MILWAUKEE – It wasn’t the electric, unhittable version of Jacob Misiorowski.
It didn’t have to be.
With their ace on the mound, the Brewers had to have Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers, and they got it, even though Misiorowski had to grind for 13 outs of one-run ball before the reliable reliever quartet of DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 14 more outs and a 2-1 win at American Family Field on Sunday.
After getting swept by the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS, the Brewers lead this one, 1-0, after Misiorowski followed a four-inning, 88-pitch outing against the Padres in Game 1 of the NLDS with a 4 1/3-inning, 94-pitch clash with the Dodgers in which he was once again foiled by foul balls and lacked the level of swing and miss that made the 24-year-old right-hander the hardest pitcher to hit during the regular season.
This wasn’t that.
But that was OK.
“When he doesn’t have his best stuff, I think we go in, like, ‘Let’s show them something different,’” said Hall, the first man to emerge from the bullpen. “It lights a fire under us a little bit more when he’s not on his ‘A’ game. Though, it’s crazy to say that when he only gave up one run. He’s incredible.”
“The goal in any game is to get the win,” Misiorowski said. “That's the big thing, and we did that tonight. No, you can't go in a game with a game plan and plan to strike out 17. You've got to just do what they give you and roll with the punches.”
Misiorowski came out firing 11 consecutive fastballs, the first at 102.3 mph to Mookie Betts and the angriest at 104.0 mph to Freddie Freeman, who singled for the night’s first baserunner. On the 12th pitch, Misiorowski threw his first offspeed pitch, a slider, and induced Will Smith’s inning-ending double play.
But the second inning looked less like the first and more like Misiorowski’s 88-pitch, 30-foul ball, four-inning outing against the Padres in Game 1 of the NLDS. His 21.5 percent whiff rate in that game (11 swings and misses on 52 swings) was his lowest of the season, and it was more of the same in a 35-pitch second inning against the Dodgers that began with a four-pitch walk to slumping superstar Shohei Ohtani, included a 10-pitch walk to Kyle Tucker, and saw L.A. strike first on Andy Pages’ RBI single.
It could have been much worse. The walk to Tucker loaded the bases with one out before Misiorowski escaped a blow-up inning by inducing Kiké Hernández’s double play to shortstop.
Even when Misiorowski rebounded with a scoreless third inning, the Dodgers coaxed 22 more pitches and pushed the foul ball count for the outing to 16. And when a balk charged to Misiorowski extended the fourth inning by six more offerings, his pitch count stood at 85 pitches, 55 strikes.
He went back out for the fifth and walked Betts with one out, at which point Hall took over and induced yet another big double play. And that was that.
“Miz, say what you want, you didn't see 105 [mph], whatever, but whenever he got in a jam, he got better,” manager Pat Murphy said. “His innings are up to almost 190 this year. That's way over, way over what he's ever done. The kid's bound to be a little bit tired, you know what I mean? You can't expect him to understand what this is all about going this far and having to pitch this much this year with the pressure he's had on him.
“Again, he gave us 13 outs. I thought he was really good. His stuff wasn't great, no, it wasn't, but it's still pretty darn good.”
Did the Dodgers follow the same blueprint as the Padres, fouling off pitches in an effort to drive up the pitch count? Half of their swings against Misiorowski – 21 of 42 – produced a foul ball.
“Both teams did really well,” Misiorowski said. “Last game I kind of went away from my strategy going in, and this one I stuck with it and focused like, ‘OK, I've still got the heater. They're not on it, but I've got to trust it.’
“So, it didn't change much, but they definitely had a game plan going in and stuck with it and stuck with it good.”
Two batters into the fifth, it was over. The Dodgers got what they wanted and pushed Misiorowski out of the game.
It’s just that the Brewers’ bullpen wasn’t any easier a foe.
“I think the approach, how we went about it, was fantastic,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We saw their four leverage guys tonight, and we just couldn't muster anything. I guess the only solace is you got them in the game, you got to take a look. We just know that if there's any chance for them to win the game, we're going to see those guys. Hopefully, in a long series it could prove to be beneficial the more times we see them.”
Hall, Ashby, Uribe and Megill have combined for 19 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run in the postseason so far. Uribe has pitched in all five of Milwaukee’s games, Ashby and Megill in four of the five and Hall in three. All told, Brewers relievers have a 0.38 ERA in the first five games of this postseason while never being ahead or behind by more than two runs, and holding the Padres and Dodgers to a .163 average in 23 2/3 innings. That 0.38 bullpen ERA is tied for the third-lowest mark in the Divisional Era (since 1969) through a club’s first five postseason games (minimum 15 innings).
For Misiorowski, that’s a pretty good safety valve. And Ashby is sure that the Brewers’ young ace is going to get better.
“I think it comes with him learning himself,” Ashby said. “When the crowd is so in it from pitch one, you feel the urge to throw the ball 107 mph. I’ve felt that before, when I started last postseason. You want to be as nasty as you can be. Once you stop feeling so much of that pressure, you can start settling in.
“He’s wonderful. He competes. And I’m just excited to see him do it more.”