They've sputtered since the All-Star break like the old bullpen cart at County Stadium, but manager Ned Yost remains convinced that his Brewers can still get on a roll.

"We're very capable," he said Sunday. "We've played pretty good baseball here in the last week, and there's no reason we can't get it going."

It's Brewers left-hander Chris Capuano against Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday, a rematch of the Rockies' 4-2 win at Coors Field on July 31. The Brewers won their first road series since June when they took two of three at Pittsburgh last week before splitting with the Astros at Miller Park. The team is 9-9 in August.

Why has that winning streak Yost has been waiting for been so hard to come by?

"We strike out too much, injuries," Yost said. "There are a lot of things that have not allowed us to get on a run. Your offense, when you strike out a lot, tends to be inconsistent. The offense needs to get going a little bit. We've got four or five guys struggling right now, but those things can change like that.

"You have to have a combination of solid pitching, solid defense and good, timely hitting to win ballgames. It's just putting all three of those together for an extended period of time that's tough."

Capuano will be making his eighth start in search of win No. 11. He was 10-4 at the All-Star break, good enough to make the National League squad, but is 0-4 since then with a 5.10 ERA in seven starts. Capuano has been much better in his last two starts, allowing two earned runs in 13 total innings at Atlanta and at Pittsburgh, but he took no-decisions in each of those starts.

In 19 starts before the break, opponents batted .256 against Capuano with 10 home runs. In seven starts since, they have batted .292 with 11 home runs. Right-handers hit .250 against him before the break, and have hit .307 since.

Cook has had his own struggles. He's 2-4 with a 5.05 ERA in seven starts since the break, and has surrendered four or more runs in five of his last eight starts. But buried in that stretch was an eight-inning, four-hit, two-run performance in a July 31 win over Capuano and the Brewers.

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Chris Capuano (10-8, 3.68)
Obscure stat alert: Catchers are hitting a hefty .324 against Capuano this season.

COL: RHP Aaron Cook (8-11, 4.09)
Cook is 4-1 with a 3.74 ERA in six career appearances against Milwaukee, despite a .303 average against.

Player to watch
David Bell has been relatively quiet of late, but he's had some success against Cook. Bell is 8-for-15 (.533) against the sinkerballer with two doubles and two RBIs.