Cardinals manager Tony La Russa used an unusual tactic in the 11th inning of the team's loss to the Giants on Friday, bringing in a fifth infielder for two batters to try to keep San Francisco off the scoreboard. The Giants went on to win the game in the 12th, but the move paid off in the 11th. Andres Torres had started the inning with a double down the right-field line against rookie reliever Bryan Augenstein, then took third on a wild pitch. Thus, nearly any ball to the outfield would end the game. So La Russa summoned left fielder Allen Craig to come in and serve as an extra infielder. It worked perfectly. Freddy Sanchez struck out, and Aaron Rowand hit a ball right at Craig for a fielder's choice for the second out. Craig made an impressive play to stab the ball down the line and fired home to catcher Yadier Molina, and Molina threw to third baseman Daniel Descalso who tagged Torres to complete the rundown. "I didn't really think about it," Craig said. "They told me to come in, so I went there. It's a little strange. I've never done that before. But I kind of knew it was coming to me in that situation. I had to be ready. In those situations, the ball's going to be hit to you because that's just how the game is."