Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski made history on Friday. But the Phillies are 'glad' to have faced him.
Published in Baseball
MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski struck out the Phillies’ first three batters — Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper — in the first inning here Friday night on 12 pitches.
Nine registered at least 103 mph.
“I feel like, when we face pitchers, they’re always a tick up or ready to face our lineup, or at least our top three guys,” Harper said. “I feel like they’re always hunting and wanting to throw harder or throw their A-plus stuff against us.”
OK, sure. But this was absurd, even for Misiorowski.
Nobody has ever thrown harder than the Brewers’ 24-year-old ace. In overpowering the Phillies in a 95-pitch, 15-strikeout, one-hit 6-0 shutout, he set a record with a 104.5 heater to Schwarber in the first inning. His first pitch was clocked at 103.4; his last came in at 103.1.
Misiorowski might’ve had extra juice, too, considering the opponent.
Remember last summer, when several Phillies players squawked over Misiorowski getting named to the National League All-Star team after a handful of major league starts? They believed Cristopher Sánchez was more deserving.
Maybe it was a bad idea to poke “The Miz.”
Now, like then, Misiorowski denied any resentment or additional motivation to subdue the Phillies.
“It’s about the same as [facing] the Yankees, the Dodgers, any of those big-market teams,” he said. “You want to throw well against them. That adds adrenaline to it.”
In any case, it’s scarcely hyperbole to suggest it was the best game pitched against the Phillies since … well, ever. And it makes you wonder what Sánchez could do to top it Sunday against the Brewers.
Back to that momentarily.
Here’s the list of pitchers who struck out at least 15 batters and allowed one hit or fewer against the Phillies, who, keep in mind, have been around since 1883:
— Warren Spahn (Sept. 16, 1960): 0 hits, 15 strikeouts, two walks
— Nolan Ryan (April 18, 1970): 1 hit, 15 strikeouts, six walks
— Tom Seaver (May 15, 1970): 1 hit, 15 strikeouts, three walks
— Misiorowski (Friday night): 1 hit, 15 strikeouts, 0 walks
“I’m glad we faced him,” Harper said. “I’m glad we were able to see that. Obviously we’ve got a chance to play those guys in the postseason, so happy that we were able to face him today.”
After Misiorowski struck out Justin Crawford to end the game, Brandon Marsh asked Harper if he’d ever faced anyone with a fastball that resembled that. Harper cited former Mets ace Matt Harvey for a comparison.
But with extension that the 6-foot-7 Misiorowski gets at the end of his delivery, it somehow looks even faster to the hitter.
“It wasn’t like it was a blur coming at us,” Schwarber said. “It’s just hard to kind of compare because you don’t really see it consistently, right? When someone’s throwing 94-95, you can say, ‘Hey, that really plays up.’ You don’t really see that, so you can’t really explain it.”
Misiorowski and Sánchez are developing a rivalry en route to what might be a photo finish in the race for the Cy Young Award.
Sánchez one-upped Misiorowski in May by not allowing a run in five starts, part of a 50 2/3-inning scoreless streak that was the longest ever by a left-handed pitcher and fifth-longest overall. Misiorowski gave up one run in six starts and was edged by Sánchez for NL pitcher of the month.
After Misiorowski’s mastery Friday night, Sánchez gets to answer with a start in the series finale Sunday.
“It’s a different animal when he’s on the mound,” Harper said of Misiorowski. “Just like what Sánchez is for us.”
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