ANAHEIM -- It didn¡¯t strike Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick at the time, but what a way to punctuate the night the baseball world bid farewell to Willie Mays.

¡°It¡¯s kind of cool doing it today,¡± Frelick said.

Only a few outfielders in the history of the sport patrolled center with the flare and finesse of Mays, who passed away on Tuesday before Frelick finished Major League Baseball¡¯s slate of games with a leaping, game-saving catch to end the Brewers¡¯ 6-3 win over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

A mistimed leap, or a bump of the wall, or just a few more inches on Taylor Ward¡¯s booming fly ball, and it would have been a tying, three-run home run -- not to mention an absolute crusher for the Brewers, who held a 6-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the ninth before the Angels started cobbling together a rally.

Instead, the 5-foot-9 Frelick came back to Earth with the baseball in his glove, and the Brewers started celebrating.

The reaction from Brewers catcher Gary S¨¢nchez and closer Trevor Megill -- who¡¯d just been summoned to face Ward -- said it all. Megill was Milwaukee¡¯s third reliever to appear in a half-inning that featured four hits, a walk, two wild pitches and, so far, only two outs. After the catch, S¨¢nchez and Megill stood there with their hands atop their heads.

"Sal¡¯s play goes down in the record books in Brewers history as one of the dramatic finishes to a game," manager Pat Murphy said.

What did Murphy think when the baseball left Ward¡¯s bat?

¡°I was thinking, ¡®tie score,¡¯¡± Murphy said.

¡°You see him tracking it and lining it up and you know it¡¯s going to be close,¡± said left fielder Christian Yelich, who¡¯d started the night with his 200th career home run. ¡°It¡¯s huge for us. There¡¯s no telling how that game ends. We¡¯re probably still out there grinding.¡±

Said a dejected Ward: ¡°I think it¡¯s just baseball. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if I got it or not, but it was a hell of a play on his part.¡±

At first, Frelick downplayed the difficulty of the catch, saying he was positioned so perfectly in a ¡°no doubles¡± defense, shaded slightly to the opposite field for the right-handed-hitting Ward, that it only took three steps back plus a well-timed jump.

¡°Really not that crazy of a play,¡± Frelick said. ¡°I think it was just, right spot, right time.¡±

That¡¯s an understatement.

¡°You practice so much and sometimes you don¡¯t even get a ball in the outfield,¡± Frelick said. ¡°How many times do you even have a chance to rob a home run?¡±

A conversation in center field on Tuesday afternoon foreshadowed the dramatic finish. Murphy found himself chatting with the Angels¡¯ Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell, who were practicing home run robberies.

¡°I said, ¡®Let me ask you guys something. Is it me, or have we had more robbed home runs this year than ever?¡¯¡± Murphy said.

The players agreed.

So what¡¯s the answer?

¡°Bigger, stronger, faster,¡± Murphy said, describing today¡¯s hitters. ¡°Everybody¡¯s playing deeper. They¡¯re closer to the wall and they understand they can do this. I think, in general, guys are playing deeper.¡±

It¡¯s not the first time in recent memory for the Brewers. On May 29 against the Cubs, Blake Perkins was in center field for the Brewers, and he hit a home run and robbed a home run in the same Milwaukee victory.

And for Frelick, it was a flashback to another sensational catch on Sept. 10 of last season, when he made a leaping grab while simultaneously crashing into the wall and right fielder Joey Wiemer to keep a no-hit bid alive for the Brewers through 10 innings of an eventual loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

¡°If Sal¡¯s near it,¡± Murphy said, ¡°it goes in his glove 99.9 percent of the time.¡±