07/08/25 10:43:00
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07/08 22:41 CDT Shohei Ohtani greets Jacob Misiorowski with leadoff homer.
Brewers phenom responds with 12 K's
Shohei Ohtani greets Jacob Misiorowski with leadoff homer. Brewers phenom
responds with 12 K's
By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) --- Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff
homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers' rookie phenom got the last word.
After allowing Ohtani's 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another
dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters --- including two-way
superstar Ohtani in the third inning --- to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory
over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
"It's Shohei Ohtani," Misiorowski said. "You kind of expect (that). It's cool
to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next
at bat and striking him out. I'm right there. I think it was a moment of like,
?OK, now we go.'"
Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball
on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That's the most
by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.
It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out
swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was
the only free pass allowed by Misiorowski, who gave up four hits.
"Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone," Ohtani said through an
interpreter. "But what really stood out to me was his command and control."
Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who
surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about
his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7
right-hander throws hard.
"I know him now, huh?" Kershaw said Tuesday. "That was super impressive. That
was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but
he's got four pitches, commands the ball. I don't know how you hit that,
honestly. That's just really tough."
Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw's attention.
"I saw something online that he didn't now who I was, so I hope he knows me
now," Misiorowski said. "It's kind of cool."
In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has
already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL rookie of the year Paul Skenes. In another
outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.
"He's just broken the shell," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "He's just out
of the egg, all arms and legs. He's still got gooey stuff coming off, you can
see it, all arms and legs, but there's something special about him."
The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has
allowed just 12 hits in 25 2/3 innings.
He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He
also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.
He was coming off his only shaky performance, allowing five runs --- including
a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo --- and three walks over 3 2/3 innings Wednesday
in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.
It looked like it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski
responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.
"I think that's my job, is to figure it out on the fly," he said. "I feel like
I did it tonight."
He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on
second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a
grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael
Conforto on a grounder.
Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the
Brewers' bullpen nail down the win.
"It's so satisfying," Misiorowski said. "It's just a dream come true, to do
what I did."
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