Castilla's 17th Propels Rockies

May 19, 1998 / 3:20 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Some pitchers never learn.

Vinny Castilla is a notorious first-pitch fastball hitter, and when Milwaukee's Jeff Juden tried to sneak one by him in the fifth inning Monday night, Castilla deposited it 424 feet away in the bullpen.

Castilla's tiebreaking, two-run homer tied him for the major-league lead with 17 and helped the Colorado Rockies beat the Brewers 8-5. After losing six straight, Colorado won the last two against Milwaukee to salvage a split of the four-game series.

"You have to stay aggressive at the plate," said Castilla, a free-swinger who hit 33 first-pitch homers over the past two seasons.

"You have to be ready for the fastball. If the pitcher throws an off-speed pitch, you have a chance to react. But if you're looking for an off-speed pitch and he throws a fastball, there's no chance. If the pitch is there, I'll swing at it."

Starters Juden and Pedro Astacio of Colorado were ejected in the fifth inning after Juden hit Astacio in the back with a pitch and Astacio drew his bat back in a threatening gesture toward Juden. Both benches emptied, but there was no fighting.

Dante Bichette singled to lead off the fifth, and Castilla's homer to right-center field broke a 5-5 tie and tied him with Mark McGwire for the major-league lead.

Four batters later, Juden (5-2) and Astacio (4-5) were ejected by home-plate umpire Charlie Williams.

"There was a little excitement out there," said Rockies manager Don Baylor, who took the bat away from Astacio. "It was just about getting ready to be airborne. There's going to be some type of suspension for Pedro because he left the batter's box after being hit by the pitch, but if he throws the bat it's a longer suspension."

Earlier in the game, Juden was issued a warning by Williams after an inside pitch to Colorado's Neifi Perez.

"I don't believe he was trying to hit him," Brewers manager Phil Garner said. "We are one pitch from getting out of the inning."

Juden said he "wasn't intentionally throwing at" Astacio.

"The pitch got away from me," Juden said. "I was surprised he would come after me with a bat."

Astacio admitted his anger nearly overcame him.

"It felt like a fire in my back," he said. "I almost threw the bat, but then I realized I could get suspended for a long time. I don't know why he hit me."

Jerry Dipoto pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

For the sixth straight game in the homestand, the Rockies fell behind early as Milwaukee scored twice in the first.

Fernando Vina led off with a walk and Jeff Cirillo was hit by a pitch. Jose Valentin bunted for a single to load the bases, and Vina scored on Dave Nilsson's double-play grounder. Jeromy Burnitz then hit aRBI double.

With two outs in the second, Colorado's Mike Lansing doubled and scored on Jeff Reed's single.

The Rockies went ahead 4-2 in the third, scoring three runs on one hit, three walks and two errors. Bichette had an RBI single, and the other runs scored on Juden's errant pickoff throw to first and Castilla's sharp grounder that was booted by shortstop Valentin.

The Brewers countered with three runs in the fourth to reclaim the lead. Geoff Jenkins had a two-run double and Bobby Hughes an RBI single.

Curtis Goodwin hit his first homer of the season in the Rockies' half, and Castilla put Colorado ahead 7-5 in the fifth with his two-run blast.

Reed had an RBI single in the seventh off Bronswell Patrick, who was making his first appearance in the majors.

Notes: Walker extended his hitting streak to 14 games. ... Goodwin's homer was only the third of his career and his first since last May 24. ... Colorado's Ellis Burks, in an 0-for-16 slump, was given the night off. ... The Brewers concluded an eight-game, three-city road trip. ... Juden had won his three previous decisions. ... In two previous starts at Coors Field, Juden was 0-1 with an 18.69 ERA while with Montreal.