Jacob Misiorowski struck out a career-high 15 batters in his first career complete game, a one-hit gem, in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 6-0 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer for Milwaukee, but the standout star for the Brewers was clearly Misiorowski (8-2), whose previous career highs were seven innings and 12 strikeouts. He has posted a 0.17 ERA over his last eight starts, allowing one earned run in 54 1/3 innings, but Friday may have been the best start of his MLB career.
Misiorowski faced the minimum and needed only 95 pitches (74 strikes). He did not walk a batter in lowering his ERA for the season to 1.34.
Kyle Schwarber’s fourth-inning single was the only hit for Philadelphia, which had won seven of its previous nine games. Andrew Painter came on in the second inning for the Phillies and gave up five runs and five hits in five frames.
Misiorowski opened the game by striking out Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper on 12 pitches. His final pitch to Schwarber was a 104.5 mph fastball — a new record for a starting pitcher in the pitch tracking era.
Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half against Tanner Banks (0-4), who served as an opener for Painter. Christian Yelich opened the inning with a walk and scored when William Contreras delivered a two-out double.
After another 1-2-3 inning by Misiorowski, the Brewers created a run without the ball leaving the infield. Garrett Mitchell reached on an infield single, advanced on a bunt and a grounder and scored on a wild pitch by Painter.
Misiorowski struck out the side in the third, giving him eight strikeouts against the first nine Phillies hitters.
In the fourth, the Phillies finally got a baserunner against the talented Milwaukee starter, but Schwarber’s single was ultimately erased by Harper grounding into a double play.
Misiorowski had no issues during a 10-pitch fifth inning, and he took care of the bottom of the Phillies’ order in a 1-2-3 sixth. In between those two frames, Bauers’ three-run blast to left-center made it 5-0.
Jackson Chourio’s RBI single in the sixth extended the advantage to 6-0 before Misiorowski cruised through the seventh and eighth.
Misiorowski blew away Justin Crawford to conclude his masterpiece, wrapping it up with a 103 mph heater as he raised his arms in the air.
