Brewers rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski on Monday found out that it is not always smooth sailing on the mound in the major leagues.
Sporting a 3-0 record with a 0.56 ERA in three starts at American Family Field since making his major league debut on June 12, Misiorowski had a forgettable first inning against the Chicago Cubs with first place on the line in the National League Central in front of a sell-out home crowd.
After allowing a bloop single and walk to begin the game, Misiorowski took a line shot off the bat of Seiya Suzuki to his shin. The 23-year-old then struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong, but threw a wild pitch in the process, allowing a run. Then, after fielding a dribbler in front of the mound, Misiorowski’s knee buckled as he threw wildly to first as two runners scored.
Photo: AP
Misiorowski threw 40 pitches in the inning, which ended when he struck out Nico Hoerner after a 10-pitch at-bat.
“It was a long inning and long innings suck,” Misiorowski said. “Your legs start feeling a little loose and every pitch seems to be getting away just a little bit.”
After the troublesome first inning, Misiorowski settled down and retired 10 consecutive batters while throwing 40 pitches over the next three innings as the Brewers’ offense erupted for four runs in the third to take a lead they would not relinquish en route to an 8-4 victory.
“Just trust that the team is behind me and is going to help me out, and they did,” Misiorowski said of his mindset after the first inning. “I thought I did my job of getting us into a position to succeed.”
Clubhouse leader Christian Yelich offered encouragement for his young teammate.
“I told him it was my favorite start he’s had in the big leagues,” Yelich said. “This shows you a lot about what he’s made of. You can get down on yourself big right there. That’s how it’s going to be in the big leagues. It can be messy sometimes. You’ve got to reach back and compete when that kind of stuff happens.”
Manager Pat Murphy said he learned a lot about Misiorowski by how he handled the adversity.
“We’re down 3-0. He feels horrible. It’s like a fighter getting knocked down in the first round and he had to regroup, and that he did,” Murphy said. “It just goes to how ... the kid can pitch, not just throw. He’ll remember this outing and he’s going to learn from it.”
Murphy said Misiorowski told him he was exhausted after the lengthy first inning.
“But he still gave us four [innings] and wanted to go out for a fifth,” Murphy said.
Misiorowski allowed three hits and three runs in four innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
The Brewers scored four runs off Matthew Boyd (11-4) in the third inning to take a 4-3 lead. Yelich had an RBI double, Isaac Collins a two-run single and Brice Turang a sacrifice fly.
Andrew Vaughn hit a solo homer in the fifth inning and Sal Frelick hit another in the sixth to give the Brewers a 6-3 lead.
After the Cubs got a run in the seventh to cut the margin to 6-4, Yelich hit a two-run shot to give the Brewers a four-run cushion.
“We just had to keep putting together good at-bats, just grinding, getting in there and making it messy,” Yelich said. “Just chip away. We didn’t have to get it all back right away.”
Elsewhere, the Twins beat the Red Sox 5-4, the Angels overcame the Rangers 6-4, the Padres pipped the Mets 7-6, the Mariners mastered the Athletics 3-1, the Tigers trounced the Diamondbacks 5-1, the Rays stung the Yankees 4-2 and the Nationals edged the Astros 2-1.
The Cardinals crushed the Marlins 7-1, the Braves dethroned the Royals 10-7, the Dodgers defeated the Reds 5-2, the Pirates downed the Giants 6-5, the Orioles overcame the Blue Jays 11-4, the White Sox thrashed the Phillies 6-2 and the Rockies outgunned the Guardians 8-6.
Additional reporting by staff writer
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS