Brewers execute rare double play against Pirates

MILWAUKEE -- One night after a rarely seen 2-6-1 double play smothered a huge scoring chance for Pittsburgh in the eighth inning of a tie game, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke noted that the play the Pirates attempted frequently comes up in Spring Training exercises but seldom sees the lights of game play.

"No matter how you set it up and where your players are supposed to line up, they never go that way," Roenicke said. "I probably saw that play happen 10 years ago, maybe it was 15 years. It never happens. If everyone is in tune with it, it's a good play. But how do you get in tune with it? That's the hardest part, because it comes up so rarely that you usually aren't ready for what happens."

Pittsburgh tried to sneak a run across after Andrew McCutchen popped out behind home plate with runners at the corners and one out. Travis Snider tagged and began advancing toward second, so catcher Jonathan Lucroy gunned to Jean Segura covering the bag. But Segura took the throw and returned it home, where pitcher Jim Henderson was waiting to tag out a charging Starling Marte.

"If Marte is off [third base] farther and he's down the line, he scores," Roenicke said. "It's a tough play to defend and it is a tough play offensively, because you aren't sure what the guy at first is going to do. It's a hard play everywhere."

With as many moving parts as there were, Roenicke was impressed with one aspect that might have gone unnoticed in the Saturday aftermath.

"I don't know if anyone saw the replay, but did you see where [center fielder Carlos] Gomez was?" Roenicke said. "That was impressive. Gomez is 10 feet behind 'Seggy' ready to get the throw and telling 'Seggy' where to throw the ball. It was really cool."