Brewers manager Ned Yost says he's focused on team, not job

5/9/2008 11:31 PM

By COLIN FLY
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) -Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio called general manager Doug Melvin after another ugly sweep, this time in Florida, with a message for him and manager Ned Yost.

``He said, 'Keep your chin up, we're a better team than that, and tell Ned the same,''' Melvin said Friday from his luxury box in Miller Park.

Melvin said he's looking for answers, and plans to meet with Yost and the rest of the coaching staff on Monday for what he described as a ``monthly review.''

``My focus is to get together with Ned the coaches and try to identify the problem and to see if there's cures to those issues, problems,'' Melvin said. ``That's where our focus is. It's not focused on anything else. It's trying to solve the problems.''

The problems are everywhere.

No Brewers starter besides Ben Sheets has gotten a win since April 5, and Milwaukee lost No. 2 starter Yovani Gallardo for the season with a torn ligament in his right knee last week. Eric Gagne has blown a league-high five saves and last year's setup man, former NL All-Star Derrick Turnbow, will pitch in Triple-A beginning Monday.

On offense, it's not much better.

Prince Fielder, the youngest player to hit 50 homers, is batting .256 with four homers and 20 RBIs. Ryan Braun is hitting .264 with five homers and 23 RBIs and Bill Hall is an anemic .206 with seven homers and 19 RBIs.

The trio have struck out 88 times.

Milwaukee looked lethargic much of Friday night's game, but Rickie Weeks hit a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Brewers a 4-3 victory over St. Louis. The team raised its batting average to .240 and has a team ERA of 4.63.

``We haven't played sloppy games, we haven't had errors hurt us in these games, we haven't made good pitches and we haven't had good at-bats,'' Melvin said. ``We're last in hitting and last in pitching. If that's the case, we might end up last in the division if that continues.''

Yost, the sometimes grouchy, combative manager, spent more than 40 minutes answering questions before the game about the team's slumping bats and pitiful pitching performances.

Yost said he plans to stick with his lineup for the meantime and insisted he can't worry about anything, including his job.

``When the team doesn't hit, it's your fault. When the team doesn't pitch, it's your fault,'' Yost said. ``That's OK. It's the wonder of being one of 30, you just sit back and be amused by it all, I guess.''

Yost, who was criticized for his game and bullpen management last season, has had little to do with the recent slide, which included six straight losses to end a nine-game road trip.

``Ned's job right now is to make sure the guys don't get too down, they stay upbeat, continue to get their work in,'' Melvin said. ``There's not been in these last six games a critical managerial move or two that you'd say, 'Gee, why didn't Ned do this?' I wish he could manage, I wish he at least had games he had to manage.''

Yost, who acknowledges he insulates himself from sports talk radio and newspapers, said taking the criticism is the biggest part of his job. In his six years, he's never severely criticized a player publicly, even if that guy was in the process of playing his way out of Milwaukee.

``You better be strong enough to protect your players and take it. That's the way it is. If you really look at it in reality, the manager manages the bullpen, that's the biggest part of managing the game. Set your players out on the field and let them play. But you still take all the heat for them.

``That's the job description. You better be strong enough to be able to handle it. That's what you get paid for, to protect your players and manage the bullpen.''

Yost said his team continues to work hard and give its best effort each day.

``We're talking about six days, and everybody thinks the roof is caving in. It's not,'' Yost said.

And Yost said he's not planning to throw a tantrum when times are tough like some of his colleagues.

``Screaming and yelling doesn't do any good,'' Yost said. ``It's fruitless.''