Jacob Misiorowski is approaching his one-year anniversary of his Brewers debut. Tonight, he showed just how much growth he has made in that year.
Before Misiorowski could take the field, the Brewers staked him to an early lead. That came from Brice Turang, who hit the first pitch he saw 444 feet out to center field at 105.5 mph. The Brewers had a 1-0 lead early.
In the next inning, again with two outs, the Brewers added another
solo home run. This came from David Hamilton, who also hit one out to center, though this one only went 426 feet with a 102.4 mph exit velocity.
Early on, Misiorowski depended on his defense more than his strikeouts. He didn’t record a strikeout in the first, then struck out his first batter in the second. There was a scary moment when Troy Johnston hit a ground ball right back at Misiorowski, and it deflected off his calf. After a check from the trainers, he was fine and remained in the game. The next pitch was a double-play ball from Exequiel Tovar that ended the inning.
Misiorowski was efficient through his first four innings. He had a clean third inning with a strikeout. In the fourth, he walked a batter but had another clean inning. He needed just 40 pitches for his first four innings.
The Brewers’ lead would be challenged in the bottom of the fifth, partially because of some sloppy defense. With two outs, Edouard Julien with a ground ball right to Joey Ortiz. He rushed the throw, and it was wide and past Andrew Vaughn. That allowed Julien to reach second. It was initially ruled a single and error, but later changed to just an error.
In the next at-bat, Kyle Karros hit a ball down the right field line. It would have been a single had Sal Frelick played it safely, but he misplayed it and the ball went to the wall. That turned it into a double that scored Julien (who might have scored on a single anyway). Misiorowski followed it up with a strikeout of Brett Sullivan, but the Rockies closed the gap to 2-1.
While the Brewers had built an early two-run lead, they missed opportunities to blow it open early. In the first, the Brewers had runners at first and second following the Turang home run, but did not score either. They had runners at first and second again in the fourth, but a strikeout of Jackson Chourio ended that inning.
Frelick drew a walk to start the sixth, but the Rockies picked him off first (following a video review). It would end up being a big review after Hamilton and Christian Yelich hit back-to-back singles, putting runners at first and third. Chourio struck out again to end that inning. The Brewers had a baserunner in each of the first six innings, but their only runs were the solo home runs.
The bottom of the sixth is where Misiorowski really started to struggle. Jake McCarthy led off the inning with a single. Next up was Tyler Freeman. On a 1-1 count, he threw a 98.6 mph cutter that hit Freeman squarely in the left side of his head. Freeman was shaken up and Misiorowski was rattled by it as well. After trainers checked on Freeman, he walked off the field on his own, with Sterlin Thompson entering to pinch-run. Pitching coach Chris Hook also talked to Misiorowski during this to help settle him down after that.
After TJ Rumfield flew out, Hunter Goodman drew a walk to load the bases with one out. It was looking rough for Misiorowski, but he recovered. Johnston swung at the first pitch he saw and flew out to Bauers in shallow left, which prevented McCarthy from tagging and scoring. Two pitches later, Tovar grounded out to Turang, who threw to Vaughn at first for the out. Misiorowski was out of the inning, but needed an additional 36 pitches between the fifth and sixth innings.
The Brewers’ offense would finally break through in the seventh. It started with a William Contreras solo home run off Brennan Bernardino, increasing the lead to 3-1.
After that, Bauers drew his fourth walk of the game, and Vaughn singled to put runners at first and second. Blake Perkins would pinch hit for Vaughn, and on the first pitch of the next at-bat, both runners ran with big leads. Both were safe to move runners up to second and third. Two pitches later, Frelick hit a ground ball to Rumfield, who bobbled it. Both runners scored and Frelick reached on the error.
The lead was up to 5-1 and Bernardino was pulled for TJ Shook. Ortiz hit a single off Shook, but the Brewers couldn’t build any more as Shook struck out Hamilton and Yelich.
Following a long layoff, Misiorowski came back out for the seventh inning. He started with a strikeout of Julien, but then walked Karros and allowed a single to Sullivan. At this point, Aaron Ashby was warming up, but Misiorowski told manager Pat Murphy in the dugout that he wanted to stay in the game. Misiorowski proved he could handle it, striking out McCarthy and Thompson to end the inning. It took 22 pitches but he got through the seventh.
While it might have been a night below Misiorowski’s recent standards, he still had a strong game. He allowed just one unearned run in seven innings. The Rockies did get their baserunners as Misiorowski allowed four hits and walked three. However, Misiorowski kept them mostly in check and added another eight strikeouts. He also maxed out at 103.7 mph, the fastest pitch thrown by a starter under pitch tracking.
Not wanting to waste his night, the Brewers offense added on more in the eighth. Turang remained hot with his second home run of the day, this one a solo home run to left field.
Two batters later, Jake Bauers recorded his first hit of the night following four walks. It might have been a pop-up fly ball in most parks, but in Colorado, it was a home run to left field. The Brewers now had a 7-1 lead.
Grant Anderson entered the game in relief in the eighth inning, just two days after taking a line drive off his arm. He walked a batter in the eighth but otherwise had a clean inning, striking out one. Drew Rom made his debut in the ninth, allowed a ground-rule double but that was all as he struck out two. A foul pop-up caught by Contreras ended the game.
As a team, the Brewers collected 13 hits and six walks. Bauers reached base all five times, hitting a home run to go with his four walks. Hamilton had a 4-for-5 day at the plate. Contreras, Turang, and Yelich added two-hit days as well. The only hitless starters were Frelick (who drew a walk and batted in a run) and Chourio (who went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts). Five of the Brewers’ hits were solo home runs. This all happened despite the team going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving 12 on base.
This sets up a chance to sweep tomorrow afternoon in Colorado. Shane Drohan will face Kyle Freeland, with first pitch at 2:10 p.m.
