Sometimes, a manager doesn’t have to think he’s in the right to argue with an umpire and get himself tossed. Sometimes you’ll see managers argue with umpires either to show a player that he has his back, or even to try to spark a comeback.

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader featuring the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs, Marmol was ejected after arguing balls and strikes. Nolan Arenado did not like that a pitch was called a strike despite it clearly catching the corner. Marmol protected his player by going out and getting himself run, and the Cardinals wound up winning the game.

St. Louis took an early 2-0 lead in this game but quickly saw it vanish when Kyle Gibson allowed four runs to score in the second inning. The Cardinals got one back in the bottom half, but by the time Marmol was thrown out of the game, it was still 4-3 Chicago.

Oli Marmol sparks another Cardinals rally by getting himself ejected

Of course, it was Arenado who gave the Cardinals a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run single. Ryan Helsley nailed down his 32nd save of the season, and the Cardinals improved to five games over .500.

What makes this even more interesting is it isn’t the first time Marmol has been ejected this season. Marmol was ejected for the first time on Mother’s Day. He was thrown out of that game after winning two challenges, strangely enough. He even admitted he got himself tossed because he was trying to give his reeling team a spark. At the time, the Cardinals were 15-24 and trying to avoid a four-game sweep in Milwaukee.

The Cardinals rallied from a three-run deficit to win that game 4-3. It was a huge win for a Cardinals team that has continued to play well ever since they pulled that one off.

The second time Marmol got tossed this season came just ten games later in a game against the Orioles. Marmol was tossed after arguing balls and strikes when his Cardinals were trailing 3-0. They managed to pull that game out, rallying to score five runs in four innings following his ejection and win the game 5-4.

The Cardinals have gone 35-21 since his first ejection and 28-19 since his second ejection. They came back in impressive fashion to start both of those runs.

Marmol might not be the best in-game manager we’ve ever seen, but it’s clear that this team feels some sort of spark when their skipper gets tossed. What we learned on Saturday is that Marmol doesn’t even have to be right to spark his team. If he ever notices his team playing lackluster baseball, he can simply cause a stir, get himself thrown out, and then everything will take care of itself.