All things considered, going 5-6 on an 11-game road trip through the National League West isn't the worst thing in the world, especially when you take into account the Brewers' season-long struggles on the road.

Heading into an off-day Monday, the Brewers were tied with Pittsburgh and St. Louis atop the NL Central. (The Pirates have the fewest losses while the Brewers have the most victories of the three teams).

If Milwaukee has any hope of pulling away in a tight race in a mediocre division, now is the time to do it.

The Brewers' next 18 games come against divisional opponents, beginning Tuesday with a three-game series against the Cubs at Miller Park and continuing over the weekend with three home games against the Astros.

The Cardinals are home this week, too, facing the same two teams in opposite order before traveling to Miller Park for three against the Brewers – the first of 12 games between the two teams over the next five weeks.

We'll get a good idea about how legit the Pirates' presence in the race is this week when they travel to Atlanta and Philadelphia over the next week.

The Brewers and Pirates will face each other 10 times over the final five weeks of the year including an Aug. 22 doubleheader at PNC Park and a three-game series at Miller Park to conclude the regular season.

The Braun Plan: With Ryan Braun still recovering from a strained left calf and the Brewers' offense still not firing on all cylinders, Roenicke devised a plan to balance Braun's workload and recovery time.

Without divulging the specifics, Roenicke's plan has worked well. Braun is hitting .308 on the trip with four home runs and six RBI.

For the season, Braun is among the NL top ten in batting average (.321), RBI (68), home runs (20) and on-base percentage (.398).

On the run: When hired last fall, Roenicke said he planned to take an aggressive approach to base-running saying he would be OK with the occasional out on the base paths.

He probably wasn't expecting this, though.

Through Sunday, the Brewers lead the majors in outs made on the base paths – not including 21 thwarted stolen base attempts.

Roenicke said that he has no plans to change his approach to base running.

"It's acceptable for what we're trying to do," Roenicke told MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. "Any time you try to create a different thought process on the bases, you're going to run into outs. I don't believe in going station to station like some teams and, hey, some teams have been successful at that. I believe in being aggressive, and if you're going to be aggressive, you're going to run into outs."

Something's gotta give: When the Brewers return to action Tuesday, fans should prepare for one heck of a pitching duel.

Starting for the Cubs will be Ryan Dempster who is 15-3 with a 2.50 ERA in 45 career appearances against the Brewers. The Brewers send Chris Narveson to the mound and in 11 appearances against the Cubs, he's 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA.

On the farm: Helena first baseman Nick Ramirez homered in his fifth straight game last night vs. Idaho Falls, going 2-for-4, hr, 2rbi, 2r. He has six homers over his last five games and is batting .396 (36-for-91) with 8 HR and 28 RBI in 20 games this season ... Ramirez has scored at least one run in each of his last 10 games (18 runs total during this span) ... Nashville outfielder Jordan Brown has a current 10-game hitting streak and has recorded consecutive 3-hit games...he is batting .472 (17-for-36) with 2 HR and 10 RBI during this streak.

Quick hits: Entering play Sunday, Yuniesky Betancourt ranked second among all NL shortstops with a .323 batting average since June 20 ... Rickie Weeks became the 10th player in franchise history to steal 100 bases as a Brewer Saturday against the Giants ... Brewers starters have 14 quality starts over the last 16 games ... Since 2006, Prince Fielder has appeared in 900 of the Brewers' 913 games and started the last 450.

This week: The Brewers are back at Miller Park for the first time in two weeks, opening a three-game series against the Cubs Tuesday before Houston comes to town for the weekend.