The Brewers figured out a way to win a series. Now they have to figure out how to win on the road.

After taking two of three games at Miller Park from the Reds, the current National League Wild Card leaders, the Brewers headed out for a six-game trip to Colorado and St. Louis. Milwaukee is 32-23 on its home turf but 18-32 everywhere else, and went 3-6 on a dismal road trip coming out of the All-Star break.

"As dumb as it sounds with two months left, every win is important," said manager Ned Yost, whose Brewers are five games behind the Reds.

The Rockies are one of the teams in the way, a half-game better than the Brewers after a win over the Padres on Sunday. Milwaukee left-hander Chris Capuano will face Colorado right-hander Aaron Cook in Monday's series opener at Coors Field.

Capuano, Dave Bush and Tomo Ohka are scheduled to start in the series out of a Brewers starting rotation that finally seems to have stabilized. Ohka and Ben Sheets missed more than two months with shoulder injuries, but Ohka has made three starts off the DL and Sheets two, including a promising win over the Reds on Sunday.

"I like it now more than I did two months ago, that's for sure," pitching coach Mike Maddux said of the rebuilt rotation. "If we have all five guys perform we've got a chance to win every night. I think all of the additions we've made have made us stronger. I like where we're going right now."

Capuano went 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA in five June starts but has not been nearly as effective in July, going 1-2 with a 6.35 ERA. Opponents batted .263 against Capuano in June with one home run and 35 strikeouts; this month they're hitting at a .355 clip with seven home runs and just 16 whiffs.

One of the highlights of Capuano's 18-win 2005 season came at Coors Field. Last Aug. 18, Capuano pitched seven shutout innings and relievers Dana Eveland, Jose Capellan and Derrick Turnbow finished off what was, at the time, the seventh shutout by a Rockies opponent in the 11-year history of Coors Field.

In two career starts at the Rockies' mile-high home, Capuano is 2-0 with an 0.69 ERA (one run in 13 innings) and no home runs.

The Brewers will try to build on two straight wins over the Reds.

"This was a big game for us," Yost said Sunday. "I mean, this was a really, really big game for us to win. We pick up another game on the Wild Card, get back in the right direction [to] get back over that .500 mark."

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Chris Capuano (10-6, 3.74 ERA)
Right-handers are hitting only three points better than left-handers but have 15 of the 17 homers against Capuano this season.

COL: RHP Aaron Cook (6-9, 3.88 ERA)
Is 3-1 with a 4.21 ERA in five games, four starts against the Brewers despite a .343 batting average against.

Player to watch
Brewers newcomer David Bell, the starter at third while Corey Koskie remains sidelined with a concussion, is 7-for-12 (.538) lifetime against Cook. Bell has two doubles, two RBIs, two walks and no strikeouts against the sinkerballer.

MILWAUKEE -- After Wednesday's loss to Pittsburgh, Carlos Lee sat back in his chair in the Brewers locker room and said the team needed to sweep the Reds to have a chance to get back into the playoff race.

Although the sweep was impossible, two of the players traded for Lee helped deliver one of the most important wins of the season on Sunday.

Facing the possibility of a seven-game deficit in the Wild Card standings, Kevin Mench hit a three-run home run and Francisco Cordero closed out a shaky ninth to propel the Brewers to a 4-3 victory against the Wild Card-leading Reds at Miller Park.

"This was a really big game for us to win," said Brewers manager Ned Yost. "Every win right now, as dumb as it sounds, is important."

And if the Brewers can make a serious charge back into the thick of the playoff chase, they can point to the seventh and ninth innings of Sunday's game as a catalyst for doing so.

In the seventh, Tony Graffanino and Prince Fielder hit consecutive singles to start the inning. That's when Mench stepped to the plate and hit his first home run as a Brewer with a shot to left field and gave the team a four-run lead.

"I was just looking for something to drive in that situation and I got it," Mench said. "I didn't think I hit that ball that far. Actually when I hit it, it went up into that open space up there and I didn't see it. I just went by the fans reaction."

After Mench touched home plate and entered the dugout, the Brewers fans -- many of whom voiced their displeasure with the trade that saw Lee exit town on Friday -- roused a curtain call from their new left fielder.

"I didn't know," said Mench of the fans reaction. "[Hitting coach] Butch [Wynegar] said they were calling me and I just went out. I don't like that stuff but if they want me to come out there I guess I will."

And although no one is saying "Carlos who?" in the Brewers locker room after Mench's five RBIs in two games, the initial adjustment period of losing their All-Star slugger seems to have passed for the Brewers as they now set their sights on getting back to .500.

It didn't hurt that starter Ben Sheets cruised through the first eight innings, either. With the team enjoying a four-run lead thanks to Mench and Sheets, it appeared as if the Brewers would ease to an important victory.

However, as has been the case more often than not in the last month, the game turned interesting with Derrick Turnbow on the mound in the ninth.

Turnbow entered after Sheets gave up a two-run home run to Ken Griffey Jr. Rich Aurilia then followed suit with a home run off Turnbow to make it a one-run game. After allowing two more men to reach, he was pulled with two outs.

Cordero entered and induced a ground ball by pinch-hitter David Ross to end the game and earn his first save as a Brewer.

"That's why we've got Frankie," Turnbow said. "That's what he's there for. I didn't get the job done. That's a huge win for us right there. As long as the job got done, that's all that matters. It was a good day."

Somewhat lost in the Mench hoopla and Turnbow's near-meltdown was a second consecutive stellar start by Sheets (2-3).

"Ben Sheets was as good as we've seen all year," said Reds manager Jerry Narron. "A real good fastball. He was throwing cut fastballs. He had a good breaking ball."

As he did in his first start off the disabled list on Tuesday, Sheets settled into a groove after the first couple of innings. At one point, Sheets retired 11 batters in a row. Sheets also reported no soreness in his shoulder and said he would be ready for his next start.

"I felt good today," Sheets said. "My arm is still getting there but this is a nice step. I wouldn't say it was outstanding. I still don't have that arm strength where I can grip it and rip it but there's still definitely room for improvement on that."

It appeared, however, that just like on Tuesday, Sheets would once again be the victim of almost no run support and the team would allow another club to come back in the late innings. The Brewers stranded a runner in each of the first three innings and after getting the first two men on in the fifth, Fielder, Mench and Geoff Jenkins recorded three straight outs to end the threat.

But the lead provided by Mench in the seventh held up for Sheets. In eight innings, he allowed seven hits and struck out 10 batters. The right-hander now has 12 career double-digit strikeout games.

"It's a good start, I'll say that," said pitching coach Mike Maddux. "Are we out of the woods yet? Time will tell. But I like where we're at. He held his pitch count down and was pretty aggressive, and because his pitch count was so low we stayed with him."

More important than a low pitch count and a dominant outing, though, was the final result. One that left the Brewers within striking distance of a team they won't face the rest of the regular season, instead of a full week's worth of games back.

"I don't care about the decision, we needed a win bad," Sheets said. "Two out of three, we needed to do that and we did it. I'm hoping that can set us in the right direction for what we want to do."

The Brewers continue to believe they're in the hunt for a playoff spot. But with Friday's loss, the chances are becoming slimmer by the day.

"It was a big game and we definitely needed to win it," said Brewers manager Ned Yost after Friday's loss. "But seven games in two months are very doable."

Friday's loss left the Brewers seven games back of the Wild Card-leading Reds, causing the importance of the series to escalate even more.

"This is probably our biggest series," Geoff Jenkins said. "We've got a chance to make up ground, so this is obviously huge. You want all of them, but it doesn't work that way. We just have to get on a run here, because we have good players."

The Brewers might need to start wearing name tags in the clubhouse after adding four new players this week. Since Tuesday, they've added Tony Graffanino, Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and now, after Friday's game, the Brewers added Phillies third baseman David Bell.

"Bell gives us another professional-type player," Yost said. "He's a solid defender and he'll put the ball in play. He'll do the things that are going to help you win ballgames."

The Brewers will send out left-hander Doug Davis to face the Reds. His last start against Cincinnati took place on July 4 at Miller Park, with the Brewers earning a 5-2 victory. Davis threw 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out five.

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Doug Davis (6-6, 5.01 ERA)
Davis wasn't sharp in his last outing on Monday against Pittsburgh, but picked up the win thanks to the offense pounding out 12 runs. Davis has already made four starts against the Reds this season, going 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA.

CIN: RHP Justin Germano (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Germano will make his sixth career Major League start on Saturday and his first for the Reds. Germano began the season in Triple-A Louisville and has gone 8-6 with a 3.69 ERA.

Player to Watch:
Mench arrived at Miller Park during the bottom of the eighth inning of Friday's game and did not play. The left fielder likely will start in his first game as a Brewer on Saturday. He hit .284 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs in 87 games for the Rangers this season.

MILWAUKEE -- It became clear to the Brewers on Thursday that free-agent-to-be Carlos Lee was going to walk. So in the wee hours Friday morning, they sent their best player packing.

The Brewers traded Lee and promising outfield prospect Nelson Cruz to the Texas Rangers for reliever Francisco Cordero, outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix and Minor League left-hander Julian Cordero. Lee was on the way to another career year -- he led the Brewers this season with 28 home runs and 81 RBIs -- but faced with the likelihood of losing him after the season and getting only compensatory draft picks in return, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin went shopping.

Mench presumably will replace Lee in left field and Francisco Cordero should help a bullpen that surely needs it. Nix and Julian Cordero were assigned to Minor League affiliates.

Melvin bunkered down with his top lieutenants at Miller Park on Thursday after Lee and his agent, Adam Katz, rejected an offer of four years and $48 million. The Brewers would have gone higher on the dollars but not the years, but Katz and Lee wanted a five-year commitment, something the Brewers were not willing to offer a player who turned 30 last month.

"The response from Carlos' representative was that we were too far apart to even counter," Melvin said. "When we got off the phone yesterday, we knew he was going to leave the Brewers."

Lee said repeatedly he wanted to re-sign with Milwaukee and that, "it's up to Doug Melvin," but according to several sources Lee may have been feeling pressure from Katz and the Players Association to help set the free agent market for marquee outfielders.

"It's frustrating and disappointing," said Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio. "On a personal level, I was very fond of Carlos and obviously he's an enormously productive player. On the other hand, as I'm learning, this is a business."

Since the Brewers acquired him from the White Sox at the 2004 Winter Meetings, Lee had played in 264 straight games, 10 shy of Robin Yount's Brewers record. Lee has played in 275 straight games including the end of his last season in Chicago, the fifth-longest active streak in the Majors, and Lee is well on the way to his fourth straight 30-homer, 99-RBI season.

In other words, the Rangers know what they are getting, at least for the next two months. The players headed to Milwaukee come with plenty of question marks.

Can Cordero, an All-Star in 2004, continue his stretch of success since moving from the Rangers' closer role to setup in late April? Can Mench produce as an everyday player? Can Nix finally reach his potential? Who is Julian Cordero?

Francisco Cordero, 31, allowed four runs to the New York Yankees in the eighth inning of an eventual Rangers loss on Wednesday, but he has been solid since Rangers manager Buck Showalter made Akinori Otsuka the closer and moved Cordero to a setup role. Before Wednesday, Cordero had not given up multiple runs in an outing in more than two months.

The Brewers could use a steady hand in what has been an inconsistent relief corps. Entering Friday's game, the Brewers' 5.17 bullpen ERA was the worst in the National League.

Mench, 28, has been on the trading block for weeks. He grabbed national attention by hitting a home run in seven straight games in April, a new club record and one short of a Major League mark, but had just five homers and 32 RBIs in 251 at-bats since the streak ended April 28.

Nix, 25, was Texas' Opening Day center fielder last season but suffered a shoulder injury and has spent most of this year at Triple-A Oklahoma trying to rebound. He was hitting .269 with 10 home runs and 55 RBIs in 77 games. Julian Cordero, 21, was 2-5 in 27 games, five starts, at Class A Clinton.

Asked if the trade immediately improved the Brewers' roster, Melvin said it put the team "in better position for next year and the following years."

Mench will be eligible for his second round of salary arbitration this winter and will get a bump from his $2.8 million salary, and Melvin said the team intends to pick up Cordero's 2007 option at more than $5 million.

With those figures in mind, Melvin bristled at the mention of a salary dump.

"Combined, they'll be making close to $10 million," Melvin said. "These are two established players who have had a lot of success in the big leagues. They'll continue to earn money."

And they'll do that in Milwaukee. Melvin said at least one team called before the Brewers even formally announced the trade asking if the Brewers were willing to deal Mench, "and I told them we're not." Attanasio said another club had called on Cordero.

The Brewers have had luck in recent trades that created immediate public backlash. Melvin acquired pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Jackson and outfielder Gabe Gross from the Blue Jays for Lyle Overbay, opening first base for Prince Fielder and adding three players who have helped the Brewers this season. The team got Lee from the White Sox for popular outfielder Scott Podsednik, and Chicago went on to win the World Series while Lee became a Milwaukee mainstay. And the whopper came in December 2003, when Melvin dealt slugger Richie Sexson to Arizona in a nine-player trade that was at first blasted but is now considered one of the most one-sided deals in all of baseball over the past five years.

"We know he's popular with the fans. He's popular with us, too," Melvin said of Lee. "But that's the business part of the game that we all get faced with. ... If he feels that there is an opportunity to go out there and maximize his earnings as a free agent player when he's had the kind of year that he's had, then that's his decision. We respect that decision.

"We just felt that this was the best deal for us to make. It was a deal we felt we needed to make."

Melvin tried to get Mench and Francisco Cordero straight-up for Lee. But because the Rangers are only guaranteed Lee's services for two months -- a point Texas GM Jon Daniels made repeatedly during negotiations -- Nix and Cruz were included to "balance out the deal," Melvin said. Cruz is an exceptional prospect who hit his 20th home run for Triple-A Nashville on Thursday night.

The Brewers entertained offers from five other clubs. Detroit agreed to include top pitching prospect Humberto Sanchez, but the Brewers were concerned about a recent bout of elbow soreness. Houston became a serious player late Thursday, and the Cardinals had also shown some interest, but Melvin wasn't willing to deal Lee within the division. The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped out of the running after their poor start to the second half, but the cross-town Angels remained in the running to the end. Oakland and Minnesota also inquired.

"They were all for younger players, prospect-type players, that probably wouldn't have worn Brewers uniforms until the end of next year," Melvin said. "If you looked at what our other options were, this was the best deal that we could make."

Had the Brewers made one of the other deals, Melvin argued, critics' claims about waving the white flag on 2006 would have been warranted. But he made a case that the players involved could help the Brewers in the immediate and long-term future.

Mench and Francisco Cordero were expected at Miller Park on Friday night, when the team began a key three-game series against the Reds. Nix will head to Triple-A Nashville, and Julian Cordero is headed to Class A West Virginia.

Texas went into Friday's game against Kansas City in third place in the American League West, two games behind division-leading Oakland. Milwaukee was six games behind the NL Wild Card-leading Reds entering a weekend series at Miller Park, but five teams stood in-between.

Defeating the Pirates on Monday night was a good warm-up act for the Brewers. On Tuesday, the main attraction makes its return.

Ben Sheets, placed on the disabled list on May 10, will make his first start since May 2 on Tuesday night. The move was made official after Monday's victory.

It's no secret that the Brewers struggled to fill the holes in the rotation while Sheets and Tomo Ohka were on the disabled list. But now with the two starters back, the team can focus on getting back into the thick of the playoff chase.

"In order to get on any roll you need pitching every day," Sheets said. "Starting pitching dictates that."

Rickie Weeks said the team hasn't talked about a possible emotional lift that Sheets' return will bring, but he was quick to point out the positives of having a full rotation back for the first time since early May.

"Tomo came back and he's done great in his two starts," Weeks said. "Now we've got Ben coming back and we should be set for a pretty good run."

The Pirates will counter with right-hander Ian Snell. On May 31 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Snell won a 6-1 game against Chris Capuano. Snell allowed one run in six innings in the victory.

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Ben Sheets (1-3, 6.64 ERA)
In Sheets' last start, he lasted 2 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs on nine hits.

PIT: RHP Ian Snell (8-6, 4.84 ERA)
Snell has won five straight decisions against National League opponents.

Player to Watch
Jeff Cirillo is 1-for-3 with a home run against Snell.

As of right now the Brewers are 4 1/2 games out of the wild card right now..they need to win all of their next five home games.

MILWAUKEE -- The pattern from the Brewers' road trip continued, but this time, at home, the result changed.

One hit off a season high, chasing the opposing team's starter in the third inning and 10 runs in the first three innings seemingly would add up to an easy victory and a nice way for the Brewers to start their six-game homestand.

But a few shaky pitching performances and some ill-timed defensive lapses made a 12-8 Brewers victory against the Pirates harder than it should have been.

When asked if there was an air of uncertainty once the Pirates cut a nine-run deficit to four, Brewers manager Ned Yost let out a good-natured chuckle before answering.

"You just never know," Yost said. "You're never really at ease with an eight-, nine-run lead when the game is still early."

Early on, the Brewers hit anything and everything Pirates starter Zach Duke was throwing at them. They jumped on him early in the count, battled off pitches to draw walks, and drove the ball seemingly all over Miller Park before he was removed in the third.

After the third inning, the Brewers' 1-5 hitters had made 15 plate appearances, reaching base 13 times and scoring nine runs. Carlos Lee was a triple short of the cycle and the game seemed well in hand.

"All in all, the bats were great tonight," Yost said. "It's nice to have a little bit of cushion so in case you do make a mistake you've got room to cover it."

Twice in those first three innings the Brewers scored four runs on four hits. Bill Hall hit a two-run home run in the first as six of the first seven Brewers batters reached base.

"I didn't know what Duke was going to start me out with," Hall said. "We had a runner in scoring position and it was important for us to get on the board. He hung a curveball and I hit it out."

Hall hit two home runs to run his total to 22 on the season and Lee's home run was his 28th of the year. After Hall's two-run home run in the fifth, the Brewers were ahead by a seemingly healthy 12-3 margin.

But, as was the case during the Brewers' road trip, the early lead began to dwindle as the game wore on and the Brewers' bats went silent in the final few innings.

The Pirates got to Brewers starter Doug Davis in the sixth and a few shoddy defensive plays by Chris Barnwell and Geoff Jenkins resulted in three runs on four hits. Against reliever Jose Capellan in the seventh, the Pirates would add two more and cut the lead to four.

Matt Wise shut the door in the final two innings, allowing just one hit.

While the Pirates were making the game close, the Brewers' defense was doing all it could not to run into each other. Although the team was only charged with two errors, there were several plays that could have been ruled errors.

"It was a little frustrating when you're executing your pitches and they're dropping them or whatever. [It] was great efforts by the defense, but they were perfectly placed balls," Davis said.

Davis (6-6) had been the victim of a team-leading five blown saves, including two straight games. The Brewers' offense made sure it wouldn't happen on Monday.

Davis pitched six innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and striking out three. It wasn't his sharpest outing of the season, but with the offensive output he received, it would have taken an awful showing to lose the game.

"It could have been a lot worse, I could have given up four or five in [the sixth] inning and had a breakdown," Davis said. "I thought I pitched well. The line doesn't say it, but I thought I executed my pitches well."

It was all part of a wild game that saw both teams bat around during an inning, a combined six errors, 29 hits and a balk.

More importantly, though, the Brewers made their mark to start a crucial homestand in an attempt to climb back into the thick of the playoff race.

After going 3-9 in their previous 12 games before Monday's victory, the Brewers had dropped from 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Cardinals to a season-high 10 games behind the St. Louis entering Monday. But with a return to the comforts of Miller Park -- where the Brewers are now 30-20 this season -- the team can start to make some real headway now.

"It's no more important than getting off on the right foot on the road," said Yost, sticking to his one game at a time mentality. "They're all important."

After dropping two of three games in consecutive series to start the second half, the Brewers could use a good showing in Cincinnati to salvage their road trip.

"I don't know about salvaging, we just need to go get some more wins, period," said Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks, who has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games but went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's heartbreaking loss.

The Brewers have lost nine of their last 11 games. They were two outs away from a series win over the Giants on Wednesday, but Ray Durham hit a game-winning single off the glove of Brewers closer Derrick Turnbow, who suffered his fourth straight blown save.

On Wednesday, they will turn to their stopper, left-hander Chris Capuano, who is tied with Arizona's Brandon Webb for the most quality starts -- six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs -- in the Majors this season. His last outing was not so quality, as Capuano worked a season-low 3 2/3 innings and was tagged with eight runs -- five of them earned -- on 10 hits. It was the second poor outing for Capuano in three starts.

The Reds will counter with right-hander Elizardo Ramirez. It will be the Brewers' first look at a Reds squad without outfielder Austin Kearns and shortstop Felipe Lopez, both of whom were traded to Washington for relief help. That was bad news for Weeks, who works out with Lopez and Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein throughout the offseason.

"He's kind of down about it, but he'll be all right," Weeks said of Lopez. "He liked it there."

The Brewers are in danger of slipping five games under .500, which would match their low point this season.

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Chris Capuano (10-5, 3.46 ERA)
Capuano has a 2.47 ERA in his 17 quality starts and an 11.20 ERA in his three other outings.

CIN: RHP Elizardo Ramirez (3-6, 4.16 ERA)
Ramirez is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in three starts this season against the Brewers.

Player to watch
Weeks is 5-for-8 against Ramirez this season with a double and a triple. His six-game hitting streak ended on Wednesday.

And some notes too.

PHOENIX -- It was a good day for Major League bloodlines on Saturday at Chase Field. On the same day the Diamondbacks called up shortstop Stephen Drew, whose older brother, J.D., plays for the Dodgers, the Brewers called on outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., whose father is in the Hall of Fame.

Gwynn got the call as Brewers third baseman Corey Koskie was placed on the disabled list with post-concussion syndrome, the result of a highlight-worthy defensive effort on July 5 at Miller Park. When Gwynn learned the news early Saturday morning, his first call was home to San Diego.

"He hates flying," Gwynn said of his dad, who played 20 Major League seasons for the Padres. "So he just hopped in the car and drove."

The younger Gwynn entered the season a career .261 hitter in three seasons since the Brewers made him their second-round pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. But this year, he batted .305 (104-for-341) in 86 games at Triple-A Nashville and currently ranks second in the Pacific Coast League with 24 stolen bases and fifth with 104 hits. He was the PCL's starting center fielder in the Triple-A All-Star Game.

"I knew I had to be stronger and become more consistent at the plate," Gwynn said. "I think that came with more at-bats. You start to apply different things that you see, and the result is that you start putting up some numbers. Hopefully, that continues, whether it's here or back at Triple-A."

Gwynn arrived just before batting practice Saturday, just as Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and manager Ned Yost discussed the move. They considered promoting the versatile Vinny Rottino, who would have provided help for an infield missing Koskie and J.J. Hardy (ankle), but instead chose Gwynn because he is a left-handed hitter. When Gabe Gross starts in center field, as he did Saturday, the Brewers had no lefties on the bench.

Yost plans to stick with Brady Clark and Gross as the regular center fielders.

"We'll pick spots for Tony to play," said Yost. "But are we going to throw him in center every day? No, we're not doing that."

Koskie out: The team expected to get Koskie back in the lineup this weekend, but symptoms of dizziness and nausea returned after he went through a battery of strenuous physical and mental tests on Friday. Koskie was sent back to the team hotel before Friday's game.

"We don't know how long it will be," Melvin said. "It could be gone in two or three days, or it could be gone in a week, two weeks."

Koskie has not played since the injury on July 5, when he slid awkwardly trying to catch a Felipe Lopez foul pop. The ball popped out of Koskie's glove when he hit the ground, and shortstop Bill Hall plucked it out of the air to end the inning.

"It seemed like such a harmless play," Koskie said.

Koskie underwent a series of tests including a CAT scan to determine that there was no serious physical damage. His stint on the disabled list is retroactive to July 6, and doctors have advised that getting lots of sleep can speed Koskie's recovery.

"I could lay down right now and be out in a minute," Koskie said. "I'm tired, fatigued. They say it's day-by-day, that one day I you could wake up and all of a sudden you're fine."

Vote of confidence: Derrick Turnbow is in a rough stretch, but he is still the Brewers closer.

"He's our closer. Nothing changes," Yost said.

On Friday night, Turnbow entered with a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning and surrendered a Luis Gonzalez double and a Johnny Estrada, game-winning home run. Over his last five appearances, Turnbow has blown all three of his save chances and has a 34.71 ERA. His ERA for the season has ballooned from 3.28 to 5.21.

"I wouldn't call it a long slump," Yost said. "He's struggled a little bit lately, and it started with him not being able to command his breaking ball. He's worked through that a little bit. It's like any pitcher; you're going to have good nights and you're going to have bad nights."

Lineup notes: Yost posted another new lineup on Saturday, featuring Gross in the leadoff spot and Chris Barnwell playing second base. Barnwell replaced regular second baseman Rickie Weeks, Yost said, because Weeks is 0-for-9 with five strikeouts in his career against Arizona sinkerballer Brandon Webb.

"We're trying to find some offense right now," Yost said. "I'm trying to give our club every opportunity to score some runs."

Triple-A no-no: In his first start at Nashville, right-hander Carlos Villanueva combined with two relievers for the fifth no-hitter in Sounds history, beating division-rival Memphis on Saturday, 2-0, in front of 8,727 fans.

Villanueva posted a 4.31 ERA in six appearances, three starts, for the Brewers after a promotion from Double-A Huntsville, but he was sent down to Nashville just before the All-Star break. Making his Triple-A debut on Saturday, he threw 86 pitches in six hitless innings, striking out six and walking three for the win. Mike Meyers pitched the seventh and eighth innings and Alec Zumwalt came in for the ninth and fanned two of the three batters he faced, including a check-swing, game-ending strikeout of Jason Conti, a former Brewers outfielder.

On deck: Right-hander Dave Bush is scheduled to start against Arizona right-hander Claudio Vargas when the Brewers and Diamondbacks wrap their season series on Sunday. Bush has made five straight quality starts, going 1-1 in that span with a 2.57 ERA, and he beat the Diamondbacks on April 7 at Miller Park in his Brewers debut.

The Brewers are now 4 games out of the wild card....they need to win some games.....we need a winning streak...please!!!