At the beginning of this week, the Brewers were flying high. Entering Sunday, the Brewers had won 10 of their last 12 games and were holding first place in the NL Central over expected contenders like the Cardinals and Cubs. Since then, though, they've lost four straight and now they'll be without one of their most valuable players for at least 10 days. 

Friday, the Brewers placed Ryan Braun on the 10-day disabled list with a calf injury. He left Thursday night's game with left calf tightness and it's an issue that has lingered for a bit. 

Braun is expected to miss more than the 10 days, though, per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: 

The likelihood this time is that Braun will miss more than the minimum of 10 days, because the Brewers have to make sure it's 100% healed or risk a worse injury.  

Braun, 33, is hitting .262/.350/.524 (125 OPS+) with six doubles, seven homers and 19 RBI in 117 plate appearances this season. 

Domingo Santana and Hernan Perez are options to flank Keon Broxton in the outfield with Braun out, but Eric Sogard has been on fire so far this season, hitting .423/.571/.769 with three doubles and two homers in 35 plate appearances. 

The Brewers have three games left against the Diamondbacks before a trip to New York to face the Mets. It's actually a pretty tough stretch on the schedule, as they return home to face the Dodgers and Giants next, followed by a road trip to Arizona and St. Louis. They'll have to try and turn it around in this rough stretch without Braun. 

It's not all bad, though, as Junior Guerra was activated from the DL as a corresponding move to Braun going on the shelf. The right-handed starter was 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA last season.