Hector Gomez picked a heck of a time to collect his first major-league RBI.
The September call-up played hero Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, driving in Carlos Gomez on a bloop single just beyond first base in the top of the 12th inning.
A solid start from Wily Peralta, great relief work from the bullpen and a couple of timely runs resulted in a huge 3-2 come-from-behind win for the Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Brewers kept pace with the victorious Pirates to stay 1 1/2 games back of Pittsburgh for the second wild card while also shaving their deficit in the National League Central to four games.
"You know something? We deserved a bloop," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "They get bloops to hurt us all the time. They hit the ball hard, but they also get a lot of bloops to beat us. We deserved a bloop . . . Whatever, I'll take it."
The Brewers were dangerously close to having the game slip away from them in the first inning Tuesday, as three consecutive singles from Matt Carpenter, Jon Jay and Matt Holliday loaded the bases with nobody out.
Peralta then walked Matt Adams to force in a run, leaving the Cardinals the chance to bust things open right there. But he responded by getting Jhonny Peralta to hit into a run-scoring double play and Yadier Molina to ground out, limiting the damage to just two runs.
From there, Peralta settled in and kept the Brewers in the game by facing the minimum through the bottom of the seventh inning.
"Same thing he did last time (against the Cardinals), but this was even better," Roenicke said. "I know he retired a bunch of guys in a row. He got better as the game went on. His breaking ball got better, his command got better with his fastball. He started mixing in a few changeups, but an outstanding game."
A solo home run from Gerardo Parra in the fourth inning cut the St. Louis lead to 2-1, but the Brewers managed just five hits against Cardinals starter Lance Lynn over the right-hander's seven innings.
Facing Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth, Jonathan Lucroy drew a leadoff walk. Roenicke chose to pinch-run with Hector Gomez, a move that would pay off.
Aramis Ramirez followed the walk with a double to left, giving the Brewers runners at second and third with nobody out. After Ryan Braun grounded out weakly to Rosenthal, Matt Clark tied the game at 2 with a sacrifice fly to left-center.
Milwaukee entered Tuesday just 4-60 when trailing after eight innings, while St. Louis was 74-2 when leading after eight.
The Brewers had the go-ahead run in scoring position with two outs in the ninth and 11th for Jean Segura, but the shortstop couldn't come through with a big hit.
Kevin Siegrist issued a one-out walk to Carlos Gomez in the 12th. The speedy center fielder proceeded to steal second base to move himself into scoring position. After Mark Reynolds flew out, Carlos Gomez stole third.
It was the first time Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina had allowed multiple stolen bases in one game since May 28. The last time the Gold Glove catcher had multiple bases stolen on him in one inning was Sept. 7, 2012.
But these stolen bases weren't on Molina, as Carlos Gomez swiped them on Siegrist.
"Nobody runs on any catcher because you're always timing the pitcher," Carlos Gomez said. "When you see a guy, like, 1.6, 1.7 (seconds to home plate) and you've got one of the fastest runners in the league, everybody knows I'm running. You just play the game, and when they give me the opportunity (by) picking the leg up, I'm going."
Hector Gomez followed by placing one just out of the reach of first baseman Matt Adams and second baseman Daniel Descalso.
"I hit the ball where no people were," Hector Gomez said. "Thank God I hit the ball right behind first base."
Both the tying run and the winning run were driven in by September call-ups, as Clark and Hector Gomez were both in Triple-A just a few weeks ago.
"I don't look at it like 'September guys.' They're the Brewers," Carlos Gomez said. "We look at this like a team. We called up some guys because they were doing good in the minor leagues, and they proved they belonged here. They come to help us and continue to play good to be in the playoffs."
Francisco Rodriguez pitched a clean ninth inning to record his 42nd save of the season. After Peralta allowed the two first-inning runs, Milwaukee's pitchers allowed just four hits in 11 scoreless innings.
Will Smith, Jonathan Broxton and Jeremy Jeffress pitched scoreless innings, while Zach Duke and Brandon Kintzler combined for the 11th inning.
"Huge, definitely," Rodriguez said of the win. "We're in a situation where we must win every game, pretty much. They have, I would say, a comfortable lead right now in the Central, but we definitely need to cut it down to as close as it can be going into the final week.
"We came in on one mission, take every game we can possibly take. This is it. It's not like we have another 2-3 weeks to rebound. We only have 11 games left. Every single game from now on is just do or die."
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