Burnitz Slams Tribe In 10th

Jeromy Burnitz has no idea how much the Cleveland Indians miss him now.

Burnitz, one of the many players traded by the Indians the past few years, homered leading off the 10th inning Tuesday night to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 2-1 win over Cleveland.

Burnitz, dealt to Milwaukee in 1996 for Kevin Seitzer in a deal Indians GM John Hart said before the game is the one he regrets making, hit a 1-2 pitch from Paul Assenmacher (1-1) off the right-field foul pole for his 12th homer.

"I find that hard to believe," Burnitz said when told of Hart's comments. "When I was here, there were three All-Stars in front of me and I sat on the bench for five months. I don't think they miss me."

Cordero, signed during the offseason by the Indians, bent his wrist back awkwardly on a ball hit by Burnitz in the sixth. As he reached for the ball with his glove, his wrist turned grotesquely backwards, and after lying in the grass in pain for several minutes, Cordero was helped off the field and taken to the hospital.

The Indians said the injury was the same one that sidelined Ken Griffey Jr. for 10 weeks in 1995.

"It's a tough loss," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "Wil has been a big part of our ballclub."

Hargrove said he wasn't sure who the team would bring up to fill Cordero's spot, but it's likely to be from a pool of Alex Ramirez, Jacob Cruz or Jeff Manto.

"Wil stepped up from the time he put on Indians uniform," Indians GM John Hart said. "I feel bad for the ballclub and I feel bad for Wil."

Kenny Lofton had three hits and Roberto Alomar had two doubles and a pair of stellar defensive plays for the Indians. Cleveland was already without Sandy Alomar (knee surgery), Travis Fryman (back spasms) and Manny Ramirez (serving three-game suspension) before Cordero's injury.

Roberto Alomar, who with his brother, convinced the Indins to sign Cordero, was sad to see his friend and teammate go down.

"It makes you realize that in this game everything is OK one day, and the next you can get hurt," he said.

In the ninth, the Indians put runners at first and third, but with Omar Vizquel at the plate, the Brewers sniffed out a suicide squeeze and Rafael Roque (1-4) pitched out of the inning. Vizquel threw his bat at the ball in an attempt to make contact and save Enrique Wilson, who was tagged out halfway down the line.

"We had their signs," Milwaukee manager Phil Garner said. "On a play like that, you're lucky that's all. You try to get a feel for the situation. Sometimes it works."

Said Hargrove, "Phil did a great job sniffing it out. We had the right guy up at the plate and they pitched out. It was a great call."

Bob Wickman gave up a two-out single in the 10th but struck out David Justice with the tying run for his 11th save.

The Indians got 13 hits, but were held to one run for just the third time in 55 games. Cleveland remains the only AL team not to be shut out in 1999.

Indians starter Dave Burba limited the Brewers to one run and five hits in 7 1-3 innings.

Alomar, who tied the game in the sixth with an RBI double, kept it tied in the eighth and ninth innings with his glove.

With two runners on in the eighth for Milwaukee, Sean Berry hit a hard grounder that appeared to be on its way to center for an RBI single. But Alomar ranged far to his right, and after backhanding the ball, made a leaping throw to get Berry at first.

In the same situation in the ninth, Alomar went to his left to scoop Jeff Cirillo's grounder on the outfield grass and threw to first for the final out.

Swept in Colorado over the weekend, the Brewers, the NL Central's last-place team, didn't figure to give the Indians much trouble. But for five innings Brewers starter Steve Woodard threw strikes, and Cleveland's hitters couldn't string together enough hits to push a run across.

Woodard struck out Lofton with two runners on in the fifth to squash one rally, and Richie Sexson grounded into double plays to kill two potential others.

Burba gave up an RBI single to Dave Nilsson in the first, but retired 14 of 15 before Cirillo's one-out double in the sixth.

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