A funny thing happened to the Milwaukee Brewers at some point over the season's first two months. They didn't play .500 ball, solidify a shaky lineup or earn headlines for anything beyond continued poor attendance at Miller Park, but somehow, someway, the Brewers got their pride back.

Considering the Crew is still just 22-34 following a successful six-game road trip, in last place in the N.L. Central and better than only the limping Padres in the entire National League, some people may beg to differ. But it's doubtful that one player on the 25-man roster would, which is truly all that matters.

In the last two-and-a-half weeks, the Brewers have earned four wins in their final at bat, including three games in which they trailed by at least one run going into the ninth inning. The comeback string was capped with a pair of two-run, ninth-inning rallies against the Padres last week when it looked as though the team offense had already headed back to the hotel.

"Any time you can get a victory, it fires you up," Brady Clark said after the 4-2 win last Monday. "But to come back like that, and keep battling all the way through the ninth inning -- that would fire anybody up."

Clark has been symbolic of the team's attitude. He's contributed several key hits to winning rallies this month, and he also had a two-out, run-scoring base hit in the bottom of the ninth in an eventual 17-inning loss to the Cubs on May 15.

The reserve outfielder has taken advantage of the opportunity presented by Jeffrey Hammonds' ankle injury and the recent Alex Sanchez trade. It's no surprise his work ethic made him a favorite of manager Ned Yost in spring training, even though most Brewer fans may have confused him with another Brady, namely Anderson or Greg.

Clark was also in the middle of the winning rally in San Diego on Wednesday. Afterwards, Eric Young suggested the 2002 Brewers may have "shut it down" in the ninth inning when trailing 2-0.

Closer Mike DeJean had a different take on it. "We probably would have shut it down in the sixth," he said. "We just keep battling."

It should be noted, of course, that two-out hits come in bunches, and they're a fickle lot. While the Brewers are riding both good fortune and seeing-eye singles at the moment, that won't last forever. At some point, talent counts.

But perhaps the team's sales pitch under Ulice Payne and Doug Melvin isn't so gimmicky after all. The new front office guaranteed the Brewers would play baseball the right way and give full effort every game. While the latter is expected at this level, the former was too often lacking at Miller Park over the last few years.

Battling to the last out is only part of that. The team is playing far better defense than in recent memory. Periodically, they work the count at the plate. Sometimes, they even score runners from third with less than two out -- but only sometimes.

It's all added up to 22-34 as the team heads to Shea Stadium for three games this week and then opens inter-league play against Boston at Miller Park on Friday. That's still only a .393 winning percentage (which translates to 64 wins over 162 games), which most likely would earn them last place again. However, May (12-15) was better than April (9-19); could a .500 June be in the offing?

Small goals are required this year, and holding the line at 15-20 games below .500 is a legitimate one. Seventy wins seems like a realistic and worthwhile benchmark -- that would represent a 14-game improvement over last season and make the elusive 81-win mark a viable goal in 2004.

Perhaps the most potent symbol of the team's new pride was last week's trade of Sanchez to the Detroit Tigers. One of the most talented if least motivated Brewers, Sanchez had free-swung his way into Yost and Melvin's doghouse. Despite his 37 steals as a rookie and his fairly solid offensive start this season, Sanchez wasn't buying into the coaching staff's program of taking more pitches and hitting more ground balls to increase his lackluster OBP.

Sanchez was sent to the Tigers for a couple of mid-range, minor-league prospects. Team brass claimed the move wasn't intended to send a message; sure, and deposing Saddam Hussein wasn't supposed to resonate in North Korea, either.

I freely admit to liking Sanchez. In the team's most dismal year ever, his promise was at least one reason to pay attention in 2002. At the same time, I love the move. And while no one is saying it, the team clearly does, too. New starting outfielder Scott Podsednik has his teammates' respect, something that wasn't a given with Sanchez.

Yost makes no apologies for the Sanchez deal, or for his last-place team. It might not mean much to a lot of teams, but those things equate to progress in Milwaukee.