What’s the longest scoreless innings streak to start a career in Milwaukee Brewers history?
Jacob Misiorowski’s five innings of no-hit baseball in his Major League debut June 12 had Brewers fans buzzing, and now he takes his talents to Wrigley Field for a second start June 18.
How close is he to the top streak of scoreless innings to begin a Brewers career? What about hitless innings?
We’ll bet you didn’t expect one name to pop up on this rundown:
The pitcher with the most scoreless and hitless innings to start a career? Jake Cousins
Cousins began his career with appearances in 17 games without allowing a run, starting June 21, 2021, and extending through Aug. 18. That amounted to 18 consecutive scoreless innings and technically 18⅔ before his streak ended Aug. 20.
It added up to 72 batters before allowing a run. As an aside, his five strikeouts in his big-league debut were the most by a Brewers reliever in his first big-league appearance.
Cousins also had six hitless outings to begin his career, running from June 21 to July 7 and spanning 7⅓ innings. That stretched to 7⅔ innings with the first out of his appearance July 8 after he entered the game with the bases loaded, though it ended somewhat disastrously when he uncorked two run-scoring wild pitches and then allowed a single to Tucker Barnhart that scored another run. He wasn’t charged with any runs but allowed all three inherited runners to score, and a 2-0 lead turned into a 3-2 deficit (though the Brewers rallied to win).
Bottom line: The Brewers record for most hitless innings to start a career could be Misiorowski’s if he works the first three innings without allowing anything against the Cubs.
Misiorowski is already the only Brewers starter to have thrown five or more innings in his debut and surrender zero hits. Freddy Peralta’s debut is the only start that got deeper into the game before the first surrendered hit, a one-out single by Colorado’s David Dahl in the sixth. So, Peralta started his career with 5⅓ hitless, and then 5⅔ scoreless before the Brewers opted for a reliever.
Which starting pitchers have the longest scoreless run? It’s a tie (probably) between Steve Woodard and Robert Gasser
This comes down to how you feel about sacrifice flies.
Robert Gasser and Steve Woodard both have 8⅓ scoreless innings to begin their career as starting pitchers, although that first run Gasser surrendered scored on a sacrifice fly. Obviously, the out was recorded before the run scored, so you can count that extra third of an inning, unless you feel like it shouldn’t get tabulated since the run scored on the same play. It’d be just eight innings otherwise.
Woodard famously threw eight shutout innings in his magical debut in 1997, but he only got one out in his next start before Edgar Martínez of Seattle plated a run with a single. He’s squarely at 8⅓ scoreless to open his career.
Brandon Woodruff (eight), Peralta (7⅓) and Jeff D’Amico (seven) — all of whom threw shutouts in their first Brewers start — each allowed early runs in their second outings.
What about Josh Hader?
Misiorowski has some of the most electric stuff the Brewers organization has produced, conjuring names like Josh Hader, who also arrived in Milwaukee to some fanfare in 2017.
Hader went 10⅓ innings without permitting a run until his second inning against the New York Yankees on July 7, 2017. when Aaron Judge hit a leadoff homer. Hader opened his career with seven scoreless appearances from June 10 through July 1 of that season. His first 5⅓ innings were hitless.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Can Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski make history vs Cubs? This team-record streak is possible
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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