Challenging first half wears on Roenicke

PHOENIX -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke was asked to describe the team's 37-56 first half before Sunday's game against Arizona in one word.

"Besides frustrating?" Roenicke said prior to the team's last game before the All-Star break. "Disappointing. It's been a hard half. Nothing seems to go right. The injuries, and some guys performing great. Some guys have been really fun to watch. Other guys have just struggled."

Roenicke acknowledged that the mounting losses had taken a bit of a toll on him personally.

"It hasn't been as fun, and it hasn't been as easy," Roenicke said of managing this year's Brewers, his third season at the helm. "It's a lot more thought into it; it's way more conversations. Way more challenges."

Roenicke wanted the challenge of being a manager when he decided he wanted to guide a team.

"I don't know if I wanted this much," he said.

The Brewers spent 45 days alone or tied for fourth place in the NL Central and will have spent 49 in last place, where they currently stand, after Sunday's game. That's 94 out 105 days in the first half of the season.

After a 14-11 April, Milwaukee lost 16 of 28 games in May and has not recovered.