MILWAUKEE — Brewers fireballer Jacob Misiorowski turned in his finest outing one year to the day of his major league debut.
Misiorowski dominated the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, striking out 15 and tossing a complete-game one-hitter in a 6-0 victory.
As Misiorowski strode to the mound for the ninth inning, the capacity crowd of 40,205 rose in unison to cheer for the 24-year-old right-hander in what turned out to be one of the most impressive performances in franchise history.
“When I walked out for the ninth, my whole body shivered and the adrenaline really kicked in,” said Misiorowski, who had never pitched past the seventh inning in 27 MLB starts.
With the crowd still standing and cheering, Misiorowski struck out Justin Crawford to end the game. He raised his hands and turned to embrace catcher William Contreras.
“There was no chance I was going to throw anything other than a heater right there. I was amped up,” Misiorowski said.
Misiorowski (8-2) didn’t issue a walk in facing the minimum number of batters, throwing 95 pitches, 74 for strikes. He became the first pitcher since 2000 to throw a complete game with 15 strikeouts while throwing fewer than 100 pitches, according to ESPN Research.
It marked the first complete game by a Brewers pitcher since Brandon Woodruff on Sept. 11, 2023, against Miami.
“That was as good as it gets,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “To pitch a game like that against an offense like that with all those All-Stars over there, it was an incredible performance.”
Misiorowski has a 0.17 ERA in his past eight starts, and the 15 strikeouts are the most by any pitcher this season. The performance marked his eighth straight game with eight or more strikeouts and one or fewer runs allowed, marking the longest such streak in MLB since at least 1893, according to ESPN Research.
He struck out the side in the first and a whiff of Brandon Marsh to start the second made it four consecutive strikeouts. Misiorowski struck out eight of the first nine Phillies batters, hitting a maximum of 104.5 mph on the radar gun against Kyle Schwarber, the fastest pitch by a starting pitcher in the pitch tracking era (starting in 2008).
In addition to the 104.5 pitch to Schwarber, he got Trea Turner with a 103.5 mph pitch and Bryce Harper with a fastball at 104.1 mph — all swinging. They were the three fastest strikeout pitches for a starter in the pitch-tracking era — including the postseason, according to MLB.
The Phillies got their first hit when NL home run leader Schwarber sharply singled leading off the fourth. But a strikeout of Turner and an inning-ending double play meant he faced the minimum.
“It was a backdoor slider that I located well, but maybe slightly off,” Misiorowski said of the pitch to Schwarber. “I was trying to jump out ahead of him. He made good contact and poked it through. End of the story.”
A strikeout of Marsh to start the fifth gave Misiorowski 10 or more strikeouts in a game for the sixth time this season and for the eighth time in his two-year major league career.
Phillies manager Don Mattingly summed up the task at hand for his offense before the game.
“You pretty much better be ready to hit the fastball. You don’t see guys like this often,” Mattingly said. “We see more guys throw 100 mph or up in that range, but you don’t see guys that are consistent like him. If you can’t hit a fastball, you’re in big trouble.”
Murphy said Misiorowski has continued to mature in the year since his debut.
“He’s consistent. His work between starts is consistent,” Murphy said. “He’s worked hard in the weight room. He’s worked hard building a routine. This guy loves the ball in his hand.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
