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ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs closer Jose Veras stumbled first. Then it was Trevor Rosenthals turn to fail -- at the plate and on the mound. Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning off the St. Louis closer, who struck out with an unusual chance to win it, and the Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-3 on Friday night. "I know he throws really hard," Castillo said. "So I just waited for something over the plate that I can drive, and I put my best wood on it." The Cardinals tied it with two runs in the ninth and had runners on first and second with two outs in the 10th when manager Mike Matheny decided against a pinch hitter. Rosenthal (0-1) took a called third strike in his second career at-bat and said he didnt carry any disappointment back to the mound. "Uh no, because I mean, Im not here to hit," Rosenthal said. "So its easy to kind of brush it off and just go out there and try to have another shutdown inning." Nate Schierholtz doubled for his fourth straight hit leading off the 11th and advanced on a sacrifice. Starlin Castro was intentionally walked and Ryan Kalish popped out on a bunt attempt before Castillo lined a 1-1 fastball 426 feet to left for his second homer. "I figured he might be hunting for a fastball," Rosenthal said. "Looking at the video, I didnt get it up quite as much as Id hoped, but he put a good swing on a good pitch. "Not much you can do about it." Justin Grimm (1-0) walked Matt Holliday and Matt Adams on eight pitches to start the 10th but got out of it, partly because Matheny left Pete Kozma and Tony Cruz on the bench. Grimm struck out Yadier Molina and got Shane Robinson to fly out before facing Rosenthal. Matheny said hed have batted Kozma with less than two outs. He also banked on another shutdown inning from Rosenthal, who needed just six pitches in the 10th. "Youve got a real good feeling hes going to bring us back in with another zero," Matheny said. "We had two shots at getting the guy in from second." Hector Rondon finished for his first career save. Veras hit two batters and walked another in the ninth. One run scored on a passed ball by Castillo, helping the Cardinals score twice in the inning. Matt Carpenters bases-loaded sacrifice fly tied it at 3. Veras has blown both his save chances and has allowed five earned runs in 3 2-3 innings with three hit batters and seven walks. "A shaky outing," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said, "but hes still our guy." Chicago starter Jeff Samardzija worked seven economic innings for the third straight start, exiting with a 1.29 ERA. He finally got some runs to work with, but was denied a win for the ninth straight outing since Aug. 24 at San Diego. "You keep pitching and giving your team a chance to win," Samardzija said. "Everyone is trying to do their jobs and sometimes balls find holes, and sometimes they dont." Ryan Sweeneys RBI single off Carlos Martinez tied it in the seventh and was the Cubs first run in 21 innings when Samardzija starts. Anthony Rizzos sacrifice fly off Kevin Siegrist snapped a tie in a two-run eighth. Cubs pinch hitters were 1 for 18 before the eighth inning when Justin Ruggiano, batting for Samardzija, singled off Martinez, and Mike Olt, batting for Luis Valbuena, singled off Siegrist. Molinas RBI single in the second was his 10th hit in 18 career at-bats against Samardzija. He had two hits and is batting .455 (25 for 55) with three homers and 17 RBIs against the Cubs the last two seasons. Cardinals starter Joe Kelly allowed an unearned run in six innings. He faced the minimum through the first five innings with the help of two double-play balls. NOTES: The Cubs appeal of a hit by pitch call on Allen Craig in the ninth was denied. ... Castro got a strange assist at SS in the fourth when he staggered and dropped Hollidays towering popup with a runner on first. The ball rolled directly to second baseman Emilio Bonifacio for a forceout as Kolten Wong slid back into first. ... Adam Wainwright (1-1, 1.29 ERA) faces Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 4.26) on Saturday. ... Kelly has pitched at least five innings in all 31 career starts, the longest streak by a St. Louis starter 25 or younger since 25-year-old Dizzy Dean went 35 in a row in 1935, according to STATS. ... St. Louis SS Jhonny Peralta was hitless in three at-bats before coming out in a double switch and is 2 for 31 (.063) on the season, both home runs. Justin Faulk Jersey .4 seconds left and dribbled up court, weaving through Pitts defence. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . Nothing pretty. But this is 1/4 World Cup. Usually plays out this way. http://www.hurricanessale.com/ . Leverkusen said on Friday it signed Schmidt on a two-year contract. He guided Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian championship this season. Rod Brind Amour Jersey . Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. James was driving to the rim in the first quarter and McLemore decided to try to take the charge, which was quite admirable and predictably futile.England almost snatched a win on a flat pitch in the first Test in Abu Dhabi, with captain Alastair Cook and Adil Rashid leading from the front. Cook scored a record-breaking 263, while Rashid took 5-64 in the second innings on debut. We ask former England all-rounder Dominic Cork for his thoughts on both, plus what England can expect in the second Test in Dubai...Can captain Cooks form continue? Watch England captain Alastair Cook reach his double century against Pakistan in the first Test in Abu Dhabi I think so. He looks in good form at the moment. He is a lot more stable at the crease and gets into good positions. He is mentally in a better place as well and like any sportsman, if you’re mentally in a better place, he just looks more at ease.As a captain, he has been under pressure for a while – stripped of the one-day captaincy - with a lot of criticism about his style of captaincy too. But he lead from the front, and when you watch good captains from around the world, this is what they do.It was a record-breaking innings in length. The way he composed himself under massive pressure after Pakistan posted a huge first innings total, showed the attitude is ‘it doesn’t matter what the opposition do – we can 100 per cent win in the UAE’. They have a good chance now.How did you rate Rashids debut? Adil Rashid salutes after taking five wickets on debut for England against Pakistan in Abu Dhavi It obviously doesnt sound great when your figure are 0-163 in your first bowl in Test cricket, but to finish with 5-64 in the second innings, almost bowling England to victory, is some turnaround. Great signs that we have a leg-spinner now who can take wickets and possibly win games for England.In the first innings he was getting himself too close into the sumps with his release, closing himself off. Where as in the second innings he went slightly wider, put more revolutions on the ball which enabled him to get more dip, and made it difficult for the Pakistan batsmen. He can also bowl the googly out of the back of his hand, and that is something I dont think they picked very well in the second innings. Who else stood out from first Test? James Anderson of England celebrates bowling Shan Masood of Pakistan during the firstTest in Abu Dhabi A lot of people said that Jimmy Anderson wouldnt be successful. And people who say that really annoy me, because this guy is the leading wicket-taker for England. They think he needs swing, and he hasnt got the pace anymore. But he has so much skill.It doesntt matter what wicket he plays on, he can swing the ball away, and constantly challenges the batsmen because of the areas he bowls.dddddddddddd Abu Dhabi, one of the flattest wickets you could play Test cricket on, and he still came out with respectable figures, 4-72.Should England fear Shah return? Yasir Shah has England in his sights ahead of Pakistans Test with Alastair Cooks side in Dubai Yes, because he is a match-winner. A bit like Rashid, he has the ability to turn the ball both ways, and he has 61 wickets in 10 Tests. Plus his record in Dubai in particular is excellent, with 14 scalps in two Tests.He has already come out and said that England players dont like facing spin, particularly leg-spin. But I think he should just stick to his own game, and do what he does best. On his day he can put England under pressure and will be a massive threat.What to expect in Dubai? David Lloyd interrupts his round of golf to give his thoughts ahead of the second Test between Pakistan and England Expect very similar. Im hoping there will be a bit more life in the pitch, a bit more bounce and carry for both seamers and spinners. Pakistans coach Waqar Younis said we didnt order that pitch in Abu Dhabi, it was what was given to them.But whatever the surface in Dubai, both sides will win the toss and choose to bat first. Hopefully England can do that and put a big score together because as we saw in Pakistans second innings, a little bit of panic started to set in with the senior players - Younus Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik - playing poor shots. Englands tour of the UAE to play Pakistan is live on Sky Sports, continuing with the second Test in Dubai, from 6.30am on Thursday 22nd October. You can also watch without a contract on NOW TV. Also See: Five Things: Abu Dhabi Zone masterclasses England fixtures/results Sky Cricket Podcast ' ' '