Curtis Leskanic had a bad week. It was bad enough that manager Davey Lopes should make a move in the closer role.

Leskanic first gave up a two-out home run to Alex Ochoa that tied a game with the Reds last Tuesday. The Brewers went on to lose in 13 innings.

Then, after the Brewers had fought back to take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth in Detroit Saturday, Leskanic gave up two runs to the Tigers for a devastating loss that dropped the Brewers under .500 for the first time in a month.

Leskanic has been shaky for much of the season. Too often he relies strictly on his fastball, which is over 90 mph but straight. All the hits in the two blown saves last week came on fastballs.

When Lopes was asked about considering another closer last week, he answered in a somewhat testy way that each member of the bullpen had his role. Well, Leskanic is not performing his role, and it has cost the Brewers two games within one week. And, the demoralizing effect of losing games the Brewers had won is showing in their overall play.

Lopes should have the flexibility to make a move. Try David Weathers in the closer role, with Leskanic in a setup role. If Leskanic shows he has stopped making stupid pitches, he can always be moved back into the closer spot.

If the Brewers are going to reverse the downward trend of the last couple weeks, Richie Sexson has to start producing on a consistent basis.

Sexson ranked second in the National League in strikeouts with 67 going into last weekend. He was averaging a strikeout every 3.03 times at-bat.

The 6-7 right-handed hitter was hitting .232, a whopping 64 points below what he hit for the Brewers last season. He had 10 home runs, but had not hit one for weeks. His 37 RBI ranked second on the team, but again his production has fallen off in recent weeks.

Lopes had to drop Sexson from the cleanup spot to fifth simply because he was hurting the team too much in the key No. 4 spot. That means Geoff Jenkins and Jeromy Burnitz bat back-to-back in the lineup, which makes it easier for opponents to make lefty-righty pitching moves than if Sexson could be sandwiched between the two left-handed hitters.

Sexson continues to work hard. "All I can do is keep working on things in the batting cage and taking extra BP," he said last week.

While with Cleveland, Sexson also struck out quite a bit. In 1998, he had 117 strikeouts in 479 at-bats. In 1999, he had 96 Ks in 324 at-bats before he was traded to the Brewers.

But Sexson never hit lower than .255 with the Indians and had the reputation as a player who could hit for average as well as power.

Brewers' hitting coach Rod Carew says Sexson has been trying to pull too many pitches, and has "alligator arms", meaning he isn't getting good extension on his swings. Carew, Lopes and the Brewers' teammates believe he will eventually break out of the slump, and when he does opposing pitchers had better look out.

Sexson did have a big hit in the Brewers' comeback on Saturday. Fans can only hope it was the start of a hot streak.

It's looking like the critics who said the Brewers paid too much for Jeffrey Hammonds were right. One of those critics' reasons for their contention was that Hammonds has always been injury prone.

Hammonds went on the disabled list Saturday. Just a couple weeks ago he missed several games with a shoulder problem that has plagued him in the past.

Luckily for the Brewers, veteran Devon White has played well whenever he has been used. White should be able to fill the hole in center. Maybe Hammonds will come back to prove the critics wrong.

The Brewers played sloppy baseball in the field Friday night and dropped one to Phil Garner's Tigers. Then, there was the Leskanic's blown game on Saturday, after Raul Casanova had come through with what looked like the game winner.

On Sunday, the Brewers beat the Tigers, 8-3, on a pair of homers by Jeromy Burnitz.

It won't get any easier, as the Brewers travel this week to Cleveland to play the powerful Indians. The Brewers could come back to Miller Park two or three games below .500.