MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers finally got a quality start from one of their callups on Wednesday, but it did not help the manager sleep any better.

"It's the results that matter and [determine] how much sleep you get," said Ned Yost, whose Brewers took a 6-5 loss despite a fine outing by left-hander Zach Jackson.

"But we were encouraged by Jackson's outing," he conceded.

They should have been. Jackson, a 23-year-old left-hander acquired in an offseason trade with Toronto, pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs in the kind of outing that the team had been desperate to see from a young arm since it lost right-handers Ben Sheets and Tomo Ohka to shoulder injuries last month.

Since those injuries, the team had used three others for 11 starts in place of Sheets and Ohka. Jorge De La Rosa, Dana Eveland and Ben Hendrickson combined to go 0-8 with a 10.93 ERA and 63 hits in 40 1/3 innings.

Eveland and Hendrickson were shipped back to Triple-A, and De La Rosa is scheduled for a third start on Friday but the Brewers officially are listing the probable pitcher for what would be his next start -- June 14 at Cincinnati -- as "to be announced."

"It's a learning experience," said veteran right-hander Rick Helling. "My first two months in the big leagues went really well, but then for the next year and a half I was up and down. I think it's natural that when you get to the big leagues, you think that you have to do more than you've done. You think, 'My stuff's not good enough here. I have to throw harder. I have to be perfect on the corners.'

"I tell guys when they come up, 'Just pitch. You don't have to do anything more than you've done. Obviously, the hitters are better here, but you can't try to be perfect and you have to trust your stuff.' That's hard for young guys to do, because you're facing guys you've seen on TV for the last five or 10 years. But the reason they're here is that they're good enough to be here."

Jackson tried to remind himself of that fact.

"If you don't have some nerves then there's something wrong with you," Jackson said. "But it was a great experience. I was able to lock in a lot more than what I thought."

Jackson was summoned from Triple-A Nashville last week and became the ninth different pitcher to start a game for the Brewers this season, one more than the team used in all of 2005. He was pitching in college barely more than two years ago, and was 18-10 in 41 Minor League starts over two-plus seasons with a 3.79 ERA.

Slow going: Shortstop J.J. Hardy, out since May 17 because of a severely sprained right ankle, has resumed throwing but is somewhat discouraged by a slower-than-expected recovery.

The ankle sprain has healed, Hardy said, but he remains sidelined because of a loose tendon on the outside of his ankle that occasionally slips out of place. Hardy has been told that the problem was a pre-existing condition unrelated to the sprain, and that it should correct itself once he strengthens the surrounding muscles.

Hardy began playing catch standing up on Tuesday. Assistant general manager Gord Ash said surgery is not being considered at this time.

"It's taking a lot more time than I wanted it to," said Hardy, who suffered the injury sliding into home plate. "But over the last week it's gotten a lot better. I've been keeping my arm in shape, so once this thing gets settled down I should be able to jump right back into baseball.

"Right now, I'm scared to do anything that will make [the tendon] snap over, because I'll fall. It's mental, in a way, I guess."

Bill Hall has been starting at shortstop in Hardy's absence.

Lee sits: Carlos Lee was out of the Brewers' lineup Thursday for just the second time in 223 games since joining the team prior to last season, a much-deserved day off for the slugger.

Would Lee actually get the full day this time? Last July 17, Yost slotted Chris Magruder in left field, hoping to give Lee a break, but Magruder was hit by a pitch and left the game in the second inning. Lee went on to become the fourth player in franchise history to play 162 games.

On Thursday, Gabe Gross started in left. Lee was going to do everything in his power to make it stay that way.

"I'm going to go out there in [batting practice] and make sure he's OK," Lee said.

Yost also offered Lee the option of skipping his usual round of pregame hitting, which Lee accepted.

"It's not so much for my body, it's for the mind," said Lee, who leads the Brewers with 19 home runs and 46 RBIs.

Signings: A day after the end of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, the Brewers have already announced seven signings including top pick Jeremy Jeffress, an 18-year-old high school right-hander from Virginia.

Also under contract and bound for rookie Helena in the Pioneer League: right-hander Shawn Ferguson (ninth round), right-hander Michael McClendon (10th round), right-hander Chris Toneguzzi (13th round) and catcher Jordan Swaydan (30th round). Signed and headed to the rookie Arizona Brewers: shortstop Brent Brewer (second round) and outfielder Mike Goetz (25th round).

Goetz, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee product, took batting practice with the team on Thursday morning.

On deck: The Cardinals come to town for the first time this season, beginning with Friday's 7:05 p.m. CT tilt. De La Rosa is scheduled to pitch for the Brewers in what could be a make-or-break start against Cardinals lefty Mark Mulder.