MILWAUKEE -- Despite the deepest and most experienced bullpen he's ever had at his disposal, Brewers manager Ned Yost said he will continue to use reliever Derrick Turnbow in close games.

Yost's latest vote of confidence came about 12 hours after Turnbow surrendered the go-ahead run to the Cardinals in the span of three pitches Monday night. He went on to limit the damage to that one run in an inning of work and actually lowered his ERA to 9.64.

"You can't get over the hump with this throwing in the [bullpen]," Yost said. "You have to do it in the game. You have to find times in the game to do it.

"We've tried to do it the other way, where you put him in a game where you're down two or three runs or up three or four runs, but we haven't had many games like that. We're not getting anywhere. So you sit down and realize that this is an All-Star closer. Get with it. Get him in the ballgame. Get him straightened out so he can help you down there."

On Monday night, after the team's 4-3 loss, Yost insisted that, "we're going to need this kid this year." That despite the fact general manager Doug Melvin spent the offseason acquiring three new arms with experience as setup men: Guillermo Mota, David Riske and Salomon Torres.

Turnbow tied the franchise saves record in 2005 and made the National League All-Star team the following season, but since the 2006 All-Star break he is 4-11 with a 6.23 ERA and 69 walks in 91 innings.

The issue has mostly been one of command, though Turnbow said he's near a breakthrough. The trouble in his last two outings, he said, is that Cardinals hitters have ambushed fastball strikes early in the count and haven't allowed Turnbow to get to his slider, which can be a very effective compliment when he locates it well.

He needs to use that breaking pitch to be successful, Yost said.

"It doesn't matter if you're throwing 90 [mph] or 100, if you're throwing all fastballs, they're going to catch up to you pretty soon, especially when you're throwing fastballs down the middle," Yost said. "Now, Derrick can get away with throwing fastballs down the middle if he's throwing his breaking ball for strikes, because they're not just sitting on one pitch."