Ingram Learns as He Loses : Baseball: Dodger rookie struggles while adapting to playing third base, and Cardinals take advantage in 6-5 victory.

Dodger rookie third baseman Garey Ingram was surrounded.

He was explaining how difficult it is to learn to play third base after making two errors that led to runs in helping the Dodgers squander a three-run lead in Sunday’s 6-5 loss in 11 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals before 29,519 at Dodger Stadium.

“Leave him alone,” a teammate shouted.

Ingram, who had never played third base until spring training, has committed a team-high eight errors in six starts. The Dodgers entered Sunday’s game with the worst fielding percentage (.965) in the major leagues.

A converted outfielder, Ingram was moved to second base two years ago in the minors. Moved to third base this season, he’s still adjusting. He’s platooning with Dave Hansen while Tim Wallach is on the disabled list.

“At third base there’s a longer throw (to first),” said Ingram, who made both errors on throws. “It’s more like a react position, whereas (at) second you have more time to read the ball. You’ve got to get used to making good throws.

“I feel all right over there,” Ingram said with a sigh. “I’m just going to have to keep playing and keep roughing through it. I’m going to make mistakes along the way. I’m just going to have to learn from my mistakes. I’ll just try to make as few mistakes as possible.”

Ingram has made five errors in his last three games, including three in Friday night’s 8-4 victory over the Cardinals, in which the two teams combined for 12 errors.

Wallach, sidelined because of a back injury, knows what Ingram is going through.

“He’s not a third baseman and never has been, so he needs a little leeway,” Wallach said. “He’s six games into playing third base, and I don’t care who it is, any athlete would be struggling. It’s a completely different position than playing in the middle of the infield. He’s worked at it, but it takes time.”

The Dodgers led, 1-0, after Delino DeShields’ leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning, but Ingram helped the Cardinals tie it at 1-1 in the third when he overthrew Eric Karros on Tripp Cromer’s grounder. When Ingram’s throw sailed into the photo well alongside the dugout, Cromer went to second and he scored on Bernard Gilkey’s two-out single.

“He’s in a tough position,” Karros said of Ingram. “He’s learning how to play third base at the big league level.”

The Dodgers took a 4-2 lead on Billy Ashley’s solo homer in the fourth inning and Raul Mondesi’s two-run homer in the fifth.

Ingram committed his second error as the Cardinals scored three runs in the eighth inning to chase starter Tom Candiotti.

Tom Pagnozzi reached first after another wild throw by Ingram, and pinch-hitter Brian Jordan belted Candiotti’s first pitch into the left field seats to tie it at 4-4. Ozzie Smith doubled in the go-ahead run off reliever Rudy Seanez.

“I don’t want to make excuses. It was a routine play,” Ingram said. “I’m probably going to make more mistakes, and I’ve just got to learn from them.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said he hopes Ingram doesn’t dwell on the errors.

“He’s been doing good,” Lasorda said. “It’s just throwing the ball. Throwing the ball, that’s the easiest part of the game. He’s made a couple of bad throws. That’s happened to a lot of people. We’ve just got to make him forget about it.”

Lasorda would probably rather forget how reliever Antonio Osuna (1-2) performed in the 11th inning.

After the score was tied, 5-5, on pinch-hitter Chris Gwynn’s RBI single in the eighth inning, Jordan singled in the winning run off Osuna, who has given up 13 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings.