Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The plan was never for Jacob Misiorowski to pepper the plate with almost entirely fastballs July 26 against the Colorado Rockies.
But when the ball is coming out in a way no starting pitcher has ever quite had it come out before, plans change.
With one of the most dominant starts out of the gate ever by a starting pitcher, Misiorowski rode his electric fastball and struck out 12 of the first 13 batters he faced in an 11-2 pounding of the Rockies.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 11, Rockies 2
Amped from his very first pitch in what was again a scheduled shorter start as the Brewers manage his workload, Misiorowski became the first pitcher in franchise history to strike out the first seven batters of the game.
A flyout to center briefly broke the trend of Misiorowski punching everyone’s tickets, but he got back on track with five straight strikeouts. All but one of Misiorowski’s 12 punches were via the fastball, which was as good as it’s ever been for the 24-year-old.
Misiorowski threw 33 pitches at 103+ mph, shattering the previous record he set for any pitcher in a single game of 14. He also threw 66 pitches that reached triple digits.
A solo home run by Cole Carrigg in the fifth was the lone hit Misiorowski gave up as he started to lose some steam in the fifth inning. Misiorowski was making only his second start since July 7 while dealing with some midseason fatigue that led to the Brewers skipping his final start of the first half and holding him out a few days coming out of the all-star break.
Misiorowski threw four frames in his first start in 13 days on July 20 but exited after only 65 pitches as he gets his legs back underneath him following the layoff.
Aaron Ashby escapes danger in sixth, then Brewers tack on
An infield single and a blooper to center with two outs against Chad Patrick in the sixth brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of TJ Rumfield, leading to the Brewers turning to lefty Aaron Ashby. The threat didn’t last much longer after that, with Ashby getting a grounder back to the mound on his first pitch.
Andrew Vaughn then led off the bottom of the inning with a 404-foot homer on a 1-2 pitch from Kyle Freeland, his second blast of the week after going six weeks without one.
The Brewers offense wasn’t done there, tallying on four more runs once reliever Jimmy Herget took the mound. Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt exchanged RBI doubles before Joey Ortiz legged out a third straight two-bagger for his second extra-base hit of the game.
Deuces were, indeed, wild, for the Brewers, who tied a franchise record with nine doubles.
Cole Carrigg ruins what could have been
One strike away from 13 strikeouts and five perfect innings, Misiorowski got beat.
Rockies center fielder Cole Carrigg was late on 2-2 fastball off the plate but at 101.9 mph it was at a velocity where he could get enough barrel on it to drive it to left field, sneaking it over the fence at 98.2 mph off the bat for a solo homer.
Misiorowski was clearly at his end point as he goes through a mid-season re-ramping up process, hitting Willi Castro in the foot with a two-strike pitch before getting a grounder to short to escape on his 83rd pitch of the game and 30th of the inning.
11 Ks through four for Miz
Brewers manager Pat Murphy likes to say that big-league hitters can time up a jet plane.
That may be true. But the ones for the Rockies sure aren’t timing up Misiorowski’s fireball.
With three more strikeouts in a perfect fourth, Misiorowski tied the pitch tracking (since 2008) record for most Ks through four innings with 11, mostly recently achieved by Dylan Cease in 2022.
More records for Misiorowski early
With a 104.1 mph fastball for a swinging strike three to Cole Carrigg to end the second, Misiorowski already set a new record for most punch outs at 104+ mph in a single game according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. He surpassed his own record of two, which he set on June 12 when he struck out 15.
Then with a strikeout of Willi Castro, again on a fastball, Misiorowski set the franchise record with seven straight Ks to open a game. Troy Johnston snapped it by flying out to center on an 0-2 fastball one batter later, but Misiorowski notched his eighth pine-grabbing of the day moments later against Edouard Julien.
Jacob Misiorowski pumps gas in during first inning
Misiorowski had no problem getting into his legs with his delivery right out of the gates.
His first pitch of the game was a 103.7 fastball thrown past Jake McCarthy and he went on to throw 14 heaters at an average of 103.7 mph, topping out at 104.3 mph while striking out the side.
McCarthy’s at-bat forced Misiorowski to throw nine pitches before the right-hander decided enough was enough and piped 103.4 down the middle for strike three.
Brewers tag Kyle Freeland for three
Two blistered doubles around a perfectly-executed bunt – with some help from the Colorado defense – resulted in a three-run bottom of the first.
Jackson Chourio opened with a 107.7 rope to the wall in center, then scored from second on a Brice Turang drag bunt when Kyle Freeland glove-flipped the ball over the head of first baseman TJ Rumfield.
William Contreras whistled a 112.7 double two batters later, followed by a wild pitch to score Chourio and Jake Bauers RBI grounder to make it 3-0.
Brewers probable pitchers and schedule
Brewers at Giants, July 28, 8:45 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Logan Henderson (4-1, 3.05) vs. San Francisco RHP Landen Roupp (7-8, 3.93) TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Giants, July 29, 2:45 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Shane Drohan (5-4, 3.51) vs. San Francisco RHP Logan Webb (5-7, 3.98) TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jacob Misiorowski makes more history in Brewers’ 11-2 rout of Rockies
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