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GAME LOG
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Phil Garner's mere presence at County Stadium
was enough to rouse Jeromy Burnitz from his season-long slump.
Burnitz homered, drove in three runs and made a diving catch to
end the game as the Brewers beat the Tigers 4-3 Friday night in
Detroit manager Garner's return to Milwaukee, where he managed for
nearly eight seasons.
Though Garner became fast friends with Burnitz during their four
years together, he didn't take any enjoyment from his former
player's excellent night.
"I think the world of Burnie, but he's the enemy now," Garner
said. "I don't like anybody getting hits like that against us."
Garner presided over Burnitz's transformation from a
free-swinging underachiever who was given up on by the Mets and
Indians into one of the game's better power hitters. From 1997 through '99,
Burnitz was Garner's leading run-producer, with three seasons of at
least 27 homers and 85 RBI.
Burnitz was outspoken in his displeasure when the Brewers fired
Garner on Aug. 12, and in his first season without Garner on the
bench, Burnitz has slumped horribly. An All-Star starter for the NL
last season, he is hitting .221 with 17 homers and 52 RBI.
Both men say this is all coincidence. But on Friday night,
Burnitz looked more like the player managed by Garner and less like
the one who's now managed by Davey Lopes.
Garner, the winningest and losingest manager in Brewers history,
was fired by Milwaukee after nearly eight seasons. Hired by Detroit
in the offseason, Garner took over in the visitors' dugout at
County Stadium for the first time at the start of a three-game
interleague series.
"You guys make more of that than it is," Burnitz said. "It's
nice to see him, but he's just another team you're playing, and you
have to go out there and do your job."
Burnitz had a solo homer in the first inning and a two-run
double in a three-run fifth. Marquis Grissom, inserted at the
cleanup spot for the game, then singled to drive in Burnitz with
the go-ahead run.
In addition, when closer Bob Wickman gave up a two-out walk to
Rich Becker, Burnitz also preserved the victory by making a diving
catch on Brad Ausmus' liner to right field.
"It was the Burnie Show," Lopes said. "That's the expectation
we have of him as well as he has of himself. I hope this will get
him going."
Jimmy Haynes (9-7) retired just one of the game's first seven
hitters and allowed three runs in the first. In addition, a shot by
Ausmus hit him in the shin and brought Brewers trainers out for a
lengthy conversation.
"It was looking ugly in that first inning," Haynes said.
"That's no way to start a game. I just tried to bear down and get
out of that."
Haynes, Milwaukee's winningest pitcher, settled down to throw
six shutout innings, never allowing a runner past second base until
being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh. He held Detroit to
five hits and four walks over seven innings.
"(In the first inning) we were aggressive, put the ball in
play, scored runs -- and didn't do beans after that," said Garner,
whose team lost for just the third time in 11 games. "The
frustration is that we're playing good, and this is a setback. Now
we've got to win four in a row to make up for a loss like this."
Detroit threatened in each of the final three innings but
couldn't score. Deivi Cruz reached third base with one out but was
stranded in the seventh, and in the eighth, Curtis Leskanic allowed
two Tigers to reach base but caught Juan Encarnacion's wicked liner
back to the mound to end the inning.
Wickman, the Brewers' All-Star representative, pitched the ninth
for his 13th save in 16 chances.
Brian Moehler (5-5) struck out seven and allowed eight hits in
six innings, but lost for just the second time in his last eight
starts. He retired 10 of 11 hitters before the Brewers'
fifth-inning rally, which began with Henry Blanco's leadoff double.
Milwaukee, which lost three of four in a just-completed series
against Philadelphia, improved to 4-4 on its 10-game homestand.
Detroit fell to 5-2 on its current nine-game road trip.
Juan Gonzalez sat out of Detroit's lineup because of tendinitis
in his left ankle. Asked when Gonzalez will play again, Garner
said: "You got me."
Game notes
Garner compiled a 563-617 (.477) record in Milwaukee. The
Brewers finished 92-70 in his first season, but below .500 every
year after that. ... Burnitz's homer was his first at home since
May 23. ... A fan sitting in the front row of the upper deck near
the left-field line caught two foul balls in a three-inning
stretch. ... Hideo Nomo, who resurrected his career by going 12-8
with Milwaukee last season, will start for Detroit on Saturday
night. Nomo was just 5-6 at County Stadium with the Brewers,
however.
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