MILWAUKEE — Ned Yost's critics have turned up the volume lately, though the Milwaukee Brewers' sixth-year manager is good at tuning them out.

There is one critic, however, that Yost can't totally ignore.

"My mom sits and watches every game that we play," he said.

Sometimes mom doesn't like what she sees. And when she phones Yost and asks why he did something in the game, he has a ready response.

"I tell her I'll hang up on her," he said.

Yost couldn't hang up on the increasingly vocal boo-birds for much of the game Friday night at Miller Park.

However, those fans quickly changed their tune when Rickie Weeks' two-out, two-run hit in the ninth inning gave the Brewers a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, a stunning victory that snapped a frustrating six-game losing streak for Milwaukee.

Despite the win, Yost's team is underachieving this season.

The young hitters aren't hitting, the young pitchers aren't pitching and the veteran closer isn't closing.

Those factors led to the losing streak and handed fans the ammunition they needed to pin everything on the manager.

Some want Yost to juggle the batting order or bench slump-ridden hitters.

Some want him to give closer Eric Gagne the Derrick Turnbow treatment.

Some want him to lighten up after losses to relieve the tension in the clubhouse.

Some want him to erupt Lou Piniella-style and light a fire under his players.

Some just want him to go.

But even though Yost has been around baseball long enough to know that his seat is getting hot, don't expect wholesale changes on or off the field.

Not yet, anyway.

Yost has been extraordinarily patient — too patient for some — during his time in Milwaukee and he's not going to change now. He believes the Brewers will hit and pitch their way out of their funk in time.

"You look for certain signs," Yost said. "You look for them feeling sorry for themselves. You look for them not hustling. But these kids don't do that. They come out and they play hard and they give everything that they have. So you just say supportive, you stay positive and know that they're good enough to pull themselves out of it. It gets a little bit redundant, but all teams kind of go through little periods where they struggle. When you struggle pitching-wise and offensively, it looks rough at times."

Years ago, managers used to blow into the clubhouse after a rough loss and overturn the table that held the food spread.

That motivational ploy has lost its impact in modern clubhouses, where the cafeteria often is down the hall and to the left.

It doesn't matter to Yost, who isn't one to let his players have it, either in person or in the media.

"You don't have to light up the clubhouse," he said. "I want these kids to come out and give everything that they have on that field. I'm not asking them to come out and go 4-for-4 every day. That's impossible. I'm asking them to go out and give their best effort for our fans from the first pitch to the last pitch. And these kids do that, every single one of them. There's no interchangeable parts. The team that we have is the team that we have. So you have to say positive with them, you have to continue to encourage them. Screaming and yelling doesn't do any good."

One thing critics fail to understand is that the Brewers' options are somewhat limited.

Due to injuries, the starting pitching is thin.

There isn't a true leadoff hitter on the roster and Yost can't dump Gagne this early given the monetary investment the Brewers made in him.

Some think Yost's offensive strategy and use of the bullpen are the reasons for Milwaukee's struggles and, like all managers, he's made some questionable decisions.

But a much more consistent problem is the players' execution, both at the plate and on the mound.

There is only so much a manager can do about that, but it doesn't matter in baseball.

Unless the Brewers build on Friday's win, it's not inconceivable to think that Yost is managing for his job.

"I'm not going to go crazy," he said. "Do I make some lineup changes? I don't know how that changes anything. We'll look at the four games against St. Louis. Then maybe we'll look at (changing) something. Up until that point, just keep pushing."

The Brewers kept pushing Friday and eventually broke through for a victory that silenced Yost's critics and — who knows? — maybe even his mom.

Contact Tom Oates at toates@madison.com or 608-252-6172.