Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has accused the Brewers of relaying signs from the dugout during Tuesday night’s game. The situation escalated when Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe gestured towards the St. Louis dugout with three WWE-style crotch chops after an inning-ending strikeout in the eighth.
Uribe, speaking through an interpreter, said he believed Marmol had been making signs that led him to believe were meant to direct Cardinals pitchers to hit Brewers batters with pitches, in particular outfielder Christian Yelich and catcher William Contreras.
Marmol’s Account of the Dugout Exchange
Speaking before a Wednesday afternoon game between the teams, Marmol initially downplayed the situation. “I’d rather not blow anything out of proportion,” Marmol said. “I think it already has been, to be quite honest with you.”
However, when pressed, Marmol responded, “I’ve got no issues telling you the full story, but I just think, like anything these days, it gets blown up. This is like an everyday occurrence. We felt like (the Brewers) were being pretty demonstrative about relaying signs from the dugout.”
Marmol said he then addressed the Brewers’ dugout directly. “I looked over and I said, ‘Hey, you gotta do it, be smart, you’re gonna get somebody hurt,’” Marmol said, while pointing to his ribs. “Like what we trying to do here? That was it.”
Aftermath and Reactions
Marmol mentioned a separate incident involving an unnamed Brewers coach before the game regarding the sign-relaying issue. Marmol said that same coach and he spoke after the game. Marmol said he hadn’t had any discussions with Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who condemned Uribe’s antics, calling it “unacceptable.”
Asked if the matter was settled, Marmol said: “I have no reason to think it’s not. Usually, you just don’t get that type of demonstrative reaction that spurs further question, that’s just the reality of it. But we have those types of interaction daily across the league.”
Yelich described Uribe’s gesture as “a little bit over the top.”
“Obviously, I don’t think the strikeout celebration is something we need to be doing,” Yelich said. “He’s a guy that always has his teammates’ backs. I appreciate where he was coming from on it, but I think there’s a different way to handle that situation and he knows that.”
Yelich also said there has been “some stuff going on during the series that I don’t really know why it was going on,” but declined to elaborate.
Brewers Aim to Move On
Yelich said the Brewers didn’t want the matter to distract from their performance on the field. Milwaukee has taken the first two games of the series.
“We’ve all addressed it and we’ll move on and have it not become a big distraction,” he said.