Burnitz' Giant HR Leads Brewers To Win

May 20, 1998 / 2:50 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Jeromy Burnitz said he was just trying to hit the ball hard.

Mission accomplished.

Burnitz's three-run homer in the ninth inning Tuesday night gave the Milwaukee Brewers a 9-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

"I'm not looking to hit a home run," Burnitz said. "I'm just trying to get a decent pitch and put the ball in play hard."

Burnitz had a club-record 24 RBI in April, but only seven in May prior to Tuesday night.

"I've just been scraping out hits lately," Burnitz said. "I'm not being really productive. I've had a lot of runners in scoring position and really haven't put the ball in play hard lately."

With the score tied 6-6, Fernando Vina opened the ninth with a double off Jim Poole (0-1). Vina went to third on Jeff Cirillo's sacrifice bunt and, after Mark Loretta was intentionally walked, Burnitz hit an 0-1 pitch over the right-field fence, his ninth homer of the year and his first since April 28.

"Over the last three games I've been feeling much more comfortable," Burnitz said. "I kind of got away from what I was doing the first three or four weeks of the season. I feel like I'm back to it now."

Burnitz went 3-for-4 with a double, a single and four RBIs for Milwaukee, which blew a 6-0 lead.

Leading 6-4 in the top of the ninth, Doug Jones (3-2) gave up a one-out single to Stan Javier, who went to third on Brent Mayne's single. Rich Aurilia's single drove in Javier to make it 6-5, and pinch-runner Rey Sanchez moved to third.

Pinch-hitter Charlie Hayes tied it with a sacrifice fly, scoring Sanchez. Jones was the winner despite his fourth blown save in 15 chances.

Marc Newfield's two-run homer in the fifth, his first in more than a year, gave starter Cal Eldred a 6-0 lead.

"The big blow that really hurt us, other than Burnitz's blow, was the two-run home run by Marc Newfield," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "It made it 6-0, and we were just 4-0."

Eldred stranded nine runners through five innings, but couldn't escape trouble in the sixth. The Giants loaded the bases with no outs, and Eldred then walked Darryl Hamilton for the Giants' first run.

Al Reyes relieved with a 1-0 count on Bill Mueller, and walked in another run. Barry Bonds followed with a two-run double off the wall to make it 6-4.

"I just didn't hit it high enough," Bonds said. "I knew I got it over his head enough to score Billy Mueller."

Reyes escaped further trouble when Jeff Kent struck out, J.T. Snow popped to second and Javier grounded to second.

Burnitz's RBI single in the first off Shawn Estes gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Milwaukee added two runs in the second when Jose Valentin and Mike Matheny opened with consecutive doubles and Matheny score on Cirillo's two-out single, making it 3-0.

Milwaukee made it 4-0 in the fourth when Matheny scored on a passed ball by Mayne.

Estes allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits in five innings.

"He made some good pitches," Baker said. "The first two runs they scored off him were a little blooper by Jeromy Burnitz and the second one was a semi-jam shot off the end of the bat."

Notes: Eldred is 0-3 after 10 starts this season. He has not won since Sept. 15, 1997, when Milwaukee defeated the Chicago White Sox 11-10. ... Newfield's home run was his first since May 3, 1997. ... San Francisco dropped to 0-4 this season at County Stadium. ... Estes' line was similar to his 5-2 loss at Milwaukee on April 17 when he allowed five earned runs on seven hits in six innings with five walks and five strikeouts. ... Kent struck out twice to move within one of league-leader Burnitz, who has 48. ... Newfield had one home run in 157 at-bats last season, which included two stints on the disabled list followed by season-ending shoulder surgery on Aug. 1. ... Jones has appeared in a league-high 24 games. ... Mayne's three hits tied a career high. ... The Brewers have scored in the first inning for six consecutive games.