Marmol Says Sign-Relaying Prompted Gesture That Riled Cardinals-Brewers Series

Marmol Says Sign-Relaying Prompted Gesture That Riled Cardinals-Brewers Series

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday that he had warned the Milwaukee Brewers about openly relaying signs from their dugout during Tuesday night’s game, framing the rebuke as the direct trigger for reliever Abner Uribe’s provocative celebration that drew widespread attention. Uribe, a Dominican right-hander, performed three crotch-chop gestures toward the Cardinals dugout after recording an inning-ending strikeout in the eighth.

Marmol told reporters he had gestured toward the Milwaukee dugout and told coaches there that their sign-relaying was reckless enough to cause a batter to get hit. “I said, ‘Hey, you gotta do it, be smart, you’re gonna get somebody hurt,'” Marmol said, pointing to his ribs. He added that a separate conversation with an unnamed Brewers coach had taken place before the game on the same issue, and that the two spoke again after the final out. Marmol said he had not spoken directly with Brewers manager Pat Murphy. Uribe, speaking through an interpreter after Tuesday’s game, had claimed he believed Marmol’s gestures were directing Cardinals pitchers to target Milwaukee hitters, specifically outfielder Christian Yelich and catcher William Contreras.

Murphy described Uribe’s celebration as “unacceptable.” Yelich, speaking in the Milwaukee clubhouse Wednesday, called the gesture “a little bit over the top” while acknowledging Uribe’s protective instincts toward teammates. “I think there’s a different way to handle that situation, and he knows that,” Yelich said. Yelich also referenced unspecified tension during the series but declined to elaborate, saying only that “some stuff” had been happening that he did not fully understand.

Marmol said he believed the matter had been resolved through post-game conversations and characterised sign-relay confrontations as routine across the league. Milwaukee held a two-game lead in the series heading into Wednesday’s afternoon matchup. Yelich said the Brewers were determined not to let the episode become a distraction. “We’ve all addressed it, and we’ll move on,” he said.