In a battle, there is a difference between a retreat and a rout. A retreat is a tactic. In a losing battle, an orderly retreat saves an army so it can regroup and fight again. In a rout, the cohesion and discipline of the army breaks. It becomes every man for himself. It’s nearly impossible to recover from a rout.
Watching the Cardinals lose to the Nationals Monday I got the feeling that the Cardinals suffered this breakdown. The Yadier Molina failure to catch or block an errant pitch was the big sign. Given that he is the leader of the team, if he breaks, others are likely to follow suit.
Ben Frederickson noticed this, also:
But the most startling mistake? Easy. It was the one that jarred those who have spent years watching Cardinals cornerstone catcher Yadier Molina play his best baseball at the biggest moments. It was the third-inning wild pitch that looked like a passed ball.
STLToday.com
Perhaps signals got crossed. Perhaps the earlier Rendon foul tip that caught Molina in the mask scrambled him. The moment was just so un-Molina-like. On a low Jack Flaherty pitch, Molina stabbed instead of blocked. He missed. Nationals moved from first and second, to second and third, which let both score when Howie Kendrick doubled for the — let me check the notes — thousandth time this series.
The Cardinals looked like a team that gave up. Mike Schildt will have his work cut out for him today to get this team motivated again.