Box score

MILWAUKEE -- If Jeromy Burnitz is looking for extra work, he should apply to the Psychic Friends Network.

Asked after Saturday's rout over the San Francisco Giants of the Brewers style of offense -- ferocious one day, muzzled the next -- Burnitz said: "Baseball changes from day to day. Guys struggle, that's the way the game goes."

He went on: "Hitting is contagious. That's one of the oldest things you hear in baseball, and it's the truth. No doubt about it."

Burnitz played a role in making those prophecies reality on Easter Sunday, when he sparked the offensive attack in a 7-4 Brewers victory in front of 25,981 at Miller Park.

Giants starter Russ Ortiz faced only one batter more than the minimum through six innings and the Brewers couldn't get a runner past first base until the seventh. But in that inning, Burnitz -- who certainly does not fall into the category of "struggling" so far this season -- lined an RBI single to center field to score Luis Lopez and pop the cork off the Milwaukee offense.

"Usually what you do in those situations is hope [the opposing pitcher] makes a mistake," Brewers Manager Davey Lopes said. "That's all it takes at times, when you've got a pitching duel going on."

With Burnitz and Richie Sexson on base in the same inning, Jeffrey Hammonds capitalized on an Ortiz mistake and hammered his first home run as a Brewer. The 440-foot bomb to left field put the Brewers ahead, 4-2.

"Russ Ortiz has as good of stuff as anybody and he was pitching an outstanding ballgame," Lopes said. "He just made a mistake at the wrong time and Jeffrey took advantage of it. We've got several guys in the lineup that with one swing of the bat can turn things around. And today we did that."

Hammonds said he was happy to hit his first Brewers home run at Miller Park.

"It was a big one, it put us on top. Yeah, I'm happy," he said. "I hit that one good. It had the right trajectory on it and it didn't have any top spin."

Off the bat, Hammonds knew it was obviously not coming back. Barry Bonds' reaction in left field removed any lingering doubt.

"Barry looked up and didn't move, so that gave me an indication," Hammonds said.

Hammonds plated three more runners in the eighth, although he won't get credit for it in the record book.

San Francisco closer Rob Nen intentionally walked Jeromy Burnitz to load the bases with two outs for Hammonds. With a full count of Nen fastballs near 100 mph, Hammonds drove a playable line drive toward Bonds in left field. The eight-time Gold Glove outfielder drifted back and tried to make the catch near his right shoulder, but missed the ball.

The play was ruled an error and Hammonds was not credited with the three runners who scored. The Brewers led, 7-3 after the play.

Lopes said once he saw Bonds get a read on the play, he looked away and assumed the out.

"But then I saw the ball fall on the ground," he said. "Rarely do you see that happen."

The Giants made it a game with a quartet of solo homers, including Barry Bonds' career home run No. 499 with two outs in the eighth inning. That hit, a 385-foot opposite-field shot off Brewers reliever David Weathers, made it a 4-3 Brewers lead. J.T. Snow, Rich Aurilia and Russ Davis also hit solo home runs.

Paul Rigdon, who started against Ortiz on Sunday, has made three outstanding starts and finally has something to show for it. Rigdon pitched seven innings and allowed only two runs on a pair of solo homers.

He earned his first win of the season thanks to the Brewers' four runs in the seventh inning, when Rigdon was removed for pinch-hitter Angel Echevarria.

"Our bullpen was a little strapped and we wanted to hopefully give most of the guys in the bullpen the day off," Lopes said. "And we were able to because he threw a very good ballgame."

Curtis Leskanic allowed Davis' solo home run in the ninth, but earned his first save.

HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Brewers finished the first-ever homestand at Miller Park with a 6-3 record thanks to Sunday's victory. Lopes has repeatedly said that building a home-field advantage is a key to the team's success this year.

"We won six out of nine here so we're on a pretty good streak."

NEXT UP: The Brewers are off on Monday before a two-game series in Cincinnati. After another off-day on Thursday, they face the Giants at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco.

Box score

SAN FRANCISCO (4) VS MILWAUKEE (7) - FINAL

SAN FRANCISCO          ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Dunston cf              4  0  0  0   0  0   0  .273
Aurilia ss              4  1  1  1   0  1   1  .400
 Nen p                  0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
Bonds lf                3  1  1  1   1  0   0  .214
Kent 2b                 4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .239
Snow 1b                 4  1  1  1   0  1   2  .325
Rios rf                 3  0  0  0   1  0   0  .361
R Davis 3b              4  1  2  1   0  0   0  .188
B Estalella c           3  0  1  0   1  0   0  .280
Ru Ortiz p              2  0  0  0   0  2   3  .167
 Fultz p                0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 Re Martinez ss         0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .364

Totals                 31  4  7  4   3  5   7

BATTING: HR - Snow (1, 2nd inning off Rigdon 0 on, 1 out);
Aurilia (2, 6th inning off Rigdon 0 on, 2 out); Bonds (5, 8th
inning off Weathers 0 on, 2 out); R Davis (3, 9th inning off C
Leskanic 0 on, 2 out). S - Ru Ortiz. RBI - Snow (3), Aurilia
(4), Bonds (9), R Davis (7). 2-out RBI - Aurilia, Bonds, R
Davis. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Aurilia 1, Ru
Ortiz 2. GIDP - Snow.  Team LOB - 4.

BASERUNNING: CS - Kent (3, 2nd base by Rigdon/Blanco). 

FIELDING: E - Bonds (2, fly ball). DP: 1 (Aurilia-Snow). 

MILWAUKEE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Ro Belliard 2b          4  1  1  0   0  0   0  .298
L Lopez ss              2  1  1  0   1  0   0  .375
Jenkins lf              4  1  1  0   0  2   2  .224
Sexson 1b               4  1  1  0   0  2   3  .239
J Burnitz rf            2  2  1  1   2  0   0  .333
Hammonds cf             4  1  1  3   0  0   1  .256
Houston 3b              3  0  0  0   1  0   1  .259
Blanco c                3  0  0  0   1  2   2  .133
Rigdon p                2  0  0  0   0  1   0  .000
 a-Echevarria ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .000
 Weathers p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 C Leskanic p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 29  7  6  4   5  7  10

a-flied to center for Rigdon in the 7th.

BATTING: HR - Hammonds (1, 7th inning off Ru Ortiz 2 on, 1 out).
S - L Lopez. RBI - J Burnitz (15), Hammonds 3 (6). Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - Blanco 1. GIDP - Sexson.  Team LOB
- 4.

BASERUNNING: SB - Jenkins (1, 2nd base off Nen/B Estalella). 

FIELDING: DP: 1 (Sexson-L Lopez-Rigdon). 

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    San Francisco  - 010 001 011  --  4
    Milwaukee      - 000 000 43X  --  7

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SAN FRANCISCO                ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Ru Ortiz (L, 2-1)             6 1/3   4   4   4   2   6   1   3.37
Fultz                         1       2   2   0   1   0   0   3.00
Nen                             2/3   0   1   0   2   1   0   1.59

MILWAUKEE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Rigdon (W, 1-0)               7       5   2   2   3   4   2   3.15
Weathers (H, 1)                 2/3   1   1   1   0   0   1   2.25
C Leskanic (S, 1)             1 1/3   1   1   1   0   1   1   8.22

IBB - B Estalella (by Rigdon); J Burnitz (by Nen); Houston (by
Nen).  Pitches-strikes: Rigdon 112-65; Weathers 12-9; C Leskanic
15-12; Ru Ortiz 98-58; Fultz 22-12; Nen 20-8.  Ground balls-fly
balls: Rigdon 7-9; Weathers 0-2; C Leskanic 3-0; Ru Ortiz 9-4;
Fultz 2-1; Nen 1-0.  Batters faced: Rigdon 27; Weathers 3; C
Leskanic 5; Ru Ortiz 24; Fultz 6; Nen 5. 

UMPIRES: HP--Jim Joyce. 1B--Terry Craft. 2B--Bill Miller.
3B--Rob Drake.
T--2:48.  Att--25,981. Indoors.