Heading into the 2011 Major League Baseball season, many experts considered the Brewers' pitching staff as one of the best in baseball.

The focal point of the Brewers' offseason planning, the starters, though not always dominant, have been solid and consistently effective for much of the regular season. But seven games into the postseason, many of those same experts are left scratching their heads as the Brewers' rotation seems to be in shambles.

Questions about the Brewers' pitching grew louder Monday night after getting thrashed by the Cardinals, 12-3, in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. The loss evened the best-of-seven series at one game apiece and was the team's worse since falling to Colorado by the same score in the first game after the All-Star Break.

And the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the starting rotation which, aside from Yovani Gallardo's performance in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against Arizona, has looked stunningly pedestrian.

The Brewers' starters have allowed 31 earned runs on 48 hits in 36.2 innings of work (7.61 earned run average). Compare that to the regular season, when Milwaukee's starters finished sixth in the National League with a 3.78 ERA and it's not hard to see why the Brewers have struggled.

Gallardo has been as close to an ace as the Brewers have over the last few weeks and has allowed just two runs in 14 innings of postseason work. But after Gallardo, there are some very ugly numbers.

Zack Greinke has performed well, but has been far from his regular season form. In 11 innings of work, he's allowed 10 runs on 16 hits, though he does have 13 strikeouts, he's made his offense work, especially in Game 1 of the NLCS, when he put the team in a 5-2 hole before a six-run fifth inning.

Randy Wolf's one postseason start was a nightmare. With a chance to recover from a 8-1 loss in Game 3 of the NLDS and clinch the series, Wolf gave up five runs in the first inning and the Brewers trailed, 7-3, when Wolf left the game after just three innings.

Shaun Marcum's situation is even worse.

Marcum's slide down the stretch and into the playoffs is more than disappointing, it's downright alarming. Both he and Roenicke attribute his lack of success to a case of bad luck more than anything else but the numbers suggest otherwise. In his last six outings, Marcum has allowed 31 runs on 46 hits in 33 innings.

At the very least, it's possible that Marcum could be suffering from a dead arm after pitching a career-high 200.1 innings during the regular season, but Marcum repeatedly brushes off the notion that he's feeling less than 100 percent.

"I guess I pissed off the baseball gods or something because they didn't hit many balls hard," said Marcum. "That's the way it's gone the last six weeks. There's nothing I can do about it. That's baseball. Hopefully, it'll turn around soon. Physically, I feel great."

Despite his struggles, Roenicke plans to hand the ball to Marcum should the series go to a sixth game.

"As far as I'm concerned right now, he's pitching again," Roenicke said.

Of course, for that to happen, the Brewers' pitching staff will have to find a way to keep the Cardinals' potent offense in check in the next three games. Albert Pujols went 4-for-5 Monday with a home run and three doubles, pacing a St. Louis offense that set a franchise record for hits in an LCS game with 17.

In two NLCS games, the Brewers have surrendered 18 runs in 26 hits – similar to the numbers they put up last week in Arizona, when they allowed 18 runs on 24 hits.

"I'm concerned that against a good offense I know we need to pitch well," Roenicke said. "I still have a lot of confidence in all our starters, in the four guys that are going, because I've seen so many games where they've been on.

"I know we have to be on when we pitch to these guys. So it's always a concern when you're facing a good offense that you need your guys to be on."

Outside of Gallardo, Milwaukee's rotation has pitched just 22.2 innings through six games. The more the starters struggle, the more the Brewers' bullpen will have to work. So far, the relief corps has been impressive. Coming into Game 2, the bullpen had a 1.77 ERA (four earned runs, 20.1 innings).

"The bullpen is going to be huge," Roenicke said. "I've talked about their offense. Their offense is outstanding. It's the three big boys in the middle, but it's not just them. They can do a lot of damage through their lineup.

"That's why when you're thinking about it, you're thinking about your bullpen better be good, and it's probably going to be used ... if we get great starts from our pitchers, we can get six innings out of them, whatever the case is, feel really good about going to our bullpen to try and stop this good offense."