ST. LOUIS (AP) — Game 3 of the World Series ended on a bizarre play that allowed to St. Louis Cardinals to take a two-games-to-one lead over the Boston Red Sox. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks was called for obstruction in the bottom of the ninth, allowing Allen Craig to score the winning run in the Cardinals’ 5-4 victory against the Red Sox. Yadier Molina started the winning rally with a single and moved to third on Craig’s double off Koji Uehara before craziness ensued.

Jon Jay hit a grounder right at second baseman Dustin Pedroia with the Red Sox playing the infield in. Pedroia threw a strike to the plate to get Molina, and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia fired to third in an attempt to nail Craig and end the inning. Saltalamacchia’s throw sailed over the head of Middlebrooks and down the left-field line, prompting Craig to make a dash for home. But Middlebrooks got tangled up with Craig, who tripped before he was tagged out by Saltalamacchia. Third base umpire Jim Joyce made the obstruction call and allowed the run to count.

The Cardinals blew a pair of two-run leads before winning. Matt Holliday hit an RBI single in a two-run first and doubled home a pair to make it 4-2 in the seventh. The Red Sox tied it in the eighth as Daniel Nava hit an RBI grounder and Xander Bogaerts singled home the tying run. Trevor Rosenthal blew the save in the eighth but picked up the victory. Uehara was tagged with the loss.

Game 4 is this (Sunday) evening in St. Louis, where Lance Lynn will start for St. Louis against Clay Buchholz. Pre-game coverage begins at 6-p.m. on KJAN.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran has received the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player whose contributions on and off the field best represent the game. Beltran has contributed more than $4 million to his Carlos Beltran Academy in Puerto Rico and has hosted fundraising efforts throughout the year.

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) – Austin Sumner threw three touchdowns to help South Dakota State defeat Northern Iowa 37-34 in overtime in a Missouri Valley Conference game on Saturday.  Sumner was 22-of-34 and 239 yards, hitting wide receiver Brandon Hubert for two touchdowns including one with a minute left in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime and another in overtime to clinch the win for the Jackrabbits (5-4, 2-3 MVC). Running back Zach Zenner rushed for 106 yards and one touchdown.

South Dakota State scored first in OT on a 26-yard field goal by Justin Syrovatka. The Panthers (4-4, 0-4) answered with a pair of field goals to take the game to 34-31.  Sumner’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Hubert capping a 4-play drive sealed the victory for the Jackrabbits.

The loss is the fourth straight for the Panthers, who are now tied with Indiana State for last in the MVC.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake capitalized on three miscues to score 16 points late in the fourth quarter and continue its dominance over Valparaiso with a 23-10 win in a Pioneer League game on Saturday. A shanked punt from the end zone gave Drake (4-4, 3-2) the ball on the 19 to set up the go-ahead touchdown — a 3-yard run by Conley Wilkins — and a fumble recovery led to the clinching field goal. Another lost fumble at the 21 led to a 4-yard TD run for Wilkins, keeping Valparaiso winless in 10 trips to Des Moines.

The Bulldog defense kept the Crusaders (1-7, 1-4) bottled up except for a 73-yard touchdown pass from Eric Hoffman to Tony Taibi for a 10-7 lead early in the second half. Valparaiso was limited to 183 yards of total offense, just four on the ground.

Drakes’s Andy Rice threw for 297 yards, 104 to Eric Saubert.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — C.J. Fiedorowicz caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jake Rudock in overtime to give Iowa a 17-10 win over Northwestern Saturday. The Hawkeyes (5-3, 2-2 Big 10) nearly blew another lead in the second half. Northwestern (4-4, 0-4) dropped its fourth straight game. Rudock completed 19-of-27 passes for 169 yards — none bigger than the third-down pass to Fiedorowicz in overtime. Rudock rolled to his right and lofted a pass to his big tight end in the left corner of the end zone.

Northwestern’s Kain Colter was sacked on the final play of the game to seal the win for Iowa. The Hawkeyes snapped a two-game losing skid. Both teams made mistakes on key opportunities late in the fourth quarter. Rudock threw an interception in the final minute. Northwestern running back Mike Trumpy mishandled an option pitch from Colter with three minutes left.