Cardinals LF Ozuna scratched from lineup after oversleeping

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna was scratched from Wednesday's lineup due to being a late arrival to Busch Stadium after oversleeping.

Ozuna said he was unsure what time he arrived at the ballpark for the afternoon contest against the Kansas City Royals.

"I came to the park and said sorry to my teammates and my coach," Ozuna told reporters following the Cardinals' 5-2 loss in 10 innings. "Everybody makes a mistake. Today it was me."

Ozuna initially said he was awoken by a knock on the door. A short time later, he said his alarm clock shook him from his slumber.

"When I saw the time, I said, 'My God, I'm late,'" Ozuna said.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is a stickler for on-time arrivals so he made the decision to pull Ozuna from the lineup.

"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, 27, was acquired from the Miami Marlins in the offseason. He is batting just .253 with three homers and 22 RBIs.

Last season, Ozuna enjoyed a career year and established career highs for batting average (.312), homers (37) and RBIs (112).

--Field Level Media