Nick Wittgren was in the Indians’ clubhouse after 1 2/3 innings of relief and heard screams coming from the dugout as he patiently waited for the TV broadcast to show what happened. When he saw Yadier Molina willingly standing off third base as Carlos Santana ran across the field from first with the ball in his hand, he wasn’t sure how to react.

“We were like, ‘Wait, what just happened? Did we win?’” Wittgren said with a laugh. “As soon as everyone walked off, we were screaming and yelling and going crazy.”

• Box score

Though the ending of Saturday’s game came with much confusion, the Tribe was able to prevail in 12 innings with a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday at Busch Stadium after Tyler Naquin delivered the go-ahead RBI double in the top of the frame. The win pushed the Indians into sole possession of first place in the American League Central.

With one out in the bottom of the 12th, Matt Carpenter hit a ground ball to Santana, who stepped on the bag and looked across the diamond to see Molina standing nearly halfway down the third-base line. Santana ran at him and forced him into a game-ending double-play rundown, as Molina stood there with his hands above his head, assuming the ground ball was foul.

“'Throw the ball, Santana!’” Indians temporary manager Sandy Alomar said were his first thoughts when the play happened. “[Molina] was in, like, standby mode. And then he kind of pointed at Santana, I don’t know if he was trying to trick him or not, but we were yelling from the dugout, ‘Throw the ball over,’ because the ball was fair. It didn’t hit the hitter or nothing.”

The chaotic ending received plenty of attention but couldn’t completely steal the show from Naquin, who continues to prove that he deserves regular at-bats for Cleveland. With the automatic runner on second, Naquin served a double into right-center field that gave the Indians the lead in extras.

“[Cardinals reliever Alex Reyes] has that sharp slider and that big curveball,” Naquin said, “so I'm just up there looking for something over the plate to get the job done, get [the runner] to third. He left it up a little bit for me, and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

The Indians’ lack of offense has been talked about all season, but despite their troubles, the club has managed to find its way to the top of the AL Central standings. And Naquin has recently shown he could be an answer for a team that entered Saturday ranked 21st in the Majors with a .249 average with runners in scoring position. Naquin has gone 6-for-10 (.600) in such situations this season, with four doubles, one triple, one homer and nine RBIs.

“Everybody's approach kind of changes,” Naquin said, “but mine personally -- and I think for most hitters -- you use the big part of the field and get the job done. … A lot of confidence is needed in those situations.”

Naquin’s bat has started to show signs of heating up, and although he was held hitless until the 12th, he entered Saturday’s game having slashed .435/.480/.739 with five RBIs over his previous eight games. His extra-inning double also handed him his sixth consecutive game in which he had a plate appearance with an extra-base hit.

Just when he was settling into an everyday role last year, Naquin tore the ACL in his right knee at the end of August. When he returned to Summer Camp in July, he was ready to take back his position, before a right toe injury caused him to miss the beginning of the season. And while he has been used in a platoon role already this year, his bat is starting to convince the Indians to pencil him into the lineup on a more regular basis.

“Ever since he came [back], he’s grinding out, he’s putting good at-bats,” Alomar said. “He’s coming up big for us. He’s getting more opportunities to face lefties. There are gonna be lefties that are gonna be very tough matchups for him, but the opportunity is gonna be there for him, and he’s done a good job.”