Have the Brewers turned the corner?

The Brewers wrapped up an 8-1 home stand yesterday afternoon with another dominating pitching performance by Yovani Gallardo, a 6-0 shutout of the San Fransisco Giants. The Crew impressed over the past week and a half, going from two under .500 to five over with sweeps over Colorado and Washington to once again fire up a fan base that had been getting rather antsy in the wake of a 7-game losing streak earlier this month.

While the Brewers' most recent home stand was no doubt impressive and important for the team's success this year, can we really be sure the team has turned their previously disappointing season around?

Not quite. The true test starts tonight, when the Brewers try to conquer two of their biggest stumbling blocks during this streaky 2011 season: winning on the road, and beating the Cincinnati Reds. While the Crew has the league's best home record at 21-7, they also own the worst road record in the league at 8-17 (Yikes!). Their poor record is reflected in their home/road hitting splits (amazingly, Brewers' pitchers actually have a better ERA on the road): at Miller Park, the Crew is hitting .288/.361/.486 (Wow!) with 151 runs scored and 40 home runs in 28 games; in 25 games on the road, they have a .220/.279/.333 slash line with 71 runs and 16 homers. Those are some unbelievable splits, and the kind of numbers that almost certainly will even out on both ends as the season progresses. However, the Brewers have shown an inability to score runs on the road this year, and it remains to be seen whether they can figure it out.

What should be noted is that the Brewers' hot streak through May has coincided with the return to the team of several key players, including Corey Hart, LaTroy Hawkins and of course, Zack Greinke. The Brewers were at a season low six games under .500 before Greinke's first home start on May 9, and they are 15-4 since. Despite Greinke's struggles in the early going, his return has given the Crew confidence and has also bolstered the bullpen, which got another shut down arm in spot starter Marco Estrada.

As for the hitting, with Hart back in his regular spot in the lineup (once he returns from his illness), Nyjer Morgan taking at bats away from the ever-mediocre center field platoon of Carlos Gomez and Mark Kotsay, and Jonathan Lucroy continuing to make Ron Roenicke look stupid for banishing him to the 7th or 8th hole every night, there seems to be absolutely no reason, and no excuses left to be made, for their road woes to continue.