When you have a matchup of Jacob Misiorowski and Chris Sale on the mound, you just know runs are going to be at a premium. Sure enough, they were.
Jacob Misiorowski did not have his best stuff from the jump in this game. His first at-bat fastballs were sitting 101 MPH, which is still ridiculous but below the usual level we see from Misiorowski at the beginning of ballgames.
He went to a more slider/cutter heavy arsenal in this game to compensate and struggled with location largely. But still, he managed to allow just four hits and no runs over his six innings of work.
“Body felt a little off, nothing weird. One of those days where it’s just a down day, gotta grind through it and make it work” Misiorowski said.
“I think today teaches him ‘I got to pitch a little bit, I got to make pitches’. And yeah he looked a little fatigued to me, he didn’t have his good rhythm, but again we’re talking about an elite level talent” Pat Murphy said.
The Brewers did all of their scoring in the 3rd inning, starting with a leadoff single from the 9-hole hitter Luis Lara. Jackson Chourio followed with a single of his own, then William Contreras delivered with his second of four singles on the afternoon. With runners at the corners and one out, Andrew Vaughn just barely beat out a double play to plate a second run and give the Crew a 2-0 lead.
Milwaukee was able to land eight hits off of Chris Sale, all of which were singles. Still, Sale buckled first before rebounding to throw scoreless frames over his final three.
Both Sale and Misiorowski threw six innings, both struck out six batters, Sale threw 94 pitches, Misiorowski threw 96, Sale gave up two runs while Miz gave up zero.
Then in the 8th inning, the Braves had their best chance of the day, facing Antonio Senzatela for a second inning as the Brewers are stretched thin in their bullpen with a couple of arms down. They were hitting the ball hard and were able to plate a run on an RBI single from Michael Harris II. The bases were loaded with two outs and Senzatela gave up a hard hit ball to Mauricio Dubon, but it found Luis Lara’s glove as the Brewers escaped the frame with a 2-1 lead.
Then Murphy turned the ball over to Trevor Megill for the 9th as he converted his 16th consecutive save opportunity. His streak of not allowing a base hit, which dated back to July 25th, came to an end on a two out single by Mike Yastrzemski. But Megill struck out Ronald Acuna to end the game and secure the series opening victory.
The Brewers will play the Braves in the afternoon again tomorrow before heading out to Williamsport for the Little League Classic.
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