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MILWAUKEE (AP) -- After watching starter Ubaldo Jimenez finally win a game on the road, Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle already was thinking of ways to make his young pitcher continue to feel more comfortable away from home.

"We'll just take the bed that he slept in here with us to New York," Hurdle said.

Jimenez baffled the Brewers in Colorado's 4-3 victory on Monday, putting a damper on what had been a daylong welcome to Milwaukee party for CC Sabathia.

Jimenez (4-8) gave up only three hits in seven innings, and has won three of his last four starts after beginning the season 1-7. More important, it was his first road win of the season.

"That's got to feel good, because he's aware of it," Hurdle said. "You know, it's been getting brought up. But we're not a team that sticks its head in the sand either. He's aware of it. He wanted to go do something different tonight."

He did. And in the process, he slightly numbed a city-wide baseball buzz surrounding the Brewers' acquisition of Sabathia on Monday morning.

"Does CC have to go back tomorrow?," Brewers manager Ned Yost joked.

After warmly welcoming Sabathia, who is scheduled to make his Milwaukee debut Tuesday night after he was acquired in a trade with Cleveland on Monday, Brewers players didn't seem particularly focused on the field until they put together a late rally off reliever Taylor Buchholz.

Milwaukee loaded the bases in the eighth inning on an error by Rockies first baseman Joe Koshansky, a pop fly that inexplicably dropped between catcher Chris Iannetta and third baseman Garrett Atkins, and a walk.

Hurdle called the botched pop fly "unacceptable."

"That's poor defense that really should not happen on this level," Hurdle said. "Somebody needs to take charge on the play. We've handled that"

Brewers slugger Ryan Braun then hit a sharp ground ball that glanced off the mound and into the glove of shortstop Clint Barmes, who stepped on second and threw to first for a double play as a run scored.

Prince Fielder then hit a two-run homer off Buchholz, cutting the Rockies' lead to 4-3.

"Obviously, we were able to add some drama to it to keep people in the ballpark," Hurdle said.

Reliever Manuel Corpas got the Rockies out of the inning, and Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save.

"We got down, we battled back, and we had a chance to win the ballgame," Brewers right fielder Corey Hart said. "It didn't work out, but we're all pretty positive right now. We're pretty ecstatic about what's going on. You're not going to win them all."

Until the eighth, the Brewers couldn't muster much offense, had two runners picked off first base by Jimenez and watched a Rockies run scored on an easy grounder that ended up being an error.

Brewers starter Seth McClung (5-4) struggled with his control and was pulled from the game two outs into the fifth after giving up two runs and five walks.

The Brewers went down 3-0 in the sixth after an easy groundball from Jimenez squirted past third baseman Russell Branyan for an error and Jeff Baker scored from second.

Rockies All-Star Matt Holliday hit his 14th home run of the season -- and fourth in four games -- in the seventh.

"I think he's in as good a place as we've seen him in a long time," Hurdle said.

For Milwaukee, the loss spoiled what had been a festive atmosphere after the Brewers announced they had sent four prospects to Cleveland for Sabathia, the reigning Cy Young Award winner.

"The guy has pitched pretty well in his career, but we've got to go out there and compete," Rockies centerfielder Willy Taveras said.

Sabathia smiled and waved after teammates let him know he was being shown on the scoreboard video monitor during the game, and received a 30-second standing ovation.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Braun said. "The fans will be into it. We're excited about it. We expect him to come out here and be dominant. I don't think we really expect anything less. That's what the track record says."

Game notes

Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy was named NL Player of the Week on Monday. ... The Rockies have homered in each of their last six games. ... Holliday extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... With storms approaching, the Miller Park roof began to close in the bottom of the sixth.