ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Jacob Misiorowski led the majors with 252 strikeouts this season.
He won the World Series with just two.
The Milwaukee Brewers ace threw 5 ⅔ scoreless innings Wednesday night in a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5, clinching the first championship in franchise history.
He gave up two hits and a walk. The Rays made contact all night. They just couldn't do anything with it.
The velocity betrayed Misiorowski’s emotions.
His first 12 pitches were all four-seam fastballs, from 100.9 to 103 mph. The swing-and-miss wasn't. He didn't strike out anyone until the 14th batter he faced, and his two strikeouts matched his career low.
He felt the moment.
"My heart was racing," Misiorowski said. "I was nervous as everyone on that field.
... It's really cool that they trust me enough to do that."
The Tropicana Field mound didn't make it easy. The grounds crew came out three times early to pack down the dirt. Then, with two outs in the sixth, a right calf cramp sent him to the dugout.
He shrugged that off, too.
"Just a cramp," he said. "Happy I left it all out on the field. Obviously, wish I could have got one more out in the inning. But whatever. It is what it is. We got the win."
The 24-year-old is in his second big-league season and has set a high bar. His 37.9% strikeout rate was the second-highest for a full season in MLB history, behind only Gerrit Cole 39.9% in 2019.
He went 16-5 with a major league-best 1.80 ERA, then spent October hearing he wasn't that guy anymore.
Brewers commemorative World Series book
His catcher spent the month reminding him that even if he wasn’t the same guy as the regular season, he was the Brewers main guy – and he had to carry that.
“I’m someone that has been able to tell him things, how they are to his face and I think he needs that,” William Contreras said of guiding the young pitcher this October. “Jacob is still a kid. Jacob is still young and he’s learning in his career."
He may have starter October as a kid, but he finished with some veteran experience. He finished the postseason 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA. He opened this World Series by throwing the fastest pitch in its history, 10.5 mph, and finished that Game 1 start with 38 pitches at 100 mph or harder, the most in a World Series game since pitch tracking began in 2008.
If he wins the National League Cy Young Award, he'll join Sandy Koufax, Steve Carlton, Bret Saberhagen and Orel Hershiser as eventual Cy Young winners who won a World Series clincher.
Wednesday night in a beer and champagne-soaked, smokey and crowded clubhouse, Misiorowski was not thinking about the Cy Young Award. He was thinking back to seven months ago when the Brewers gathered in Arizona.
He said the Brewers saw this coming back then in spring training. There was never a doubt for them.
"Yeah, of course," he said. "I think everyone did."
"It's insane that it happened so quick. But it's really fun to be a part of."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Miz takes Brewers to promised land: World Series champion, Cy Young in-waiting
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