Brewers Get Big Bounce From Jaha

John Jaha is putting off surgery on his left foot until after the season because his game is based on his bat, not his speed.

“My job is not to go out there and steal bases,” Jaha said after driving in the winning run in Milwaukee’s 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.

“My job is just to balance the lineup and provide protection for Jeromy Burnitz and some other guys and come up with some big hits.”

Jaha, the Brewers’ injury-prone slugger who hurt his left foot running the bases on April 22, didn’t get the big hit Monday night but he did get the big bounce.

After Burnitz greeted reliever Chuck McElroy with a leadoff triple in the eighth, Jaha hit a high bouncer to shortstop Neifi Perez.

The contact play wasn’t on, so Burnitz froze until he saw Perez start to jump. Then, he darted for home, scoring as Jaha hobbled to first.

“All the credit goes to Burnie,” Jaha said. “That was great baserunning.”

“You want to see it go through, but I saw it was a high chopper,” Burnitz said. “He hit it high enough.”

Brewer Manager Phil Garner was equally impressed with Burnitz’s base-running on the triple that bounced hard off the right-field wall, skipping past former Brewer right fielder Dante Bichette, who had just moved over from left.

“On that triple, he was motoring,” Garner said. “He was flat out motoring.”’

Bichette said he thought he had an angle on the ball, though.

“I’ve got to play it like there’s going to be a bounce. I can’t play it like it’s going to hug the wall,” he said. “It was hit so hard, I thought I was going to hold him to a single.”

Instead, Burnitz was on third and a high bounce away from scoring.

McElroy (2-2) had replaced starter Darryl Kile to start the eighth and had Burnitz in an 0-and-2 hole before serving up a high fastball.

“He threw a high fastball to a high-fastball hitter with two strikes,” Rockies Manager Don Baylor said. “I’m pretty sure he might want to have that one back. He didn’t get it in a spot he wanted to. Lefty against lefty, I’m looking for a strikeout, not a triple.”

Al Reyes (3-0) got the victory with one inning of scoreless relief. Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.

Mike Lansing went three for four with a homer for the Rockies, who were making their County Stadium debut. He doubled and scored a run in the first on Kirt Manwaring’s RBI single and tied it 2-2 in the fifth inning with his fourth homer. Needing a triple for the cycle, he grounded out to short to end the game.

Brewer starter Brad Woodall gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings. Kile was equally effective, allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings.

Kile was seeking to snap a seven-game losing streak, one short of his career worst. In his last six road starts, including five losses, Kile has allowed only eight runs.

“He pitched a good ballgame,” Baylor said. “It frustrates me and I know it probably frustrates him as far as a lack of run support when he pitches. It’s pretty consistent.”