Jacob Misiorowski dominates Rockies, setting a Brewers strikeout record with historic heat

Kyle Newman, The Denver Post on Jul 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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The Colorado Rockies were on the wrong end of another Jacob Misiorowski chapter in baseball history.

As Colorado dropped the series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday at American Family Field in an 11-2 loss, Misiorowski was nearly unhittable through five innings. The Brewers right-handed ace set a Milwaukee record with seven strikeouts to begin the game, two K’s short of tying the MLB record. The all-star struck out 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced.

The 6-foot-7 flamethrower topped his own record in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008) for the most 100-plus mph pitches in a game (all 66 fastballs) and most 102-plus mph pitches in a game (54). His heater averaged 102.8 mph and topped out at 104.7 mph, and he was the first pitcher in the divisional era (since 1969) with 11 K’s and no hits through the first four innings of a game.

Rookie outfielder Cole Carrigg was the lone Colorado player to dent Misiorowski’s masterful afternoon. With two outs in the fifth, Carrigg homered 361 feet to left field on a two-strike, 101.9 mph fastball, the fastest pitch a Colorado player has ever homered off in the pitch-tracking era.

It was yet another performance that underscored Misiorowski’s generational talent — and served as a reminder of the type of dynamic pitching talent the Rockies need to find and develop in their homegrown rotation in order to become competitive again. Misiorowski was a second-round pick out of Crowder College in 2022, meaning every other team passed on him before the Brewers saw enough potential in the junior college pitcher at No. 63 overall.

It’s those type of finds that make the Brewers, MLB’s small-market darlings, perennially competitive. They’ve made the playoffs seven of the last eight years, including the National League Championship Series last season. Meanwhile, the Rockies — usually with a higher payroll — haven’t been to the postseason since 2018.

While Misiorowski dominated, Kyle Freeland had a rough first inning. The Brewers plated three runs as Freeland had a throwing error on a bunt and another run scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth, Andrew Vaughn homered off Freeland to make it 4-1, then Colorado’s bullpen unraveled as Jimmy Herget gave up four runs and Victor Vodnik gave up two runs.

Rally comes up short in Game 2

The Rockies were undone by a four-run Brewers sixth inning in Saturday’s 8-5 loss in Game 2, but the offense showed fight in the final inning that’s indicative of how much better the club’s swung it on the road this year.

After averaging a measly 2.81 runs per game on the road during the 119-loss 2025 season, the Rockies are averaging 4.44 runs per game on the road in ’26. Colorado fought until the end on Saturday, scoring three runs and forcing the Brewers to bring in closer Trevor Megill to get the final out.

Down 8-2, TJ Rumfield led off the ninth with a walk by Lance McCullers Jr. The Rockies took advantage of an error, then Ezequiel Tovar walked and Jake McCarthy roped a two-RBI single to end McCullers’ night. Kyle Karros then singled off Megill to make it 8-5, bring the tying run to the plate in Carrigg. But Megill K’d Carrigg to end the game with Hunter Goodman standing in the on-deck circle.

That ninth-inning effort was too little, too late, but it underscored Colorado’s offensive improvement on the road across all categories this year. After batting .203 away from Coors Field in ’25, the Rockies were hitting .239 this season entering Sunday, with a .707 OPS compared to .589 last year.

Tomoyuki Sugano gets 10 wins

In the 5-2 win in the series opener, Sugano spun a second straight strong start to open his second half. He threw five-plus innings of two-run ball in Colorado’s wire-to-wire win. Pitching on a one year, $5.1 million deal, the 36-year-old’s been a solid veteran addition to prop up a thin rotation — better than Michael Lorenzen (6.53 ERA) and the bust of a signing in Jose Quintana, who has been on the injured list since May with a left elbow sprain.

In his 10 wins out of his 18 starts, the right-hander’s been stellar, with a 3.46 ERA. He’s the first Rockies starter with 10 wins since Germán Márquez in 2021, and one of four Rockies pitchers all-time with 10 wins over his first 18 starts with the club.

He’s certainly made a strong case to be trade bait ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline, although Colorado could also re-sign him to another one-year deal for a rotation that is going to need some holes filled in for ’27. At 36, he’s not a long-term solution, but could be an effective bridge to younger, homegrown starters if the Rockies don’t get a decent offer at the deadline.

Whatever happens with Sugano, his performance over the last couple games is a reminder of the team that Colorado — with a revived offense — can be with decent starting pitching. Colorado starters have thrown at least five innings in 34 of Colorado’s 42 wins this year, and the team is 30-14 when starters throw at least five innings and allow three or fewer earned runs.

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