Few days have been as depressing as this weekend has been for Brewers fans. The morning headlines covered Yovani Gallardo's season-ending injury, the team's decision to designate Derrick Turnbow for assignment and, probably most important, the Brewers' losses to Houston on Friday and Saturday nights.

In a season that was supposed to be full of promise and better days, the news has often been difficult to stomach. Considering all that the Brewers have had to deal with this season, it should be reassuring that the team is still three games over .500 and just 2 ½ games out of first place in the National League Central Division.

If anything, the Brewers might be in great position. Just like their bats can't remain silent for an entire season , it is highly unlikely that the Cubs will continue battering the ball at a .280 clip. One also wonders whether the Cardinals will continue to pitch with such effectiveness during the course of the next five months.

Losing Gallardo for the season will hurt, no question. It also remains to be seen if youngsters Carlos Villanueva and Manny Parra will be able to survive their first full-time seasons as starters. The bullpen has struggled with a heavy workload in the first month of the season, but there are reasons for optimism.

While still looking up at two other teams in the division, Milwaukee -- the worst road team in the league last season -- has taken two series in Chicago and one from the Mets at Shea Stadium; both teams, the Cubs and Mets, are considered favorites in their division. The Brewers have taken a road series at Cincinnati, another and much improved divisional opponent.

"We've had a tough schedule," general manager Doug Melvin said. "People want us to play better. We are. We've had a lot more road than home games and we've played better on the road than last season when we were awful on the road.

"We look at those things and we feel pretty good."

On top of that, the Brewers are playing with their regular lineup for the first time all season. Mike Cameron is back from suspension, and there are options again on the bench. Wins and losses, obviously, are the bottom line in baseball, but with a majority of puzzle pieces in place and five months to play, it would seem that the odds are in the Brewers' favor.

In other words, manager Ned Yost's mantra of patience, while understandably tiresome in a market which has been patient for a quarter-century, applies to everybody in baseball, not just here in Milwaukee. For evidence, look at the 2007 season.

The Brewers started last season 24-10. They led the division for a majority of the season. They hit the ball well. They pitched the ball well. They had difficulty, at times, catching or throwing the ball, but for the most part; they played very good baseball before faltering down the stretch.

But everybody knows that sad tale by now. The thought of finishing two games behind the Cubs left a bitter taste in many mouths. Look at it, though, from a neutral perspective.

While the Miller Park crowds were whopping it up over the team's quick start, fans on the North Side of Chicago were wondering just what was going on with their team. Things weren't clicking until a public debacle between Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett. The next day, manager Lou Pinella went ballistic and got tossed out of a game.

There was the spark, and the Cubs were off and running. Injuries and slow starts happen to every team; the Brewers are no exception. How they're able to recover and move on is what will separate them from the pretenders.

"It doesn't matter if you have a good start or a bad start," Melvin said. "Its how you finish in the end that matters."

To back up that point, Melvin points to the Florida Marlins, who twice won the World Series after picking up the wild card spot in the playoffs. Colorado, last season, went from also-ran status to the World Series entrant thanks to a streak of 21 victories in 22 games to end the season and start the playoffs.

The moral here is that the Brewers, though hurt by injuries and a sluggish start, still could find themselves in perfect position to have a special season.