One day after the Milwaukee Brewers played one of their crazier games of the season, a strange play helped them gain separation from the Colorado Rockies in a 9-4 win at Coors Field on Saturday afternoon.
With Brewers pitcher Wily Peralta up with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, Rockies starter Christian Friedrich threw a wild pitch that ended up allowing all three runners to score, blowing the game open.
Aramis Ramirez scored from third base immediately after the pitch got away, while Mark Reynolds came home after catcher Michael McKenry's throw got away from Friedrich. Sensing the Rockies weren't paying attention -- McKenry and Friedrich had their heads down -- Jean Segura scampered in just ahead of a diving tag attempt to put the Brewers up 8-2.
"I don't think I've seen that since Little League," Reynolds said. "It's one of those rare plays you barely see. It was heads up running by Seggy to get in there and take advantage of the situation."
What Friday's 13-10 slugfest did was reaffirm how no lead is safe and every run is important at Coors Field. Considering Friedrich had two strikes on Peralta with two outs in the inning when he threw the wild pitch, the blunder was particularly deflating for Colorado.
"It definitely hurts," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "When you see something like that, it hurts. I know on our side when we commit an error and all of a sudden they get three runs out of it, it is deflating, no question."
A two-out double by Reynolds in the third put the Brewers up 5-2, as the Rockies opted to intentionally walk Segura to load the bases for Peralta.
Segura said he saw McKenry put his head down and decided to take off right away to try and steal a run for the Brewers.
"I mean, it's crazy," Segura said. "It's a crazy play. I've never seen that in my life and my whole career. It was funny. It was a good moment for us.
"We were attacking all game today. It's tough for them and good for us. It's tough competing against a team like (us), attacking every inning, every play. Running the bases, hitting home runs, taking the extra base, stealing some bases. It's hard to play against teams like that."
A throwing error by Rickie Weeks turned a potential double play into runners at second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the first against Peralta. Justin Morneau made the error costly, as he singled in both runners to put Colorado up 2-0.
Bad defense helped the Brewers answer back and take the lead in the second inning. Three errors by Colorado in the frame helped Milwaukee score four runs and lead 4-2 heading into the wild third inning.
Peralta was at the plate during the bases-clearing wild pitch, but the right-hander left his mark on the mound Saturday. Consistently hitting the upper 90s with his heavy fastball, Peralta kept the ball down in the zone all afternoon and put together a fine effort in a tough ballpark to pitch in.
A two-run home run by Corey Dickerson in the sixth inning got the Rockies within 9-4, but Peralta retired the next six batters in order. He came back out and got two outs in the seventh before Rob Wooten struck out McKenry with runners at the corners to end the inning.
"I thought he was outstanding," Roenicke said of Peralta. "They really have some guys that can hit. He makes good pitches, gets two strikes on them, makes a great pitch and they foul it off. They keep fouling off pitches until they get a decent pitch, and they don't miss it. You have to really work to get through them, and I thought Wily did a great job of keeping the ball down.
"He got a lot of ground balls today, which he does when he is right. He threw some nice sliders today and got some outs on his changeup today."
Following three straight losses at the end of May, Peralta improved to 4-0 in June by allowing just three earned runs over 7 2/3 innings.
"Pretty happy, man," Peralta said. "That's what you want to do every time out there, just pick up the win for the team. That's great."
The Brewers clinched a winning road trip with Friday's win, but they can end the seven-game swing through Arizona and Colorado at 6-1 with a win Sunday against the Rockies.
"We've been a good road team all year," Reynolds said. "To come out and win three of four in Phoenix and to come here and win the first two, we've put ourselves in a good spot to have a good road trip.
"We have to keep winning. If we want to get to where we want to go, we just have to keep winning games and not worry about what anyone else does."
Lifted early: Aramis Ramirez left Saturday's game in the top of the ninth inning, as Elian Herrera pinch hit for the veteran third baseman against Rockies closer LaTroy Hawkins.
After recording three hits Friday, Ramirez went 3 for 4 on Saturday before leaving the game with the Brewers up five runs.
"He's OK," Roenicke said. "He has a little bit of a tight back. I think (Friday) being out there and (Saturday), somewhere in the middle of the game he let me know it was tight."
Follow Andrew Gruman on Twitter
