Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has exhibited nothing but patience the first five-plus weeks of the season, waiting for something – anything – to catch with his defending National League Central Division champions.

He's seen vestiges of that team, yet it remains just that, a flicker, here and gone.

There was the walk-off, 10-inning win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park on April 18.

There was Ryan Braun's three homer night in San Diego on April 30, followed by a 6-4 win over the Giants in San Francisco four days later.

There was the 8-3 win over Cincinnati to start the most recent home stand, and then the back-to-back wins over the Chicago Cubs.

Each time, the question is asked of Roenicke. Is this it? Is this the blue flame across the bottom of the timber that eventually leads to roaring fire?

Each time, Roenicke says he hopes it is.

Each time, the blue flame loses oxygen.

After Tuesday night's contest in New York, an 8-0 win that can also be filed under "victories that should spark the team," the Brewers boast a team batting average of .237 with an on-base percentage of .310.

Zack Greinke's shutout dropped the pitching staff's combined earned run average of 4.63 before Tuesday to 4.50 after it, yet it's a number that remains good for second to last in the NL. The 122 walks allowed are 11th.

The team's .983 fielding percentage is sixth in the NL.

That invariably leads Roenicke to another question – can you compare the slow start of this Brewers team to that of last year's?

In 2011, the Brewers were 13-13 after April, went 17-12 in May and 14-13 in June. They built on their above-.500 record with a 16-11 mark in July and then went crazy in August, going 21-7.

"It's a little different with the personnel we have," Roenicke admitted during the last home stand. "It's different in that I thought we pitched real well last year all the way through the season, our starters. We're not doing that this year."

Roenicke continued his breakdown of what happened in 2011: "Offensively, the first month to month-and-a-half, two months, really, Rickie (Weeks) was swinging the bat pretty good and Nyjer (Morgan) was hitting .300 and (Ryan Braun) and Prince (Fielder) were killing the ball. Then after that I thought everybody started contributing when we got hot. But before that, it was a small group of guys that offensively were doing really well"

The hope now is that this week plays a vital a role as it did last year for the Brewers. Beginning on May 17 of 2011, the club ended the month 10-4, which included a six-game winning streak.

There has been enough evidence to make Roenicke believe a similar run can happen.

"We have the personnel that we have and I think we can get it done with what we have," he said. "But we need some guys to get hot, and we need it to start getting contagious to where the individuals don't all feel like it's got to be them that does all the work. You need two, three guys to get hot. I think once that happens I think other guys will loosen up and I think we'll all hit."