CHICAGO • They didn't talk of redemption.

Instead, the Cardinals breathed a heavy sigh of relief after rescuing what would have been a crushing loss with a third baseman's rescued weekend.

After shifting from a troubled performance Friday to a lost start Saturday, Felipe Lopez allowed the Cardinals to escape Chicago on Sunday night with a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Chicago Cubs. Lopez, unable to get a ball out of the infield in 10 previous plate appearances in the series, turned on a two-out full count to deliver the game-winning home run against Cubs reliever Brian Schlitter.

"I'm just trying to get a hit, trying to get on base," Lopez said. "Everybody knows who's hitting behind me. I was just trying to make something happen to get it to them."

Scratched from Saturday's lineup after a tardy arrival, Lopez cranked his sixth home run at a fortuitous time. The Cardinals stopped a three-game losing streak while overcoming a crush of base-running misadventures.

The Cardinals lost three men on the bases and failed to score in a three-hit 10th inning.

Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter worked seven innings without a decision after running hot during an irksome fifth inning in which he yelled at plate umpire Bob Davidson immediately before surrendering a game-tying triple to No. 8 hitter Ryan Theriot. Carpenter left the inning down 3-2, only to have first baseman Albert Pujols break an 0-for-12 skid with a sixth-inning home run to force another tie.

Lopez approached the plate with a sense of confidence created by several earlier chances, including a hard ground ball pulled at first baseman Derrek Lee to open the game.

"I felt good going up there," Lopez said. "I knew I had a chance."

"He was into it," said manager Tony La Russa, "and being himself."

La Russa had met with Lopez after Friday's 5-0 loss and scratched Lopez from Saturday's lineup due to his late arrival at the park. Sunday, all was forgiven. "Turn the page," La Russa said.

"It was a team win; that's what it was," said Pujols, who narrowly missed a second home run an inning later when the wind at Wrigley Field pushed a drive back to the left-field warning track.

"Everybody contributed to this," Carpenter said. "The bullpen did a great job. We made some nice plays. We got a big hit. This was good for us."

It was almost disastrous.

Left fielder Matt Holliday got hung up in the first inning, leaving Ryan Ludwick to get thrown out at the plate for the third out.

Skip Schumaker's four-hit night saw him thrown out at the plate after taking a too-narrow lead off second base on Carpenter's two-out single in the sixth.

Shortstop Brendan Ryan contributed a second consecutive two-hit game but was caught stealing for the seventh inning's first out.

The Cardinals avoided their first three-game sweep at Wrigley since April 2006. They suffered what Pujols conceded to be a flat 5-0 loss Friday before taking an excruciating 6-5 loss Saturday that was supposed to include Lopez as starting third baseman. He returned to the lineup Sunday with higher quality at-bats and impeccable timing.

The Cardinals claimed only their fifth one-run road win this season. They also claimed at least a share of first place in the NL Central for the 10th time in 99 games.

Closer Ryan Franklin (5-1) entered a tie game in the ninth inning and pitched two innings for the win. Kyle McClellan and Dennys Reyes covered the 11th inning with Reyes picking up his first save since April 9, 2009.

"This was a good win because everybody did something," Reyes said. "We all put something into this."

The Cardinals finished with 15 hits but scored only twice on the 13 that stayed inside the Friendly Confines. Ludwick, center fielder Jon Jay, Ryan and Schumaker accounted for 10 hits.

"We didn't give up, even after they took the lead," Pujols said.

Three singles failed to produced a run in the top of the 10th inning when Holliday hesitated to read Schumaker's one-out line drive to center field. With the bases loaded, catcher Yadier Molina lined a one-hop double play to second base.

"My first thought was to go but then I thought, ‘I can't get doubled off here,'" Holliday said. "I checked where he was playing and he was shallow. You want to go on first instinct. But at the same time, you can't get doubled off there. It's a tough read."

Sunday's flurry of misadventures left the Cardinals with 72 unforced outs on the bases this season, second-most in the National League.

Carpenter was lifted for a pinch hitter with the game tied in the top of the eighth inning. He had lost his temper and lost a lead earlier in the night after being angered by Davidson's strike zone but self-corrected in time to allow Pujols a chance to tie the game.

The Cardinals could have jumped Cubs starter Ryan Dempster for a huge early lead but scored only two of the six runners who reached in the first two innings.

With two outs and runners at first and third, Holliday became entangled in a brief rundown after straying too far off first base. Trying to salvage something from chaos, Ludwick broke from third place to force a throw home. He was stopped to end the inning.

Less dominant than in consecutive eight-inning appearances leading up to Sunday, Carpenter allowed hits in his first five innings but didn't allow a runner to reach third base until the fourth.

Lee's leadoff double past Lopez's backhand dive led to a run when Byrd flared a single to center field.

Carpenter has exhibited a hair trigger during numerous starts this season, including a double dose of agitation during his April 21 start against the Arizona Diamondbacks' Edwin Jackson. On June 18, he verbally sparred with his manager in the dugout after dealing with a tight strike zone.

This time, Carpenter said, his reaction was misleading. Davidson "did a fine job," Carpenter said.

Four innings after Carpenter exited, Lopez stepped up - right on time.