MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski had no idea. Cooper Pratt needed four innings to notice.
The Rockies’ hitters knew immediately.
One after another, they stepped into the batter’s box Sunday afternoon, watched Misiorowski uncork another triple-digit fastball and made the same lonely walk back to the dugout.
“I looked up and everyone was 0-for-1,” Pratt said. “I’m like, ‘Dang, I think he’s struck out everyone.’”
Misiorowski struck out 12 of the first 13 batters he faced and retired the first 14 overall, authoring five innings of overpowering history in the Brewers’ 11-2 win at American Family Field. The right-hander allowed one run on one hit, walked nobody and threw 59 of his 83 pitches for strikes as Milwaukee secured another series victory and completed a 7-2 homestand.
The most remarkable part was not that Misiorowski threw hard. Everyone in the ballpark knew that was coming. It was that the Rockies knew, too, and still could do nothing about it.
“When he locates it in the top half of the zone, it’s really hard to hit,” manager Pat Murphy said. “His extension, and his command of it and the fact that he’s got secondary stuff to go with it makes it even tougher.”
On this Sunday afternoon, Misiorowski barely needed those secondary pitches.
He threw 66 four-seam fastballs, accounting for 80 percent of his total pitches after entering Sunday using the pitch 62.8 percent of the time. All 66 registered at least 100 mph, setting a pitch-tracking era record and surpassing the mark of 58 he established against the Phillies on June 12.
That was not the plan when Misiorowski and catcher Gary Sánchez arrived at the ballpark. It simply became the obvious choice.
“You saw the swings they were getting at the top of the zone, and we were like, ‘All right, here it is,’” Misiorowski said. “Until they hit it.”
That came later. First came the avalanche.
Misiorowski struck out the side in each of the first two innings, reaching 104.7 mph and generating helpless swings against a pitch that never dipped below 102.9 mph in the opening frame. When he fanned his seventh consecutive batter to begin the third, he set a Brewers franchise record, surpassing Quinn Priester’s six straight to open a game last September.
By the end of the fourth, Misiorowski had faced 12 hitters and struck out 11. He became the first pitcher since at least the start of the divisional era in 1969 to record 11 strikeouts without allowing a hit in the first four innings of a game.
Pratt enjoyed the view from shortstop.
“It makes my job easy,” he said. “Just run into the dugout and back onto the field. A little cardio. That’s it.”
Misiorowski retired the first two hitters in the fifth before Cole Carrigg finally connected, sending a 101.9 mph fastball just over the left-field wall. The opposite-field homer simultaneously ended the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout.
Misiorowski’s response was fittingly understated.
“No, I’m worried about the next guy,” he said when asked whether perfection had entered his mind. “Random stuff happens. You can’t think about anything like that.”
The fifth inning proved to be his only laborious one. Misiorowski hit the batter following Carrigg’s homer and needed 30 pitches to finish the frame after requiring only 53 through the first four. Murphy ended his outing there, continuing Milwaukee’s careful management of its 24-year-old ace.
On Monday, Misiorowski had been limited to four innings and 65 pitches in his first start since July 7. His delivery and lower half faded during that outing, but no such concern lingered Sunday.
“I felt a lot better today,” Misiorowski said. “I felt like I was in my legs better. Most of my velo comes from my lower half, so it comes much easier when you have all the pieces.”
Murphy said Misiorowski could have continued if not for the extended fifth. The Brewers will still monitor his workload over the season’s final two months, but the pitcher at the center of their championship hopes appears to have emerged from his midseason reset at full strength.
Milwaukee’s offense eventually turned a 3-1 game into a rout, tying a franchise record with nine doubles and climbing a season-high 27 games above .500. But Sunday belonged to Misiorowski, who recorded his ninth game with at least 10 strikeouts this season and the 11th of his young career.
This time, there was no mysterious “zone” to explain and no realization that history was unfolding.
“I had no idea,” Misiorowski said. “I’m just throwing to Gary.”
