Segura enjoying time as Crew's leading man

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke borrowed a page from old friend Joe Maddon's playbook to spark one sputtering hitter.

The hitter is shortstop Jean Segura, who entered Wednesday's start against the Orioles with 11 hits and a .414 on-base percentage in his first 30 plate appearances since a move to the leadoff spot. The stretch added 21 points to Segura's batting average, which stood at .273 entering the day, and 20 points to his OBP, which was .303.

"I think any time you put a guy in a different situation, you're looking for different things from him," Roenicke said. "Example: Sometimes, if a guy is slumping, Joe Maddon puts him in the leadoff spot. [Evan] Longoria was really struggling, and [Maddon] led him off and I think he got three hits right away and a homer."

That may have been May 28, 2011, when Longoria's batting average had fallen to .209 and he had two home runs in his first 24 games. He had two hits including a homer in his first game batting leadoff.

"Anything to take your mind off of what is going on," Roenicke said. "It can help. I like what [Segura] is doing now, and I hope he keeps it up and we can figure out what's going to happen when [rehabbing third baseman Aramis Ramirez] comes back, where we can put everybody. When everybody is swinging the bats well, we could be pretty deep if we get everybody back."