3 takeaways from the Cardinals series against the Orioles

2. Umpiring is as bad as ever.

We can all thank Laz Diaz for the victory in game 1 of the series. Diaz missed two calls in the bottom of the 4th inning on Monday night that led to a total of 4 runs.

Dean Kremer was pitching well up to that point, but Diaz missed a called strike to Nolan Gorman with runners on first and second base. While Gorman would eventually strike out, this missed call made Kremer work that much harder.

The true travesty in game 1 came two batters later with Michael Siani. Siani was granted an extra life when a pitch that was very clearly a strike was called a ball. Siani then homered on the subsequent pitch to give the Cards a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals never looked back at this point, and they would go on to win the game 6-3.

Lars Nootbaar was a victim of bad umpiring in game two when three pitches at least a ball's length outside the zone were called strikes, leading to Noot's strikeout and eventual ejection. Not one of the called strikes on Nootbaar were even close to the zone, and he was ejected as a result of his disagreement.

The new Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) has been in practice for two years in the minor leagues for refinement. Its arrival in the majors is imminent, and the hope is that this automatic system helps cut back on the effect umpires have on the game. This umpiring staff was miserable for both teams in this series, and their effect was clear.