Cardinals Manager Rips Tyler O'Neill's Effort, O'Neill Responds, O'Neill Gets Benched

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In Wednesday night's St. Louis Cardinals loss to the Atlanta Braves, Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. threw Tyler O'Neill out at the plate in the 7th inning. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol blamed O'Neill's lack of effort.

The play happened in the bottom of seventh inning with two outs and the Cardinals trailing 4-1. Cardinals pinch-hitter Brendan Donovan singled to right field.

O'Neill attempted to score from second base, but Acuña made a perfect throw and nabbed O'Neill to end the inning.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol had a problem with Tyler O'Neill's effort on this play where he was thrown out at home plate.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol had a problem with Tyler O'Neill's effort on this play where he was thrown out at home plate. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)

Tyler O'Neill was nowhere near scoring on the play -- the throw beat him by several steps. Marmol had a problem with how he rounded third base.

The best video I could find was a fan video from the upper deck, so you can judge for yourself.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol rips Tyler O'Neill for lack of effort

"We got a lot of guys playing really hard," Marmol said after the game. "That's not our style of play, as far as the effort rounding the bag there. That's unacceptable."

Tyler O'Neill responded to his manager, upset that Marmol called him out publicly. He also defended his effort.

"I got up through the minor leagues and into the big leagues playing hard and playing scrappy," O'Neill said in the clubhouse after the game. "These conversations definitely could have been had in-house and not gotten out on the loose like they have. Should have been handled a little differently, in my opinion, but who's to say?"

Oliver Marmol followed-through on his postgame comments and did not start Tyler O'Neill against the Braves on Thursday afternoon.

The Braves beat the Cardinals 5-2 on Thursday, completing the three-game sweep.

Maybe they should just try a little harder.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.