MILWAUKEE — Brewers rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski found out Monday night that it’s 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 NL Central in front of a sellout 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 to score. Then, after fielding a dribbler in front of the mound, Misiorowski’s knee buckled as he threw wildly to first as two runners scored.
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, 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 wouldn’t 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,” Murphy said. “And that he did. It just goes to how you 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 while throwing 11 pitches of 100 mph or more.
The Brewers scored four runs off Matthew Boyd (11-4) in the third 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 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 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.”