St. Louis Cardinals’ Allen Craig reacts after hitting a double during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball’s World Series against the Boston Red Sox Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in St. Louis.ST. LOUIS – Third baseman Will Middlebrooks tripped Allen Craig for a game-ending obstruction call on Jon Jay’s ninth-inning grounder, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a bizarre 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night and a 2-1 World Series lead.
Boston had tied the score with two runs in the eighth, and Yadier Molina singled with one out in the ninth off relief pitcher Brandon Workman. Allen Craig pinch hit and lined Koji Uehara’s first pitch down the left-field line for a double that put runners on third and second.
With the infield in, Jay hit a grounder to diving second baseman Dustin Pedroia. He threw home to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who tagged out the sliding Molina. Saltalamacchia threw offline past third, and Middlebrooks, with his stomach on the field, raised both legs and tripped Craig.
Third base umpire Jim Joyce immediately signaled obstruction, and even though a sliding Craig was tagged by Saltalamacchia at the plate following the throw by left fielder Daniel Nava, plate umpire Dana DeMuth signaled safe and then pointed to third, making clear the obstruction had been called.
The Red Sox scored twice in the eighth inning to tie it 4-all. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single and Shane Victorino was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this postseason. Both runners moved up on Pedroia’s groundout, and David Ortiz was intentionally walked.