Cardinals win

Marmol's strange ejection (alongside bench coach Daniel Descalso) in the top of the third inning, which apparently stemmed from the fact that he'd had to use two challenges for calls he and the Cardinals felt were clear, came when St. Louis was trailing 3-1. And after the game, he explained that he had respect for the umpire crew and thought they do a good job but added that sometimes the team needs a spark and he tried to give them that.

Wouldn't you know it, Marmol actually did something that worked too!

At the time of the ejection, the Cardinals had just three hits and their one run came after a bases loaded walk, not a hit with runners in scoring position. After Marmol got the hook (and caused quite an entertaining scene too), the Cardinals reeled off eight hits, including signs of life from Paul Goldschmidt with a solo home run and an RBI single, along with a Michael Siani go-ahead double.

Siani's seventh-inning knock that was nearly a two-run homer ultimately secured the victory for St. Louis to avoid a disastrous sweep and give at least some positive vibes on the plane ride from Milwaukee to Los Angeles.

Marmol has rightly been under fire all year long this season. His management of the lineup, both pre- and in-game, have produced questionable-to-poor results consistently and it seems as if the manager has not had the right answers nearly often enough. There's no question that, even after this win, he remains squarely on the hot seat.

Having said that, it's still good to see him try and make a point to spark something in the Cardinals and for it to work. If nothing else, at least this club still seems to have a little bit of fight left in them.