TAMPA – Asked recently if the Cardinals truly know what they have in talented but oft-injured outfielder Lars Nootbaar , manager Oliver Marmol sighed, took several seconds to carefully choose his words and finally came to the following answer.

“Not completely … because it’s been interrupted by certain injuries,” he said of Nootbaar, who had a fifth straight multihit game in the Cardinals' 7-4 defeat of the Rays on Thursday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “I’d like to see [Nootbaar] over a longer period of time provide some of the consistency and start to close the gap on what his ceiling is.”

Back in the leadoff spot where he hit early in the season before encountering a prolonged offensive slump in early June, Nootbaar doubled in a run in a five-run second inning, laced a 103

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