That one, much like the ball off Gavin Sheets’ bat, stung.
One out away from a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres, from making good on an unforgettable outing by Jacob Misiorowski, from winning a sixth in a row, Abner Uribe hung a slider.
Sheets delivered the biggest backbreaking swing against the Brewers yet this year, sending Uribe’s mistake 389 feet to right-center and just over the glove of a leaping Sal Frelick and over the wall for a go-ahead three-run homer and a 3-1 Padres win May 13 at American Family Field.
The evening had immense promise to that point on the heels of seven electric innings from Misiorowski. But after Mason Miller – perhaps the only human on the planet who throws with greater fire than Misiorowski – slammed the door in the ninth, all that was left in the aftermath was the deafening sound of a silent clubhouse.
“You have to swallow it. That’s part of it,” manager Pat Murphy said. “You’re going to have three or four of these every year. We had some great performances tonight. Misiorowski was really, really good, especially in the middle of the game.
BOX SCORE: Padres 3, Brewers 1
Before the Brewers sat there stunned, it had been the Padres’ turn to do so for 26 outs. Twenty-one of those came via Misiorowski, who struck out 10, walked none and reached 103.2 mph on his 93rd and final pitch of the night over a career-high tying seven innings.
Misiorowski’s dominance extended his scoreless streak to 18 innings while raising his league-leading strikeout total to 90 and lowering his ERA to 2.12.
“I honestly didn’t feel like I had my best stuff,” Misiorowski said. “I thought I was spraying those first few innings. What helped a lot was the guys over there were swinging. They were putting balls in play. That was the the biggest factor.”
Of all the top stories in Major League Baseball to start the season, few are more captivating than Misiorowski’s ascension into the cast of the game’s elite.
But on this night, he wasn’t even the story.
Uribe retired the first two Padres in the ninth before Miguel Andujar snuck a single in center field to extend the game. When Uribe then lost Xander Bogaerts to a walk after getting ahead, 1-2, in the count, it spelled trouble.
Sheets made sure it did more than spell it.
“3-2 walk, single off the glove of our second baseman and then an 0-1 hanging slider,” Murphy said. “It’s Major League Baseball. Guys are capable. Hats off to Sheets. Great swing, hit it in the clutch. Hats off to him.”
A matter of inches kept Uribe from closing out the contest before Sheets ever even got the chance to dig in. First, Andujar’s flare could have tickled the strings on the top of Brice Turang’s glove as he made a leaping effort behind second base. Then, the 0-1 pitch to Bogaerts missed by two-tenths of an inch upon an ABS review by catcher William Contreras.
“Why should I be happy?” a perturbed Uribe responded about the ninth’s thin margins.
Uribe did not reveal anything he felt went differently after retiring Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado to open the frame.
“I think that you saw what happened over there,” he said.
Misiorowski’s seventh inning was a work of art
Through six shutout frames, Misiorowski was already at his season-high for innings with his velocity dipping slightly, but Pat Murphy never hesitated in his decision to send the young flame hurler back out for the seventh.
Misiorowski made good on that faith.
And then some.
On pitch 89 of the evening, Misiorowski won a seven-pitch battled with Xander Bogaerts by painting a 96 mph slider at the bottom of the zone.
On pitch 90, he got Gavin Sheets to roll over on a slider that ran in on his hands.
On pitch 93, Misiorowski unleashed perhaps his most impressive dart yet in his career, a 103.2 mph fastball that left Nick Castellanos aiming helplessly for Misiorowski’s 10th strikeout of the night.
“That would be adrenaline,” Misiorowski said. “Felt good.”
He tried to go back out for the eighth inning, going so far as taking the mound for his warm-up tosses but pointed to his right leg as he signaled toward the dugout and left the game.
Misiorowski, of course, left his start two games prior in the sixth due to hamstring cramps.
This time around, it was a cramp in his quad. Murphy indicated it’s not a concern for the Brewers, though perhaps Misiorowski may need another banana or two as the game progresses now.
“He wanted to stay in,” Murphy said. “Normally would have taken him out but he wanted to stay in for the eighth.”
Through nine starts, Misiorowski’s numbers are as eye-popping as his fastball. He’s struck out 39.6% of batters while walking only 8.3% and reaching velocities never seen by starting pitchers during the pitch tracking era, which goes back to 2008.
As Misiorowski walked off the mound to a raucous roar from the 28,683 in attendance following his punch out of Castellanos, he did so having done something no other starting pitcher in the pitch tracking era has done: Reach 103 mph after the first inning.
That Misiorowski did it to cap his outing, which stretched his scoreless streak to 18 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.12, made it even more unbelievable.
The mound is Misiorowski’s stage and he’s now shining as one of the game’s elite pitchers – making it only fitting that upon his final departure from the mound when cramps reappeared while warming up for the eighth, he walked off to a curtain call of an ovation.
It was just too bad for the Brewers that the show on this night, it turned out, was a tragedy.
Sal Frelick’s base running leads to a run
Some slick work by Sal Frelick between second and third base resulted in the game’s first run.
On a one-chopper from Jackson Chourio to third with runners on first and second and nobody out, third baseman Manny Machado first went to try to tag Frelick before turning a double play.
The Brewers right fielder, however, backpedaled toward second as to not allow Machado to apply a tag. That left the Padres third baseman with no choice but to get the force at second, which allowed Frelick to move up to third with the base unoccupied.
One batter later, Frelick scored on a slow roller to first by Brice Turang.
Misiorowski hits 103 in the first inning
It wasn’t quite the same velocity he had in his record-setting first inning the last time out against the Yankees, but Misiorowski still had plenty of fire to unleash early against the Padres.
A 103.3 mph fastball for a swinging strike on the second pitch of the game served as the highlight of a scoreless first frame for Misiorowski, who struck out two and worked around an infield hit by Fernando Tatis Jr. Each of Misiorowski’s 12 fastballs reached triple digits.
Brewers probable pitchers, schedule
Brewers vs. Padres, May 14 12:40 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Kyle Harrison (3-1, 2.41) vs. San Diego RHP Griffin Canning (0-1, 6.75). TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Twins, May 15 6:10 p.m.: Milwaukee TBA vs. Minnesota TBA. TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Twins, May 16 6:10 p.m.: Milwaukee TBA vs. Minnesota TBA. TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Twins, May 17 1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee TBA vs. Minnesota TBA. TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Padres 3, Brewers 1: Abner Uribe’s blown save ruins Jacob Misiorowski’s gem
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
