If things break the way the Milwaukee Brewers hope, Kyle Harrison is going to be around for a long time and do some special things.
His start Sunday afternoon, April 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates will be tough to top, however.
Harrison set a career high with 12 strikeouts over six scoreless innings, inducing 23 swings and misses along the way, while allowing only one hit and one walk to highlight a 5-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at American Family Field.
The 12 strikeouts were one shy of the franchise record for a left-hander set initially by Teddy Higuera (three times overall, the last on June 28, 1987 against the Toronto Blue Jays) and reached only once more by Eric Lauer (April 24, 2022 at the Philadelphia Phillies).
They were also the most by any Brewers left-hander since Aaron Ashby fanned 12 in six innings on May 30, 2022 at the Chicago Cubs and the most by any left-hander in the major leagues so far this year.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 5, Pirates 0
“Harrison was unbelievable,” said manager Pat Murphy.
It was evident from early on in the 24-year-old’s fifth start with his third team that Harrison had his good stuff working as he struck out the side in the first inning, another in the second and two more in the third – and all with his bread and butter, a four-seam fastball that averaged 94.8 mph.
The second time through the order the method of attack changed at the behest of catcher William Contreras, with sliders and changeups being mixed in more liberally along the way.
In fact, beginning in the fourth inning against Nick Gonzales, five of Harrison’s final six strikeouts came on his slider.
“Just fastball command starting out and then as the innings went on I think it was mixing in a good amount of changeups,” Harrison said when asked what the key was for him. “I showed it early, so that was huge just to let them know I’m throwing it in the zone.
“The slider took a step forward today, and I was able to use that to expand out of the zone. The tunneling was a little bit better today.”
Added Murphy: “He gave them the heater in a good spot and then he used his off-speed. You have to establish other things. And, to Harrison’s credit, he stayed ahead in the count a lot.
“Or at least even.”
Milwaukee’s offense wasn’t having much better luck against Harrison’s counterpart, right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, until breaking through for all five runs in the fourth inning (but still without hitting a home run, making it seven straight games the Brewers have failed to clear the fences – most since 1999).
From there, Nick Yorke was the lone Pirates batter to put wood to ball with a flyout to left for the second out in the fifth inning.
Harrison’s strikeout of Joey Bart to begin the sixth gave him his third career 10-strikeout game and first since July 26, 2024 against the Colorado Rockies when he was pitching for the San Francisco Giants and then Billy Cook’s subsequent whiff tied his career high before Jake Mangum became victim No. 12.
His futile swing on Harrison’s 101st pitch brought the crowd of 31,500 to its feet and capped a memorable day for the centerpiece of the Caleb Durbin trade who had yet to surpass 90 pitches with his new team and was coming off a shortened three-inning start last time out necessitated by a sore wrist.
“I’d say definitely I’m in a better spot physically,” said Harrison. “I know the last one was kind of a short one. I was feeling a little bit different physically in the fourth that last time, so to get into the sixth and feel good during it and throughout was awesome.”
Trevor Megill, Ashby and Abner Uribe each followed Harrison’s lead and in the end Milwaukee had its first shutout of the season while striking out 18 Pittsburgh batters in total, two shy of the franchise record set exactly one month ago today on opening day.
Prior to Harrison, the last Brewers pitcher to strike out 12 or more in six-plus innings was Freddy Peralta on July 26, 2023 against the Cincinnati Reds.
The only left-handers to do so? Lauer and Juan Nieves, on July 13, 1986 in a complete-game shutout of the Seattle Mariners.
David Hamilton, who came over with Harrison and Shane Drohan from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Caleb Durbin in February, had a great vantage point at shortstop for Sunday’s pitching clinic and was asked if that’s the best he’s seen Harrison pitch to date.
“Actually, faced him in Double-A, and that’s the best I’ve seen him, really,” he said. “I struck out three times. But tonight it was good stuff.
“(The fastball) is deceiving. I know it’s pretty firm, too. It just gets on you – a little ride, a little run. It’s tough, especially paired with that slider.”
Now 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA and WHIP of 1.06, Harrison emerges confident at least for the moment.
But not cocky.
“It grows a little,” he said of his confidence. “For today, I’d say. But you can’t take that with you into the next one. You’ve got to start fresh. It’s a new week and a new opponent.
“Onto the next one, per se.”
The Brewers, meanwhile, thank their lucky stars and hope Harrison can continue down his current path considering all the uncertainty they’ve had regarding their youngish and somewhat patchwork starting rotation.
“He was special,” Murphy said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘Unbelievable’ Kyle Harrison leads Brewers with his 12-strikeout day
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
