Break up the ... Brewers?

The Milwaukee Brewers haven't received this much attention since Randall Simon plunked one of Miller Park's beloved racing sausages with a baseball bat in 2003.

And before that? Well, the Brewers haven't been to the postseason since they lost Game 7 of the 1982 World Series. They haven't even had a winning season since 1992.

So it's been an exciting seven weeks with young stars such as J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder blossoming, and the Brewers sitting comfortably atop the National League Central.

The Brewers just finished a humbling 2-5 road trip against the Mets and Phillies, but they return home tonight to face the Twins at Miller Park, where they've gone 16-5 this season.

The reeling Twins might welcome the return of interleague play after going 16-2 against the NL last season. But these aren't the same Brewers that lost five of six to the Twins a year ago.

Milwaukee manager Ned Yost told Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire last year that his team was close to turning the corner. So far, he's been right.

"I just saw a very good young ballclub that struggled catching the ball more than anything else," Gardenhire said. "But they always could swing the bats. They are getting good pitching, they're catching the ball, and they are swinging the heck out of it right now. That's a good combo."

Second baseman Rickie Weeks made 22 errors last season. This year, he has one.

But the big stories have been Hardy, Fielder, and closer Francisco Cordero, who converted his league-best 16th save in 16 chances, on Thursday in Philadelphia.

Hardy, 24, has rewarded Yost for his patience. As a rookie in 2005, he got off to a terrible start and was still batting .187 at the All-Star break. But Yost kept sticking him in the lineup, and Hardy offered a glimpse of his potential, batting .308 with eight homers after the break.

Hardy missed all but 35 games last season because of a severely sprained ankle, but after having surgery, he has returned with a vengeance this season. He entered Thursday leading the NL with 13 home runs and 39 RBI.

Comparisons have been drawn between Milwaukee's handling of Hardy, and the Twins' handling of Jason Bartlett. The Twins yanked Bartlett up-and-down from the minors before he finally settled in as their everyday shortstop job last June.

Hardy was a second-round pick out of high school in Arizona in 2002. Coming through the ranks, he played with Twins catcher Joe Mauer on various national teams.

"I thought he was always a great player," Mauer said. "He used to come out and pitch for us, too. He could hit and really do it all."

Hardy bats third for the Brewers, and the lefthanded-hitting Fielder bats fourth.

Fielder, 23, inherited his cleanup hitting genes from his father, Cecil, who slugged 51 home runs for the Tigers in 1990.

After hitting 28 homers as a rookie last season, Fielder has 12 this year.

With star attractions like that, the Brewers are experiencing the same kind of spike in fan interest that the Twins had last year.

The Brewers have averaged 29,369 fans per home game, up almost 6,000 from last year at this time.

Only limited tickets remained Thursday for this three-game series against the Twins.

It used to be, the only thing guaranteed to capture a fan's attention at Miller Park was the nightly sausage race.

The Italian Sausage recovered from the Simon incident and ranks second in the latest standings behind Hot Dog, but ahead of Bratwurst, Polish Sausage and Chorizo.

Staff writer La Velle E. Neal III contributed to this report.