Javier Baez says a sign behind home plate camouflaged a baseball headed his way in the third inning of Sunday night's game between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

With Dexter Fowler on first base, Aledmys Diaz hit a hard ground ball to Baez, who was shaded toward second base. The ball skipped to the left of Baez and into right center field, allowing Fowler to go to third base. Matt Carpenter later drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

"I'm not afraid to make mistakes and when I make them there are no excuses, but I didn't see the ball at all until it passed the mound," Baez said. "I realized it was the sign because he was getting out of the box and I still didn't see the ball."

Baez explained what happened to Joe Maddon, who kept an eye on the sign when the Cubs took the field for the bottom of the fourth.

Once again the white Major League Baseball sign was visible so Maddon asked the umpires to make sure it was rotated out.

"Of all things the MLB App sign was all white and that ground ball he didn't react to he lost it in the sign," Maddon said. "That was a big play."