Chasing history through 5 innings, Harrison exits with calf cramps in 6th of Crew's win

MILWAUKEE – Kyle Harrison took the mound to warm up for the sixth inning of Wednesday's 4-2 Brewers win over the Pirates with history in his sights. In an electric return from the injured list at American Family Field, the 24-year-old left-hander had struck out each of the last eight batters he’d faced, leaving him two shy of the all-time Major League record for consecutive strikeouts.

Harrison never got a chance to challenge that mark. After several warmup throws, he called for the athletic trainer and left the game. The Brewers reported that he left with cramping in both calves.

“Maybe get him some pickle juice,” Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn said.

Harrison and the Brewers’ medical staff thought of that. They also tried a cinnamon, ginger and capsicum elixir used by athletes to combat cramping after he reported the first muscle twinges in the fifth.

Neither helped. Harrison said he wasn’t just dealing with cramping in his calves, but his entire body.

“I downed a pickle shot and the hot cinnamon thing, just trying to get the cramps out,” said Harrison. “The body was telling me [no]. It’s locking up.”

File that diagnosis under the category of “it could have been worse” for the Brewers, who didn’t pry Tarik Skubal from the Tigers before the Trade Deadline, but did get Harrison back from nearly a month on the injured list with a left forearm strain, and did trade for a starter in the Cardinals’ Dustin May, who is set to start Thursday’s series finale against Pittsburgh.

May will have a chance to secure a series victory after Christian Yelich and Vaughn delivered run-scoring hits off Pirates ace Paul Skenes in a three-run fourth inning, and William Contreras homered for insurance in a victory that kept Milwaukee (71-43) alone atop MLB’s overall standings.

• After Murphy's plea, crowd gets behind Yelich and he delivers

Still, Harrison’s abrupt exit was a disappointing end to what had been a stellar return to action for the lefty, who was pitching in the Majors for the first time since July 8. He didn’t show any signs of rust, navigating a 1-2-3 first inning on nine pitches and still cruising when he struck out the final two batters of the third.

Harrison was just getting started. Harrison then went three-up, three-down with three strikeouts in the fourth inning and again in the fifth, giving him eight straight strikeouts. The Major League record is 10, set by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver with the Mets in 1970, matched by the Phillies’ Aaron Nola in June 2021 and then matched again by the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes less than two months later against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

But by then, the cramps had started to set in.

“He was cramping pretty good,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He felt like between innings it had subsided and he could go out. But he was really good. He was really sharp.”

Harrison was at 69 pitches as he began warming up for the sixth, so he had plenty of room to work with as he sought to join Burnes & Co. Harrison threw 68 pitches in a rehab start for High-A Wisconsin last week and was poised to push beyond that mark in his return to Milwaukee’s rotation.

Was he aware of his strikeout streak?

“No idea,” Harrison said. “I’m locked in, trying to get every guy out.”

Harrison finished with 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings, with only one hit and one walk against him, before the Brewers used five relievers to cover the final four innings, including newcomer Antonio Senzatela, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill all for the second straight night.

If the Brewers’ recent history with cramping is a guide -- Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson both had starts cut short because of cramps earlier this year -- then Harrison should be able to make his next start on schedule.

“We definitely missed him,” Yelich said.

“Everything felt great,” Harrison said. “That’s probably why you saw the frustration. I had a low pitch count, I got six ‘ups’ in my rehab start last week, and I really just wanted to go as deep as I can and help the boys out down there in the ‘pen. …

“But I started out early pounding the zone, and felt really good towards those end innings, minus the cramps. It was a good day overall, but it was frustrating that it had to end like that.”