FORT MYERS, Fla. — Fueled in part by a double from Albert Pujols, the St. Louis Cardinals pieced together a rally in the ninth inning to tie and then surpass Boston only to fail to add on and falter with minor-leaguers on the mound. Chip Ambres mashed a walk-off, three-run home run off Cardinals’ minor-league Marco Gonzalez in the 10th inning to give the hosting Red Sox an 11-8 victory at City of Palms Park.

It was a game that featured a tough start for Kyle Lohse, an early two-out rally for the Cardinals, a late clean-slate inning by closer-candidate Chris Perez and then the late inning stomach twist.

Exactly the kind of game that leaves manager Tony La Russa talking about … well, one at-bat.

In the ninth inning, trailing by three runs, the Cardinals staged an instant rally, sparked again by call-up Shane Robinson. Pinch-running for Yadier Molina after the catcher reached on a throwing error, Robinson stole second. He took third on a wild pitch. And then he scored on David Freese’s second RBI of the game. Rick Ankiel singled in two more runs to tie the game, and then Pujols doubled to break the tie. That put runners at second and third with no out. Here’s the at-bat that got La Russa: Chris Duncan’s.

Duncan, batting cleanup, continued to struggle in that spot. He struck out swinging, and then two minor-leaguers followed. Despite encouragements from Pujols at second base, both got out and the inning ended.

Duncan has hit well this spring with a line of .280/.329/.413, but he has gone through some hitless spells — mostly when he’s hitting cleanup. Hitting there Friday against Boston, Duncan went 1-for-5 with a run scored and a couple strikeouts. The one with runners on second and third and no out stuck with La Russa, who has made such situational hitting a tenet of his spring-training to-do list.

“Chris is better than that,” La Russa said. “That was a key at-bat.”

That at-bat basically put the game on the backs of the traveling minor-leaguers, who are called up from the backlots to provide depth and fill late innings for the major leaguers. Instead of doing yeoman work, the minor-leaguers today got to contribute to the outcome. With Perez spent after his spotless inning, Kyle Mura attempted to close the game for the Cardinals. He allowed one run but minimized the damage with some fine pitching. He got his final out by strikeout.

Gonzalez, the Cardinals’ final pitcher, spent most of last season in Class AA Springfield’s bullpen.

Elsewhere in the game, shortstop Khalil Greene raised his average to .417 with a couple hits. He had a key two-out single in the sixth inning that momentarily tied the game. Momentarily because Lohse gave the lead right back in the bottom of the inning. It was that kind of outing for the Cardinals righthander. He was hit hard, harder and hardest in the first inning. He lacked command of his fastball and it kept straying over the middle of the plate — imminently hittable. The Red Sox, sporting a AL East-contending lineup for the home crowd, blistered him for two runs and two hits before he got an out. Even the outs were loud.

Lohse escaped significant damage in the first inning by getting a double play, pivoted by Skip Schumaker.

He settled into a groove for a couple innings and then faltered in the fifth. Boston catcher Jason Varitek reclaimed the lead for the Red Sox with an opposite-field home run.

Lohse threw 90 pitches (61 strikes) and allowed 11 hits and six runs (five earned).

“It was one of those outings where I obviously didn’t have very good stuff,” Lohse said. “I was kind of all over the place. A lot of stuff over the middle. It’s a good lineup over there and if you’re missing spots like I was they’re going to put good wood on it and find holes, and that’s what they did.”

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