Roenicke sees positive signs from Crew on road trip

MIAMI -- The Brewers opened a nine-game road trip with a 6-1 win over the Marlins on Monday.

Currently sitting in fourth place in the NL Central, Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke believes this road trip against the Marlins, Reds and Astros will be important in sending the team in the right direction.

"Being on the road, we have a chance to do alright in these cities that we're going to," Roenicke said. "We know how well Cincinnati is playing, and we go to Houston. We've had problems in Houston, so we'll see what happens there."

The Brewers, who are typically strong at home, have won just 16 of their 36 games at Miller Park this year. They have not fared any better on the road, going 10-17. But Monday's win over the Marlins started the trip on a positive note that Roenicke hopes will help get the team on a hot streak.

"We usually play great at home, but we haven't this year," Roenicke said. "The most important thing is playing good baseball. We started that at home the last three games, and even a couple of games in Philly that we lost, I thought we played well."

Roenicke, who has guided the Brewers to a 205-182 record since taking over in 2011, feels his club is getting close to where it needs to be.

"Things are coming together better," Roenicke said. "We still have injuries, but the starting pitching has had some good outings and relief pitching has been solid for a while now. Offensively, I think we're swinging better, getting some big hits and getting people on base. We're a little more active on base. I think all those things are important, if we're going to start playing the type of ball we need. Then we'll get fully healthy, and hopefully we will really start to do some things."