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HOUSTON — Just when you thought an opponent finally had Jacob Misiorowski on the ropes during his dazzling month of May, he punched back.
It might not have been the same dominance from the 24-year-old Brewers right-hander as he’d displayed in the first five starts of a marvelous month, but Misiorowski emerged from Sunday’s series finale against the Astros at Daikin Park with seven scoreless innings in the Brewers’ 2-0 win.
Brewers left fielder Jake Bauers helped out with a diving catch in the second inning and a two-run homer in the fourth to back Misiorowski, who finished May with a 0.23 ERA, a .109 opponents’ batting average and a 0.52 WHIP, the best marks in Brewers history for any month in which a pitcher made at least four starts. And eight more strikeouts against the Astros gave Misiorowski 57 strikeouts in May, the most of any pitcher in any calendar month in Brewers history.
This time, he actually appeared to break a sweat.
After 20 consecutive triple-digit fastballs to start the game and six up, six down, Misiorowski suddenly looked human in the third. His fastball velocity slipped under 100 mph. Jake Meyers singled to lead off the inning and Jeremy Peña singled with two outs. When Misiorowski clipped Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez with a curveball, the bases were loaded against the 24-year-old right-hander for only the third batter this season.
If there was ever a time to dial up one of Misiorowski’s signature fastballs, this was it, and that’s just what he did. After missing with a first-pitch slider to Christian Walker, Misiorowski fired a four-seamer at 102.7 mph and induced an inning-ending, rally-killing groundout to second base.
Then, in the fourth, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes did something no opponent had accomplished since the Marlins’ Kyle Stowers on April 19 in Miami: He doubled. It was the first extra-base hit off Misiorowski in seven starts, and it turned into a serious threat when Paredes advanced on a groundout.
Again, Misiorowski escaped. This time he did it with a 94.8 mph first-pitch slider to Meyers, who flew out to right field.
It was the closest the Astros would come to touching a pitcher putting the finishing touches on one of the most dominant months for a starter in Brewers franchise history. Misiorowski retired the final 11 batters he faced before Abner Uribe took over to begin the eighth.
When Trevor Megill locked down his second save of the series, the Brewers had retired 17 in a row to finish a 19-7 month that saw them vault from last place on May 4 to first place by May 19, and a 4 1/2-game lead in the National League Central (pending the outcome of Sunday night’s Cubs-Cardinals matchup) by month’s end.
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