Even in the afterglow of converting his landmark 600th save Tuesday night in a 4-2 victory over St. Louis, Trevor Hoffman was humble and apologetic for his early-season pitching woes.

Hoffman referred to those tough early weeks, during which he blew five of 10 save opportunities while compiling a 13.15 ERA through 14 outings. As a result, he forfeited his closer’s role, and the march to 600 saves was stuck on No. 597 for some three months.

Hoffman’s failures contributed to the Brewers’ poor start, from which they never recovered. And the all-time saves leader wasn’t going to gloss over his part in the club’s disappointing season.

“Unfortunately, I was part of the problem this year by not getting my job done early and getting some momentum going,” Hoffman said.