A lot of Brewers fans are standing around, shovels in hand, ready to bury all hope for a return to the post-season in 2009.

If you know one of these fans, or are one yourself, here is something to consider:

The season starts tonight.

The Brewers enter a three-game series against Houston tonight at Minute Maid with a 54-54 record and 54 games to play.

That's nice and symmetrical, but the more important number is 22.

Tonight marks the first of 22 consecutive games the Brewers will play against teams with losing records.

Granted, the team's play in the last six to eight weeks hasn't exactly prompted anyone to clear their calendar for October. The Brewers hadn't won a series in more than a month before beating Los Angeles on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. The pitching staff is a mess, the offense remains been woefully inconsistent and Jason Kendall still has the lowest slugging percentage in the major leagues among players with 3.1 plate appearances per game (J.J. Hardy is 10th-worst in that category).

The outlook isn't particularly bright, but 54 games is a long stretch. If the Brewers can win a majority of games during the next three weeks and enter September about five games above the .500 mark, they will at least hold fans' interest after Labor Day.

The September schedule is tough. The Brewers have games against Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and Colorado. Depending on where they are, those games could be exhilarating or merely exercises in formality and futility.

We'll know more in a couple weeks.