Ozuna a late scratch from Cardinals lineup after oversleeping

Marcell Ozuna seemingly rediscovered his batting stroke when the Kansas City Royals arrived in St. Louis for a three-game series Monday.

Now if the right-handed slugger could locate his alarm clock.

Ozuna, acquired in an offseason trade from the Miami Marlins to add power to the middle of the batting order, was a late scratch from the Cardinals' lineup for the third game of the series Wednesday because he said he overslept.

"I came to the park and said sorry to my teammates and my coach," Ozuna said following the Cardinals' 5-2 loss at Busch Stadium. "Everybody makes a mistake. Today it was me."

Matheny said he has few off-field rules for his team, but punctuality is one of them. Tardiness costs his players a start.

"He's human. Things happen," Matheny said. "This guy couldn't possibly be a better teammate, how he goes about it. And he couldn't be more regretful to not be here today on time. We don't have a lot a lot of rules, but that's one of them. You're not here on time, you don't get to be in the lineup. He understands that; now we move forward."

Ozuna initially said he was awakened by a knock on the door, then later said it was his alarm clock that roused him. In the rush, he wasn't sure what time he arrived at the ballpark, only that it was before first pitch at 12:15.

"I was late, and somebody was knocking at the door. When I saw the time, I said, 'My God, I'm late,'" he said. "I came inside and said 'I'm sorry, sorry, sorry. I made a mistake.'"

Tyler O'Neill took Ozuna's place in left field and batted fourth behind Jose Martinez in the lineup. He singled and scored in the second inning, then struck out twice and flew out to right field.

O'Neill was recalled from triple-A Memphis to take the roster spot of injured shortstop Paul DeJong and has been on a hot streak since. Over the past seven days entering Wednesday's interleague game, O'Neill was hitting .471 with three home runs and six RBIs in 17 at-bats.

Ozuna had shown some life since the Royals arrived in town Monday. The Cardinals' everyday cleanup hitter has hit just .217 over the past week and is batting .253 with three home runs and 22 RBIs on the season. But he hit safely in five of seven at-bats during the current series.

Matheny sent Ozuna to the on-deck circle in the bottom of the ninth, intent to use him as a pinch hitter with the scored tied 2-2.

This story was originally published May 23, 2018 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Ozuna a late scratch from Cardinals lineup after oversleeping."