Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa puts blame for Game 5 mix-ups on himself

ST. LOUIS — Within Tony La Russa’s St. Louis Cardinals family, there is a certain code, a clubhouse omerta, that sometimes compels you to go on the offensive to protect someone else in the family, and other times to go on the defensive to absorb a blow so that someone else doesn’t have to. The effect is to create an us-against-the-world mentality where loyalty, honor and silence are the defining traits.

On Monday night, after Game 5 of the World Series turned into an epic disaster for the Cardinals, La Russa may have come perilously close to violating his own code. He blamed an embarrassing communication breakdown between the dugout and the bullpen — which resulted in La Russa’s having the wrong pitcher on the mound for the crucial at-bat of the Cardinals’ 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers — on crowd noise that made it difficult for the bullpen coach to hear his request.

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Cardinals manager Tony La Russa took the blame for the disconnect with the bullpen and said at Tuesday's press conference that Albert Pujols called for the unsuccessful 7th-inning hit-and-run in Monday night's 4-2 loss in Game 5. (Oct. 25)

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By Tuesday, a travel day as the series returns to Busch Stadium for Wednesday night’s scheduled Game 6, with the Rangers leading the series, three games to two — and as a media firestorm erupted over his postgame news conference the night before — La Russa appeared to have reconsidered his stance, assuming a far greater responsibility for the breakdowns at the end of Game 5.

“To the extent that what I wanted to have happen wasn’t happening [or] didn’t happen — yeah, that’s my fault,” La Russa said “I don’t need to dodge that, ever. . . . You go and make a pitching change, [and] you’ve got the wrong guy coming out there, that’s not fun. Geez, that was embarrassing.”

For the second time in about 18 hours, La Russa took the media through the convoluted series of events in the eighth inning of Game 5, when the Rangers broke open a 2-2 game on a two-run double by catcher Mike Napoli against left-hander Marc Rzepczynski. Some of it made more sense this time; some of it made less.

He reiterated the notion that he had intended to have closer Jason Motte warming up alongside Rzepczynski, in order to be ready to face Napoli, but that half of the request was never heard by bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist — with La Russa suggesting (for the first time) that he spoke Motte’s name too late, after Lilliquist had hung up.

“He felt bad about it,” La Russa said of Lillquist, “but I said, ‘Hey, that’s my fault.’ ”

A second request for Motte, according to La Russa, was heard in the bullpen as “Lynn” – which is how right-hander Lance Lynn, deemed by La Russa and the coaching staff before the game to have been off-limits except in the case of emergency, came to make a surprise appearance with Ian Kinsler at the plate. A shocked La Russa then ordered Lynn, who had been heavily used in the series, to issue an intentional walk, before pulling him for Motte.

“Maybe I slurred it,” La Russa said of the second call for Motte. As for why Lilliquist didn’t question the request for Lynn to get warm in the bullpen, given his off-limits status, La Russa said, “I would be disappointed if Derek [had said], ‘Tony, I mean, do you know what you’re doing?’ ”