BRAUN STEPS UP AS LEADER; FIELDER DOESN'T DO ANYTHING; YOST DOES THE USUAL

Ryan Braun is not happy.

"I almost felt like this series, we didn't expect to win," Braun said after the 11-7 defeat that dropped the Brewers into sole possession of last place in the NL Central with five consecutive losses. "We were competing; I know everybody tried hard. But it's not about trying hard. You've got to expect to win. I almost feel like we never really expected to win any of these games. I just kind of had that feeling.

"It's just a feeling. Every time we were winning, I just didn't feel we expected to win. It was like we were just content to be there and compete. I don't think we necessarily expected to win.

"Obviously, they're a great team. It's a good gauge of where we're at when we can go out and compete with those guys. For us, as a team, our goal can't be to compete. Our goal has to be to win.

"Obviously, to come in here and win the series would have been extremely difficult but it's a real disappointment to come in here and get swept.

"A team like (Boston), they come out every day and expect to win. You can just sense it. I feel like we're there at times but we need to come with that approach every . No matter who we're playing against, no matter who's throwing against us, and expect to win. Part of that comes with success, comes with beating good teams and good pitchers. We're too talented to approach the game any other way.

"We've got to figure it out and figure it out in a hurry. We're better than that. We're certainly talented enough to win games. But a lot of it, our approach mentally, sometimes has to improve.

"We've got to go to Pittsburgh and try to find a way to win the series and go to Washington and find a way to win that series. We can't play like this for very long, as deep and talented as our division is. We're six weeks into it now.

"By no means is it time to panic. We just have to find a way to start playing better consistently in all facets of the game."

I'm not sure Prince Fielder agrees.

"We've still got to go out there and do our job," Fielder said. "Just because we lose doesn't mean that everything isn't going on all cylinders. I don't look at it that deep.

"It's not fun to lose but it's our job. We've got to do it whether it's hard or not. Every day, just try to go out there and each one of us try to do our part to help our team win."

I must say that I'm not totally sure what the hell he's talking about. Similarly, I haven't been sure what the hell he's swinging at most of the time this season.

Meanwhile, Ned Yost was seen after the game doing what he usually does.


This might explain a few things.

You want good news? The Brewers won't lose Monday.

Bad news? They're going to Pittsburgh, where they win about as often as the Lions do in Green Bay.