Capra shows resolve by breaking out of funk

MILWAUKEE -- There was no secret formula, no superstitious act that led to the end of Brewers infielder Vinny Capra’s long drought.

He snapped an 0-for-36 funk the old fashioned way, by simply continuing to swing the bat.

“I really just stood firm in my faith, you know?” the 28-year-old utility man said after hitting a single at the tail end of an eighth-inning rally in the Brewers’ 5-1 win over the Astros on Monday night. “I dug deeper and continued to come here every day. We’ve got a lot of good guys around us, a lot of support.

“It was a grind. It felt good to get that hit.”

Before he got that hit – a clean single to left field – Capra was hitless in 36 straight at-bats, matching Rick Auerbach’s 1972 funk for the third-longest slump in franchise history. Only Greg Vaughn (0-for-38 in 1990) and Craig Counsell (0-for-45 in 2011) went longer without a hit.

Capra made the club as a platoon third baseman and backup shortstop with a 1.087 OPS and six home runs in Spring Training, then homered on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. He picked up a run-scoring single in Game 2 of that series, then another hit on April 2 before going cold. He went 33 days without a hit.

“It’s a credit to him because I didn’t know it was that many,” Christian Yelich said. “That means he was going about it the right way and still being a great teammate. It’s tough when you’re going through those stretches. You’re grinding. The game kind of piles on a little bit. When you finally break through, a huge weight comes off your shoulders. I’m just really happy for him.”

Rhys Hoskins was “a big support system” during the drought, Capra said, as was shortstop Joey Ortiz. The Brewers have stuck with Capra in recent weeks in part because of his ability to back up Ortiz at shortstop as a better defender than the alternatives, which start with Triple-A infielder Andruw Monasterio. Capra is out of Minor League options, so it’s not as simple as sending him down, and the Brewers are so thinned by injuries that every piece of depth is valuable at the moment.

“Those guys were easy to lean on,” Capra said of his teammates. “[The Brewers] believe in me and I believe in myself. It was ultimately just a matter of time, going through something like this. I’m just glad we got the win and I was able to contribute.”