ATLANTA -- “Hey, one more thing,” said Brewers infielder Hernan Perez as the visitors’ clubhouse emptied in the wake of a 12-8 loss to the Braves on Friday that was once so lopsided that he was called upon to pitch.

It wasn’t so lopsided for long, prompting Perez’s question.

“Has a position player ever pitched, and won?” he asked.

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The answer is yes, but more on that later. Perez couldn’t help but ask after the Brewers scored eight unanswered runs over the final three innings, including four in the ninth after Lorenzo Cain’s two-out grounder to shortstop bounced under Dansby Swanson’s glove.

Jacob Nottingham hit his first Major League home run in the eighth inning and added a two-run single in the ninth to bring up Perez, who began the night at third base but had just pitched a scoreless inning. Now, he was swinging the bat in a game the Braves led 12-0 in the seventh inning and 12-1 in the eighth but was suddenly in a save situation. 

Perez struck out on a foul tip, and that was that.

“I was thinking about winning the game right there,” Perez said.

That Perez and the Brewers even had a chance was unexpected after Brewers reliever Corbin Burnes was back to having trouble with the long ball.

Burnes came to SunTrust Park on a roll before surrendering three more home runs and seven of the Braves’ nine runs in a blowout sixth inning that undid some of the good work by Milwaukee pitchers in the past two weeks. Entering this series, Brewers pitchers combined for a 1.81 ERA in the last 13 games. In one night, that collective ERA climbed more than half a run to 2.49 in the last 14 games.

Most of the damage came at the expense of Burnes, who began the season in the starting rotation but was demoted to Triple-A San Antonio after allowing 11 home runs in 17 2/3 innings over his first four starts. Since returning at the start of May to work out of the bullpen, he’d pitched to a 3.00 ERA in his first six relief outings, all without yielding a home run, and the past five outings without allowing an earned run.

Friday represented a roadblock. Burnes took over in the sixth facing a 3-0 deficit and walked off the field two outs later in 10-0 deficit that would grow to 12-0 before the Brewers batted in the seventh. The inning began with a bloop double over third baseman Perez before Burnes walked the Braves pitcher, Max Fried, to get Atlanta going. Burnes was tagged for seven earned runs on five hits while recording two outs. Swanson, Josh Donaldson and Tyler Flowers homered off the right-hander, all on misplaced fastballs.

“I don’t know what to say,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s been throwing the ball really well. We’ve been leaning on him for some big outs. Today, it felt like after the walk of the pitcher, the inning just kind of snowballed on him. It’s still a little confusing because he gives up a home run and then he strikes Freddie Freeman out. Then there’s a home run and then there’s another nasty pitch.

“Frankly, it’s confusing a little bit.”

Burnes has allowed three home runs in four different games this season, making him the first Brewers pitcher to do so since Danny Darwin in 1985. The dubious franchise record is five such outings, set by Mike Caldwell in ‘83 when Caldwell logged 228 1/3 innings. Burnes has worked 27 1/3 innings so far and allowed 14 total home runs.

It was the fifth time in Brewers history that a pitcher allowed three home runs while recording fewer than three outs. Livan Hernandez was the last to do that, in September 2012 against the Astros.

“Arm’s fine, body’s fine,” Burnes said. “The last two weeks, I’ve thrown the ball well. This is just something that, it’s a bad day and you have to put it behind you and you have another day tomorrow. But as far as confidence-wise, it’s still good.”

In a small way, Perez could empathize.

“I’ve thrown a couple innings in a couple years, and it’s hard to be there,” Perez said. “Of course, he’s still a good pitcher. I love Corbin Burnes when he comes from the bullpen. I think he’s a great pitcher when he comes from the bullpen. He can do the job.”

Perez fared better, flinging mostly four-seam fastballs that were moving so much he walked a pair. But Perez wound up with a scoreless inning thanks to a strikeout of Matt Joyce and a double play from Swanson.

So, has a position player ever pitched, and won? Yep.

Cubs catcher John Baker was the last to do it, on July 29, 2014 in a 16-inning game, which is typically how such things happen. Two-way threats like early-2000s Brewer Brooks Kiechnick complicate the search for a position player who pitch and won in a nine-inning game, but here’s a notable example: Nine-time All-Star outfielder Rocky Colavito pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the Yankees in an Aug. 25, 1968 win over the Tigers, part of a stretch in which New York played nine games in five days.

So yes, it has been done.

But it was not done on Friday night.

“It hurts, of course,” Perez said. “Everybody battled for a great comeback right there. I think if I put the ball in play, something’s going to happen. We would have had one more chance.”