ST. LOUIS -- On the advice of veteran counsel -- namely future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols -- reliever Génesis Cabrera apologized to Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol Saturday and planned to apologize to his teammates following his on-mound antics on Friday night.

Cabrera, one of the Cardinals' most reliable and consistent relievers all season, angrily fired the baseball into the mound in the top of the ninth inning of Friday’s 7-3 defeat of the Reds as Marmol was coming out to replace him. Cabrera retired shortstop Kyle Farmer to end the eighth inning, but he allowed two singles to open the ninth and was replaced.

After spiking the ball, it bounced up and hit the pitcher in the face and deflected to Marmol, who caught the ball and grabbed his reliever at the waist. After the two of them talked briefly, the 25-year-old Cabrera was approached on the bench by Pujols. The 42-year-old scolded Cabrera for the incident and told him that his actions were unacceptable, something that Cabrera acknowledged on Saturday.

“I was more frustrated about myself,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I’ve had two outings without throwing not many pitches, and my emotions came out. That’s something hopefully I will get better with. That’s something I need to get better doing.”

Cabrera said he followed Pujols' advice as soon as he got to Busch Stadium on Saturday by apologizing to Marmol. The Cardinals manager said that Cabrera would not be fined or suspended and was available to pitch on Saturday.

“Oli told me that’s stuff that I cannot do, and it was a good conversation overall,” Cabrera said. “I know I have to be a better player and person as we go along.

“Albert just told me that’s the stuff that I shouldn’t do and when I have the opportunity go and apologize to the team and Oli.”

Cabrera is 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA this season, while racking up 10 holds and one save in 29 appearances. He was on the IL from June 25 through July 8. He surrendered two earned runs on Wednesday against the Dodgers and yielded two hits on Friday before being pulled. 

“It’s been kind of hard because I get more tired quickly,” Cabrera said. “I do feel like I’m getting better and hopefully I will be better in my next outing.”