The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

Baseball fans dig the long ball.

Home runs are the reason fans flocked to watch Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire back in 1998.

Home runs electrify crowds and can turn a game around with one swing of the bat.

But home runs are also a Siren’s call to baseball players and teams that can lead to disaster.

The Milwaukee Brewers are a perfect example of a team drawn to the allure of the home run only to find its promises of high-octane splendor empty.

Entering Friday's game against Cincinnati, the Brewers have hit 53 home runs — second in the National League. Eighty-five of Milwaukee’s 218 runs scored have come via the home run. That’s 39 percent of the team’s offense. During the Brewers’ recent 28-game stretch during which they went 22-6, Milwaukee hit 35 home runs. During that span, the Brewers scored 155 runs and 56 — or 37 percent — came via the long ball.

When Milwaukee isn’t hitting home runs, things don’t go so well. Since finishing a three-game sweep of St. Louis May 18, Milwaukee has hit three home runs accounting for four of its 22 runs. Milwaukee’s record during that period is 3-6. Going a step further, the Brewers are 22-9 in games in which they homer, but just 5-11 in games in which they don’t.

"Hopefully, we’ll hit some more home runs," Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder said when asked about the team’s dependence on home runs.

Thanks Prince, but that’s not going to solve Milwaukee’s problems. All baseball teams run hot and cold when it comes to offense and sometimes it’s due to a slump and other times it’s due to facing hot pitchers.

But when those power outages arise, teams have to grind through the tough times and score enough runs to win. The St. Louis Cardinals did just that Wednesday in their 3-2 victory over Milwaukee at Miller Park.

Shortstop Brendan Ryan led off the game with a walk. He moved to third on a single and scored on a fielder’s choice. In the third, Ryan doubled and moved to third on left fielder Chris Duncan’s groundout to first. Ryan scored on a sacrifice fly. The Cardinals’ final run came in the sixth when right fielder Nick Stavinoha doubled, moved to third on a groundout to second and scored on catcher Jason LaRue’s single.

In contrast, the Brewers got the lead-off hitter on three times. In the fourth, shortstop J.J. Hardy singled and two outs later moved to second on a walk before outfielder Frank Catalanotto tripled. In the sixth, Fielder led off with a single. Mike Cameron struck out and Catalanotto flied out to center. After an error put runners at the corners, Jason Kendall flied out. In the ninth, third baseman Mat Gamel walked. Pinch hitter Jody Gerut popped out. Catcher Mike Rivera couldn’t advance the runner, grounding into a fielder’s choice — shortstop to second. After second baseman Craig Counsell singled, putting the tying run in scoring position, Hardy grounded out to short to end the game.

There wasn’t a single home run, but St. Louis beat Milwaukee because the Cardinals got runners on base, hit to the left side for productive outs and scored the runner. They manufactured runs. That’s exactly how championship-caliber teams beat good pitching and grind through offensive slumps.

The Brewers need to focus on fundamental hitting. Players like outfielder Corey Hart, third baseman Bill Hall and Hardy need to focus on putting down bunts, moving runners over and executing at the plate with fewer than two outs. All three have hit 20 home runs in a season and have that ability, but the team’s long-term success depends on them getting on base, moving runners over and driving them in by any means necessary.

Milwaukee doesn’t do that. Instead, the Brewers get runners on base and wait for the big hit. On Wednesday, it was a two-run triple by Catalanotto. But that wasn’t enough. Against Minnesota Sunday, it was Fielder’s two-run homer in the ninth. But, that was too little and way too late.

Home runs are nice and fans love watching the ball fly out and Bernie Brewer go down his slide. But until Milwaukee puts together a multi-dimensional offense, the Brewers will struggle against good pitching and lose to fundamentally sound offensive baseball teams.