MILWAUKEE -- "See it; hit it."

It is the mantra of Milwaukee catcher Jason Kendall, and second baseman Rickie Weeks picked up on it Tuesday night after delivering the winning hit in the Milwaukee Brewers' 3-2 victory over Cincinnati.

But for third baseman Bill Hall, the phrase has more of a literal meaning when he's standing at the plate. Along with some adjustments to his swing, Hall has taken to wearing contact lenses in an effort to rebound from last year's down season.

"Now, when I take my contacts out at night, I'm like, 'Why did I ever not wear them,' '' Hall said shortly after hitting a home run Tuesday night off Johnny Cueto that gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead in the seventh.

"When you squint, you narrow your vision," Hall recalled of how it used to be for him at the plate. "Now, with my contacts in, I can be as wide eyes as possible and everything is very sharp."

Things certainly were out of focus last season for Hall, who made the shift to center from the infield and saw his average and home run production drop dramatically to .254 and 14, respectively. He hit another home run in a 12-4 loss Wednesday.

"Maybe that was my problem last year," Hall said, referring to an astigmatism problem that came up during a spring training physical.

During the offseason, Kendall underwent LASIK surgery to improve his vision. The results haven't been too shabby. After going 2-for-4 Wednesday, he is hitting .522, tops in the National League.

Don't think Hall hasn't noticed. "The first day of the offseason, LASIK will be happening for me," he said.

Speaking of Kendall

As impressed as manager Ned Yost is with Kendall at the plate, it's his work behind the plate that he notices most. "As good as he has been offensively, he's been twice as good defensively," Yost said.

In Kendall's 61 innings behind the plate, the Brewers pitchers had accumulated an earned run average under 4.00. He also had thrown out two of nine base stealers.

Yost backs Gagne

Yost has no plans to change his closer at this point, even if Eric Gagne has blown two of his three opportunities.

The latest came Tuesday when Gagne surrendered a game-tying home run to Corey Patterson. Gagne was one strike away from picking up his second save in three tries.

"He made a mistake, plain and simple," Yost said. "He tried to go down and away (with a fastball) and he got over the plate. It has nothing to do with his stuff. ... You can scratch and sniff all you want, but he's got closer's stuff."

Squeaking them out

The Brewers are 3-0 in one-run games. Last year, they were 22-21.

"What I like is their composure," Yost said of his team. "We've been able to manufacture a run when we've needed to. We struggled with that at times last year."

Around the horn

Carlos Villanueva, who makes his second start for the Brewers this afternoon, said he will bat left-handed when facing a right-handed pitcher. Villanueva (1-0, 3.38 ERA) has never hit left-handed in an official major league game but had two hits from that side during spring training. Villanueva will wear a pad on his right (front) arm while hitting. He is a career .067 hitter (2-for-30) in the major leagues. ... Prince Fielder not only saw his hitting streak end at six games Tuesday, he also saw his streak of reaching base snapped at 39 games. ... The Brewers came Wednesday hitting .386 (27-for-70) with runners in scoring position, tops in the majors.