When Jacob Misiorowski is feeling right, there is no better pitcher in baseball. Misiorowski was feeling right on Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies, and he absolutely blew them away.
Misiorowski hit 104 mph four times in the first inning en route to striking out the side. Then he struck out the side again in the second inning, and then struck out Willi Castro to start the third. That meant seven consecutive strikeouts to start the game for Misiorowski, setting a new franchise record previously held by Quinn Priester with six.
Then Misiorowski allowed contact for once, with Troy Johnston flying out to center. Misiorowski promptly responded by striking out the next five batters after that. He was at 12 strikeouts across 13 batters.
“That’s pretty impressive. Yeah, there’s nothing more impressive than that,” Pat Murphy said.
However, Cole Carrigg spoiled the fun, lifting a 2-2 fastball up in the zone at 102 mph over the left field wall for a solo home run to break up the perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout. A hit-by-pitch of Willi Castro gave the Rockies another baserunner, but Misiorowski induced a grounder from Troy Johnston to end a 30-pitch fifth inning.
That inning would be Misiorowski’s last as the Brewers continue to play it cautiously building him back up from his two-week layoff in and around the All-Star break. He finished with 83 pitches and could’ve gone out for the sixth, but Pat Murphy ultimately decided to turn this game over to the bullpen.
Misiorowski threw 66 fastballs, all of them at or above 100 mph. He set a new record for most 103-plus mph pitches in a game with 33 of them. The previous record was 12. He also threw seven pitches at 104-plus mph.
Meanwhile, the Brewers offense peppered the Rockies pitching staff. The Crew put up three runs in the first inning with a double from Jackson Chourio, a single from Brice Turang, and a double from William Contreras.
That was all the Brewers could scratch across until the sixth inning, when they sent 10 men to the plate. The inning started with an Andrew Vaughn solo home run, his fourth of the year. Jake Bauers and Gary Sánchez drew back-to-back walks, then the extended rookies Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt slugged back-to-back doubles.
“They’re going to be very consistent, good baseball players. I think that the reason the organization signed them long-term is they sensed in them that this is how they play and they’ve been really steady,” Pat Murphy said.
Third Base Joey Ortiz made it three straight doubles to continue to extend the lead. It was also Ortiz’s second extra-base hit of the day as he continues his torrid stretch.
The Brewers scored five runs in the sixth and then piled on a few more in the seventh with four straight hits — a Bauers single, Sánchez and Lara doubles, and a Pratt single.
They would tack on another in the eighth off position player Brett Sullivan.
Milwaukee tallied nine doubles in this game, tying a franchise record with the sixth instance of it. The last time the Crew hit nine doubles in a game was July 6, 2008 against the Pirates.
The Brewers used five relievers out of their bullpen to cover the final four innings. Chad Patrick couldn’t finish the sixth, but Aaron Ashby only took one pitch to do so. Grant Anderson gave up a solo home run to Willi Castro in the seventh. Craig Yoho had a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Bryse Wilson secured the ninth.
Next up for the Brewers will be a trip out to the West Coast against the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels. First pitch in tomorrrow’s series opener by the Bay is at 8:40 p.m.
