ST. LOUIS _ Paul DeJong popped up with the bases loaded to end the first extra inning Saturday. And then the Cardinals All-Star shortstop committed a baserunning error in the second extra inning by failing to tag up from second on a long fly to center.
The door kept open for the Cleveland Indians was closed in the 12th when Tyler Naquin doubled off Alex Reyes for the go-ahead run in a 2-1 Cleveland victory that resulted in the Cardinals' second extra-frame loss in three days.
The Cardinals made another baserunning miscue in the 12th after Yadier Molina, the designated runner at second, went to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Matt Carpenter grounded to first baseman Carlos Santana, who bobbled the ball as he was about to step on the bag and, after recovering the ball, did step on the bag for the second out.
Molina, running between third and home, stopped and then motioned it was a foul ball. It wasn't and third baseman Jose Ramirez, after receiving Santana's throw, tagged out Molina to end the game on a play that was not reviewable.
Manager Mike Shildt did not feel the need to talk to DeJong or Molina about what happened. He was more concerned by the Cardinals going 1 for 15 with men in scoring position.
"The fact of the matter was that we had a lot of opportunities and we couldn't get the hit," he said.
"We've got to execute on offense when we've got runners in scoring position, whether it's a regular game or extra innings.
"At the end of the day, it's about scoring runs. We've got to figure out a way to score runs when we have opportunities in situational hitting and approach is a big part of that."
Molina's seventh-inning single to right created two deadlocks
One is that his 1,980th career hit tied Molina with Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst for sixth place on the Cardinals' career list. The other is that the hit, with Brad Miller running off first base on a full-count pitch, set up a Cardinals' run as they finally drew even with the Indians for the first time in the series.
Carpenter's single to right plated Miller and the Cardinals caught the Indians 1-1 after reliever James Karinchak had replaced dominating starter Carlos Carrasco.
The Cardinals still had two runners on with one out after Carpenter's hit but Tyler O'Neill and Harrison Bader both struck out.
Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty, statistically the top pitcher since 1920 for career games started in August (minimum of 10), was seeking to improve on his 9-1 record and 0.94 earned run average for the month when he took on a Cleveland lineup that had rolled up 20 hits the night before at Busch Stadium.
Flaherty, whose earned run average and opponents' batting average of .136 were lowest in history for the past 100 Augusts, was touched up by Jose Ramirez for a first-inning solo homer and a third-inning single on Saturday. But, on the single to center, Sandy Leon, waved home by Indians third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh and with All-Star Francisco Lindor due up next, was gunned down by a throw from center fielder Bader. That kept the Cardinals' deficit at 1-0.
But the Cardinals were doing little with Indians starter Carlos Carrasco, who had just recovered from a bout with leukemia at this time year ago.
Paul Goldschmidt doubled to right with two out in the first inning when Naquin couldn't hold onto the ball after crashing into the wall. But Goldschmidt was stranded when Miller popped up.
In the fourth, Goldschmidt got the Cardinals' second hit when his bouncer to third hit off the bag and Ramirez had no throw. Miller walked but Molina rolled into a double play.
After Flaherty dodged a two-out single in the Indians' fifth, he had sailed past the 80-pitch mark and the Cardinals had left-hander Genesis Cabrera warming up.
Cabrera struck out three in a scoreless sixth but left with a cracked nail on his left middle finger prior to the seventh, with left-hander Austin Gomber then summoned.
Gomber walked the first two men he faced but escaped damage with the help of catcher Molina, who threw out pinch runner Delino DeShields trying to steal third.
