That sinking feeling

After beating the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on June 23, the Milwaukee Brewers were in complete control of the National League Central with an 8½-game lead.

The Brewers come to Wrigley Field tonight gasping for air, as if overcome by the smell of bad cheese, in a free fall they might not be able to get out of if they don't take at least two of three from the Cubs this week.

That's because Milwaukee has lost five in a row, 10 of 13, 14 of 19 and 21 of their last 30. They are 25-42 since the all-star break and no longer the talk of baseball because of their many impressive young players.

Now the talking heads on ESPN and elsewhere are asking how far can Milwaukee sink?

"We're definitely struggling at this point, but we can turn it around," manager Ned Yost said after one of the Brewers' three weekend losses at San Francisco.

While the Brewers remain one of the most feared offensive teams around -- they are tops in the National League in home runs with 180, led by Prince Fielder's 39 -- their starting pitching has been at the root of their collapse.

Losing ace Ben Sheets to a tendon injury in his middle finger on July 14 was a killer of a setback considering the right-hander was 10-4 with a 3.39 ERA.

Sheets might make his long-awaited return in one of the games against the Cubs, perhaps Wednesday, provided the blisters that have curtailed his rehab progress don't flare up again.

Chris Capuano, another starter, has been sent to the bullpen after losing 16 straight starts. Capuano is 0-10 as a starter since May 7.

Milwaukee's starting rotation of Jeff Suppan (4.85 ERA), Dave Bush (4.96), Yovani Gallardo (4.86) and Claudio Vargas (5.13) hardly seems like one that can take a team to a division title. Counting Capuano, their starters have a combined ERA of over 5.50 in the last 42 games.

Adding Sheets would help greatly, but if he can't return soon Yost has considered using either Manny Parra (3.09 ERA in 21½ innings) out of the bullpen, recalling Carlos Villanueva from Triple-A or giving Capuano yet another shot.

Suppan pitches the series opener against the Cubs tonight, but after that, Yost was undecided.

"Our options all revolve around Benny right now and when he starts to get in the fold," Yost said.

Vargas' scheduled turn is Wednesday, but he was back in Milwaukee on Monday getting his sore back examined. Vargas didn't even make it out of the first inning last Friday in a loss to the Giants.

On Saturday in San Francisco, Yost met with general manager Doug Melvin, pitching coach Mike Maddux and bullpen coach Billy Castro to discuss the inconsistent starting pitching.

"What's going to change is our starting pitchers going out and doing what they're capable of doing," Yost told reporters. "We have to be a little more successful to do what we're capable of doing. It revolves around our starting pitchers."

At their highest point, the Brewers were 47-33, then the calendar turned to July. They were 11-16 in July and are 7-16 so far in August. On the road, the Brewers are a horrific 25-40.

The normally affable Yost abruptly ended his postgame media conference on Sunday in San Francisco after the Brewers' 5-4 loss dropped them back to .500 at 65-65 for the first time since April.

"The way we're playing right now, we need to find ways to be a better team, and that's all I have to say," Yost said.

Catcher Damian Miller told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that staying positive is what's needed now.

"Things are just not going our way right now," Miller said. "You can't sit around and mope, otherwise (falling out of the race) is going to happen."