Luis Urías brings a joyful finish to a long, sometimes frustrating night for the Brewers against the Rockies

What a way to open the second half.

A bloop single to center by Luis Urías scored pinch-runner Jonathan Davis to provide a happy ending to what was otherwise a frustrating evening as the Milwaukee Brewers out-lasted the Colorado Rockies, 6-5, in 13 innings at American Family Field.

Willy Adames, Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe all homered, with Renfroe's homer with two outs in the 10th earning Milwaukee extra life.

With the victory and a loss by the St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati, the Brewers (51-43) increased their lead in the Central Division to 1½ games.

"I mean, 13 innings, a lot of crazy innings at the end," said manager Craig Counsell, whose team has won six straight now over Colorado. "In the end I thought we just pitched really well. Guys just kept doing a nice job on the mound and gave us a chance."

Colorado took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th against Jandel Gustave and was one out away from closing Milwaukee out in the bottom half when Renfroe blasted a two-run homer to left-center off Robert Stephenson on the fifth of five straight sliders from the right-hander.

It was Renfroe's first since June 19; he was on the injured list from June 26 to July 12 with a calf strain.

"You had to say it," Renfroe joked of his drought. "Obviously, it's been a while. It felt good. Before two strikes, I was trying to hit a homer. I was trying to hit a homer to center field and whatever happened, happened.

"He threw some good sliders there and the one he threw there (on the fifth pitch) wasn't terrible; it was out over the plate but it was away and down a little bit and I was able to get the barrel to it and was able to get a pitch to hit, I guess."

Hoby Milner, who finished up the 10th, pitched a gutsy 11th that included a favorable replay call that led to the go-ahead runner being thrown out at third for the first out despite a bad throw by Adames.

Milwaukee loaded the bases with one out in the 12th but failed to score, leaving the Rockies (1 for 16) and Brewers (2 for 16) a combined 3 for 32 with runners in scoring position.

Brent Suter (2-3), who earned the win, was the unsung hero of the game after retiring the six batters he faced in the 12th and 13th on a total of 12 pitches.

"It was my turn to step up and I was able to get some quick outs and some early swings on balls that I was locating decently," he said. "I got away with a couple. Just an amazing game and I'm really glad we can start the second half off with a win."

Rockies pitcher Jake Bird intentionally walked Kolten Wong to open the 13th, bringing Urías to the plate.

Having gone 0 for 5 and stranded six runners to that point, he fell behind in the count, 0-2, before sending the clinching hit to center that scored Davis and sparked a celebration on the infield in the aftermath.

"For everybody, the bats felt kind of heavy. Well, except for Hunter," Urías said. "We were trying so hard, I think, but in the end we got the win.

"Honestly, I was just trying to fight and put it in play. The game gets hard sometimes, but you've got to keep going, forget about the other ABs. I was trying to stay in the moment and do my best."

The game was the longest played by the Brewers since their regular-season finale at Colorado in 2019. They lost that one, 4-3, on a wild pitch.

Box score: Brewers 6, Rockies 5 (13 innings)

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Corbin Burnes turned down an opportunity to pitch Tuesday in the All-Star Game with an eye on staying fresh for the second half.

Good thing he took the additional rest – a week all told – because Colorado made him work from the outset with a series of pesky at-bats that left his pitch count at 72 after three innings.

A two-run homer by Charlie Blackmon in the third had also left Burnes and the Brewers in a 2-0 hole. It was the first round-tripper allowed by Burnes since June 25, when Toronto got to him for a pair.

Two Milwaukee homers in the bottom of the third gave Burnes the lead, however.

Adames was the first to strike, lining a two-out, solo shot to right off Antonio Senzatela to get the Brewers onto the board. It was his team-leading 20th of the season, with his career high of 25 set in 2021 well within striking range.

Rowdy Tellez followed with a bloop hustle double to left, and then McCutchen lined a two-run shot to right to make it 3-2.

Senzatela hadn't allowed two homers in a start all season, let alone in a three-batter span.

Burnes worked around a single in the fourth and then a leadoff double in the fifth, finishing his outing with consecutive strikeouts of Blackmon and C.J. Cron.

He had gone at least six innings in six straight starts coming in, and the six hits he allowed were most since June 3. Burnes also waked a pair and struck out five.

"Not good," Burnes said of his outing. "Another one of those outings where my command was all over the place. Fighting to throw strikes, fighting to get an out. It's obviously frustrating coming in off the break and putting together a decent string of starts beforehand.

"It felt like we were trending in the right direction. But tonight it felt like we really didn't have anything."

He was replaced by Trevor Gott in the sixth, and the Rockies tied it against the right-hander on a two-out walk and double.

The frustration continued in the Brewers' half of the sixth when McCutchen led off with a walk and Renfroe was hit by a pitch, then both were bunted into scoring position by Wong.

But McCutchen was thrown out at home trying to score on a Urías grounder to shortstop, and then Mike Brosseau was called out on strikes.

Devin Williams, fresh off his first all-star appearance, struck out the side on 11 pitches in the eighth.

Josh Hader, pitching for the first time since his epic blowup last Friday at San Francisco, made it five straight strikeouts for Milwaukee's bullpen before walking Randal Grichuk in the ninth.

A ground-ball out followed to cap a nice bounce back by Hader, who topped out at 99.2 mph on the radar gun.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Luis Urías' single in 13th inning gives Brewers 6-5 win over Rockies