Heading into the 2009 season, most experts and fans pointed to the starting rotation as the Brewers' potential Achilles' heel.

Missing Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia from the starting five, the onus would fall upon untested right-hander Yovani Gallardo, up-and-down lefty Manny Parra, middle-of-the-road veteran Jeff Suppan and free agent pickup Braden Looper.

Early on, the critics looked correct as the Brewers stumbled to a 4-9 start due in large part to a faltering pitching staff that issued way, way too many walks. But since then, Milwaukee hurlers have righted the ship. Heading into the weekend, the Brewers -- in the 10 games from April 22 -- led baseball in ERA (2.47), opponents' batting average (.203), strikeouts (79) and winning percentage (.889).

Gallardo has slid comfortably into the ace's role on the staff, putting together a 3-1 record and a 2.6 ERA. He followed his first career complete game with a beautiful, 1-0, gem Wednesday against Pittsburgh -- a game in which he homered for the Brewers' only run. Looper is 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA and Dave Bush is second on the team with 25 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched.

"I think our pitching has been pretty good," manager Ken Macha said. "Suppan's given us three quality starts in a row. Looper's only bad outing, we won that game anyhow. Bush has been quality. Gallardo's done well. I think Parra's last two starts have been pretty good."

Parra, especially, has started to come around. After a couple of rocky starts to open the season, Parra has started to get into a groove, allowing just two runs on eight hits in his last two starts (11.0 innings). He still struggles at time with walking batters (seven in his last two outings, 16 for the season) but is becoming more effective as he relies more on his change up, something Macha has stressed upon his young southpaw.

"The idea of the whole thing is to get his effort level under control. You're not just going out there, getting up and blowin'. You've gotta make pitches. I told him to watch (Phillies left-hander) Cole Hamels. He throws 90 and has a good change up; he's pretty good. You don't have to throw 94. It's nice if you do have in there and you can do that every once in a while and still have your delivery under control, but he hasn't shown me he can do that.

"I'm hoping Parra continues to improve. I like his effort level. If he throws that curveball in there every once in awhile, he's going to get some free strikes and that's going to help him out."

Suppan, too, has taken great strides after a pair of awful starts to open the season. Macha altered the rotation slightly to give Suppan an extra bullpen session before his third start and the right-hander has been solid ever since, going 0-1 in his last three starts. He's allowed six runs on 18 hits while striking out 13 in 18.1 innings of work.

"I'm not going to say that that extra day was the difference," Suppan said after recording his third consecutive quality start in the Brewers' 4-1 victory Thursday. "My game plan has been the same."

Braun still sore: Ryan Braun missed the last two games of the Diamondbacks series with what the team called "tightness" in his ribcage area. Braun said that the discomfort is related to the intercostal injury that hindered him late last season, and again in the Spring during the World Baseball Classic.

"I'm either able to play or unable to play, and I'm unable to play," Braun said before Sunday's game. "I really don't get overly concerned about it because it does me no good to focus on negativity. Obviously, I don't want to be hurt, obviously I want to be in there every day. I'll come in and get my treatment done and hopefully it gets better."

On Sunday, the Brewers gave fans a bobblehead commemorating Braun's game-winning home run against the Cubs last season that clinched a post-season berth.

"Trust me," Braun said. "I want to be out there."

Shuffling the deck: With Braun out and the offense scuffling, Macha juggled his lineup Sunday against Arizona. Corey Hart was installed as the leadoff hitter, followed by Hardy -- returning to the lineup after a couple days off to clear his head -- and Rickie Weeks batting third.,

Both Hart and Hardy, who were flipped earlier in the season, had experience batting where the did Sunday. Hart hit .284 with 15 homers, 37 RBI -- and stole 18 bases -- batting leadoff in 2007 while Hardy has hit No. 2 936 times between 2006 and 2009, posting a .278 average with 45 homers and 66 RBI.

Hart has shown an incredible improvement when it comes to plate discipline this season. Through 25 games, he's drawn 13 walks. He walked just 27 times total last season. Though Weeks has also shown improvement, Hart's on-base percentage (.355) is 31 points higher.

"Corey's on-base is a lot higher than Rickie's and I liked Rickie's at-bats," Macha said. "I wanted to take advantage of his power; he's hitting liners everywhere. Instead of having Corey bat third, I put Rickie there.

"We'll try it and see how it works."

Though he's far from the stereotypical leadoff hitter, Weeks has been atop the Milwaukee lineup for the last two seasons mainly because the Brewers didn't have anybody else that fit the traditional description of a leadoff hitter.

As a young prospect, though, many figured Weeks would eventually hit third in the big leagues. A highly-regarded offensive prospect, Weeks hit .500 during his senior year at Southern University and earned the Dick Howser Trophy for being the nation's top college player.

His bat fell off in Milwaukee's system but he did hit .320 in 55 games with Class AAA Nashville before being called up to the Brewers early in the 2005 season.

"He still has a lot of upside," Macha said. "His utilization of the whole field is not quite there yet but the potential is there to do that."

Mental break: Hardy returned to the lineup Sunday after taking two days off to clear his head.

Hardy was hitting just .156 before sitting out Friday and Saturday, with just one hit in his previous 20 at-bats. His struggles were surprising, considering he led the team in Spring Training with a .403 average.

"I feel like the game's going 100 miles-per-hour for me right now," Hardy said. "I don't think it will hurt."

Hardy's been through this before. He hit .244 in April and .264 in May, but finished the season batting .283 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI. He was one of the few Brewers to have success during the postseason, batting .429 during the National League Division Series.

Macha had no concerns that Hardy needed anything more than a few days before he would be ready to return.

"He'll be back," Macha said.

Hall enjoying quiet success: Very quietly, Bill Hall is getting off to a nice start this season. The third baseman, a lightning rod for fans' ire, during the last two season, went 1-for-4 Sunday to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He's hit safely in 20 of 22 starts this season and owns a .296 average.

Quick hits: Trevor Hoffman has converted all three of his save opportunities since returning from the disabled list. In four innings of work, he's allowed no runs and just two hits while striking out five. … Mike Cameron's homer Sunday was the 1,500th hit of his career. … Credit Mike Vassallo with an assist; the Brewers' PR director suggested an entrance song for reliever Jorge Julio, who now comes into games to the tune of Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard." … With back-to-back homers Sunday, the Brewers snapped a two-game homerless skid. … With 31 round-trippers, Milwaukee is tied with Philadelphia for the National League lead.

Injury report: Catcher Mike Rivera joined reliever David Riske on the 15-day disabled list last week after suffering a high right ankle sprain.

Rattlers report: Timber Rattlers right-hander Pedro Lambertus will serve a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, which the commissioner's office says was the steroid Boldenone. The 20-year-old was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA  and one save in three outings this season. … Wisconsin is 9-12 and in sixth place of the Midwest League's Western Division.

On the farm: Mike Burns threw a seven-inning, three-hit shutout for Class AAA Nashville (12-11) Saturday. The right-hander is 3-0 this season with a 3.00 ERA. … Class AA Huntsville (10-11) scored six runs in the fourth inning Saturday, but couldn't hold on and lost, 7-6, to the Tennessee Smokies. … Class A Brevard County has won five in a row. … Right-hander Mark Rogers pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout Saturday.

He said it: "Before the year is over, I'm going to need some implants." --Macha, on the volume of closer Trevor Hoffman's entrance song, "Hell's Bells." (After his first appearance, Hoffman wanted to know if the sound system could be turned up … it was.)

This week: It's going to be a busy -- if not quirky -- week for the Brewers. They open a brief, four-game, two city road trip tonight in Pittsburgh and head to Cincinnati on Wednesday. On Friday, they'll be back at home for a three-game series against the Cubs -- making their second trip to Milwaukee this season.

Batting Leaders: Average – Cameron (.321); Home runs -- Cameron (6); RBI -- Fielder (19); Walks -- Fielder (21); Strikeouts -- Fielder (28). Pitching: Victories -- Gallardo (3); ERA(starters) -- Gallardo (2.86); ERA (relievers) -- Hoffman (0.00); Strikeouts -- Gallardo (34); Walks -- Parra (16).

Attendance: Total -- 457,203; Average – 35,169; Sellouts -- 5.

NL Central standings: 1, St. Louis, 17-8; 2, Chicago, 13-11 (-3.5); 3, Cincinnati, 13-11 (-3.5); 4, Milwaukee, 13-12 (-4); 5, Pittsburgh, 12-12 (-4.5); 6, Houston, 11-14 (-6).