ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals struck early. Jacob Misiorowski struck back.
After yielding a pair of home runs before securing his eighth out -- marking the first time in his budding career that Misiorowski has surrendered multiple homers in consecutive outings -- Milwaukee’s All-Star right-hander settled in to add 11 strikeouts to his Major League-leading total (167) while carrying the Brewers through the seventh inning of a 4-3 win in Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Misiorowski retired the final 14 batters he faced in his 103-pitch outing, quite a rebound after Jordan Walker hit a cutter for a two-run homer in the first inning and Iván Herrera connected with a 102.4 mph fastball for a solo shot in the third.
They were the fourth and fifth homers off Misiorowski in his last three starts against the Cubs, Reds and Cardinals, after he went 11 consecutive starts before that stretch without allowing a single home run, and only three extra-base hits in that span.
But Misiorowski bounced back and so did the Brewers, who came back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 so their starter could depart with a 4-3 lead after Christian Yelich’s go-ahead double in the seventh, his third hit of the afternoon. Misiorowski then returned for the bottom of the inning, logged his 10th and 11th strikeouts in a fourth consecutive 1-2-3 frame while touching 103.4 mph on his 102nd pitch.
His 57 pitches at 100.0-plus mph tied for the second most for any pitcher in the pitch tracking era, which began in 2008. It trailed only his own 58 pitches at 100.0-plus mph in his June 12 gem against the Phillies.
After allowing three earned runs on three hits in seven innings, with no walks and 11 strikeouts, Misiorowski remained MLB’s leader in ERA (1.62), strikeouts (167), WHIP (0.76) and opponents average (.148).