Vinny Capra continues his push to make the roster in Brewers' win over Cubs
Fighting for a roster spot and without any minor-league options remaining, all that Vinny Capra does is keep raking.
With a three-run blast in the first inning Tuesday in a 9-7 win against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park, Capra moved to the top of the Cactus League home run leaderboard.
Now sitting with five homers in 24 at-bats, Capra is batting .323 with a 1.353 OPS
BOX SCORE: Brewers 9, Cubs 7
"Swinging the bat great," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "He's really put himself in the picture. That's all. That's what happens when you have a great spring, you put yourself in the picture. And he did."
Two bench spots, at the very least, remain up for the taking for the Brewers. At this rate, one could very well belong to Capra, who otherwise would have to be designated for assignment or traded, when camp breaks in two weeks.
Rhys Hoskins opened the scoring with a two-run blast, his fifth of Cactus League play to briefly take the league lead. Hoskins hammered a fastball from nemesis Justin Steele, who the Brewers struggle to hit in the regular season but not on this day in the Arizona sun.
After Manuel Margot singled and Jake Bauers doubled, Capra launched his three-run homer to put the Brewers up, 5-0.
Jacob Misiorowski nearly gave it all right back in a first inning that encapsulated all that the Misiorowski experience can be. He walked two, uncorked a wild pitch that scored a runner from second and gave up four runs while being unable to finish the inning.
"If you can't throw anything else for a strike," Murphy said of Misiorowski's fastball, "it's going to get hit. Your heater is going to get hit. It can be 104 and it's going to get hit."
Misiorowski came back out for the second inning and looked better, finishing the day with four strikeouts and four runs allowed in 1 ⅓ innings.
"He wasn't sharp at all," Murphy said. "You're up five and you're feeling the pressure of holding it close. You're facing a good lineup. And he wasn't sharp. He showed his inexperience today."
The Brewers weren't done against Steele. Bauers popped a two-run homer on a line to left field to score Oliver Dunn, who had reached via a bunt.
Dunn himself then joined the party with the fourth homer of the day, a solo shot to left. Dunn is now batting .379 with a 1.128 OPS this spring.
Rule 5 draft pick Connor Thomas allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk in his one inning of work, while Joel Payamps and Abner Uribe each threw clean innings.
With two weeks of games left and minor-league games beginning, the Brewers continued to throw their MLB camp arms in Cactus League games.
Cooper Pratt got in the game late at shortstop but did not bat. Kay-Lan Nicasia hit a RBI single off Cubs reliever Porter Hodge.
Off-day Wednesday.
Brewers at , 3:05 p.m. Thursday: Milwaukee LHP Tyler Alexander vs. Chicago RHP Davis Martin. Webcast - Brewers.com
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vinny Capra continues his push to make the roster in Brewers' win
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