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Cardinals manager Oli Marmol, knowing he鈥檒l face a fine for both his ejection and his comments, called the home-plate umpire Doug Eddings鈥� actions in the sixth inning 鈥渆mbarrassing鈥� and 鈥減oorly handled.鈥� And that was before Eddings missed a call at the plate that gave the Rockies a lead they didn鈥檛 misplace until Herrera鈥檚 three-run homer in the ninth elevated the Cardinals over the mess for a 7-6 victory Friday at Coors Field.

The Cardinals began the sixth inning with a three-run lead and right-hander Hancel Rincon taking the mound for his major-league debut.

He did so with his hat tilted toward the left.

During the first at-bat of Rincon鈥檚 career, Eddings instructed him to straighten the navy blue road cap. Both the Cardinals and the umpire agreed that he gave a 鈥渄irective,鈥� and not a suggestion.

鈥淚 had an issue with Doug, just Doug,鈥� Marmol said late Friday night in his office. 鈥淗e took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher that the kid is 鈥榥ot going to wear his hat on my field that way.鈥� 鈥� I have an issue with that. That鈥檚 just a power-hungry move in my opinion.鈥�

Eddings agreed to speak to two reporters, including one from the Post-Dispatch, late Friday in the umpire鈥檚 locker room at Coors Field and provided his view.

He said Rockies batter Hunter Goodman brought the hat鈥檚 tilt to his attention.

鈥淭he batter said, 鈥楬ey, can he wear his hat like that?鈥欌�� Eddings said. 鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 know. It was really, really crooked. So I asked the catcher to tell him to straighten his hat out and the pitcher did.鈥�

Eddings said he's let other pitchers, and he named Hall of Famer CC Sabathia, wear a tilted cap, and he was asked about that contrast and what the rule was regarding the angle of the cap. Former Cardinals starter Sonny Gray, as an example, also sometimes pulls his hat to the side.

鈥淚 guess it鈥檚 an unwritten rule,鈥� the crew chief said, eventually noting how a reporter wore his hat and tying the hat to rules regarding items that distract the batter. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to wear your uniform. Your hat is straight. It鈥檚 not crooked. They can鈥檛 wear it backward like a catcher. If it鈥檚 a distraction like anything on the field, like a glove or anything, and someone makes you aware of it, you address that.鈥�

Rincon did adjust his hat some.

鈥淚鈥檝e been pitching with my hat like that,鈥� Rincon said, as translated from Spanish by Cardinals鈥� bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not an excuse. But I had no idea why he told me to do it.鈥�

The inning unraveled rapidly from there on Rincon.

The Rockies hit for the cycle in the inning. Rookie TJ Rumfield tripled off Rincon, and Cole Carrigg followed with an in-side-the-park homer that caromed off the extension over the center field wall to allow him the time to circle the bases. Connor Norby added a single that chased Rincon from the game but did not stop the Rockies鈥� scoring. Two more hits followed against reliever Justin Bruihl to complete the cycle and tie the game, 4-4.

Marmol confronted Eddings during Bruihl鈥檚 warmup, and at some point in there the umpires assessed a pitch-clock violation as Marmol argued.

鈥淚 thought it was embarrassing, I thought it was poorly handled, and we鈥檒l see what happens,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淗e said some things personally during the interaction that I thought were (uncalled for).鈥�

Marmol said those comments were directed at him.

The Post-Dispatch asked Eddings if he made things personal with Marmol, and the crew chief replied: 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be in the report. When he asked if I asked him to straighten the hat up, his comment to me was not very well. I said that he wasn鈥檛 going to talk to me that way.鈥�

He added later: 鈥淚鈥檝e been doing this too long to take it personal. He wanted to defend his guy who had just given up some runs. 鈥� Nobody said anything until he gave up a couple of runs.鈥�

The result for Marmol was his fourth ejection of the season, the 25th of his career.

The fallout did not end for the Cardinals.

Two batters after Marmol鈥檚 ejection, Rockies No. 9 hitter Zac Veen dropped a bunt that led to a play at the plate. Troy Johnston bolted from third and had to slide through Leo Bernal鈥檚 mitt to reach home plate. Replays showed Bernal, with the glove in his mitt, brushing along Johnston鈥檚 arm before it reached home plate. Eddings called Johnston safe to break the tie and push the Rockies ahead, 5-4.

The Cardinals had spent their challenge unsuccessfully earlier in the inning and did not have any recourse against the missed call that would have overturned a run.

That only heated a dugout already at its boiling point.

鈥淚 was mad that you鈥檝e got a big-leaguer out there and how many big leaguers wear the hat that way? Why would you tell him how to wear his hat?鈥� Herrera said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think at this level, if you want to wear a hat that way, you can鈥檛 say anything about it. There are so many people who wear it like that. I don鈥檛 think it was super-exaggerated. That鈥檚 his style. That鈥檚 how he feels comfortable. He should be allowed to do whatever he wants like that.鈥�

The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on RBI hits from Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese. Back from the injured list, Andre Pallante limited the Rockies to two hits and walked four batters, but he was able to avoid any trouble after the first inning with an ability to coax groundouts. Pallante got seven outs from the final seven Rockies he faced before running into a pitch limit that ended his outing after five. In the fifth, the Cardinals widened the lead to 4-1 for Pallante when Jordan Walker joined the 100-RBI club with a sacrifice fly.

It was during the sixth inning that closer Riley O鈥橞rien asked a coach to call the dugout to say he was OK for the ninth. The staff had decided that after pitching on back-to-back days, they would be hands-off for O鈥橞rien on Friday.

O鈥橞rien declined and insisted he wanted the ninth with the lead.

He then saw the chaotic six unfold and the call at the plate cost them the lead.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those games (when) I had a feeling we were going to come back,鈥� O鈥橞rien said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 happened a bunch of times before this year. It shows that none of (what happened) really matters to us. We鈥檙e going to keep fighting to the end, we鈥檙e going to keep pitching, we鈥檙e going to keep taking good at-bats, and we showed that.鈥�

O鈥橞rien pitched around an error in the ninth to secure the one-run win and his 36th save. He appeared for the third consecutive day in large part because he didn鈥檛 want to sit on the frustration of blowing a save Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

The ninth became the confluence of Cardinals frustrations.

There was O鈥橞rien eager to get a chance to move past Thursday鈥檚 frustrations. There was Herrera mad about what had happened to his young teammate. And there was the Cardinals dugout and their ejected manager furious about a call at the plate that produced the go-ahead run and that they couldn鈥檛 comprehend.

All of that vanished as Herrera鈥檚 home run did into the center-field crowd.

鈥淎t the end of the day, all that matters is we won the game,鈥� Herrera said. 鈥淭hat I came through and O鈥橞rien closed the game, that Pallante pitched well. That鈥檚 all we can control.鈥�