MINNEAPOLIS -- Jacob Misiorowski made a big splash in his Major League debut. His encore performance on Friday was even more memorable.
In one of the greatest sequels since “The Godfather Part II,” Misiorowski threw six perfect innings before finally giving up his first hit and run as a Major Leaguer in the Brewers' 17-6 win over the Twins at Target Field. A walk to Byron Buxton and Matt Wallner’s two-run moonshot in the seventh inning were the only flaws in Misiorowski’s performance.
The 23-year-old right-hander and Brewers No. 4 prospect dazzled in his first outing with Milwaukee, tossing five hitless innings against the Cardinals on June 12. His scheduled second start in Chicago against the Cubs was rained out on Wednesday, but the extra rest didn’t faze him.
“I felt calmer and ready to go compared to the first one,” Misiorowski said. “Nerves were going pretty heavy on the first one, so it's good to finally feel your feet under you.”
Misiorowski struck out six and walked just one in six-plus innings against the Twins. The 11-inning hitless streak to open a career is the longest by exclusively a starting pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
While Misiorowski threw 29 fastballs that reached 100 mph, he used his entire arsenal to flummox the Twins. In the first inning alone, he struck out Wallner on an 88 mph curveball, then Willi Castro screwed himself into the ground while striking out on a 95.5 mph slider.
“I think his slider was obviously really hard. He was dominating with that,” Castro said. “You don't see a guy throwing a slider 95, 96. It's really hard to pick up. But yeah, good for him.”
Misiorowski got his next three strikeouts on his four-seam fastball, which topped out at 102.1 mph on Friday. And just for good measure, his final strikeout came when Kody Clemens couldn’t check his swing on a 94.4 mph changeup.
“I think he simply just had an excellent day on the mound,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He got in the zone when he needed to early, then he was able to throw … I mean, the stuff is good. He’s very good, and he was able to put the ball where he wanted to today.”
When Misiorowski wasn’t striking out Minnesota batters, he was limiting them to soft contact. Through the first six innings, the Twins hit just four fair balls with an exit velocity over 90 mph. Misiorowski induced six groundouts and six outs through the air to go with his six strikeouts.
“He was mixing, and when you're mixing on 101 and you're in the zone with the mix, that makes it tough,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
The Twins didn’t really come close to a hit against the 6-foot-7 rookie in those first six innings. Their best-hit ball was a 102.8 mph line drive to left field by Ryan Jeffers in the fifth inning. Isaac Collins got a great jump on the ball and made a sliding catch to keep the perfect game intact.
The only other mild scare came on Misiorowski’s final pitch of the sixth. Twins catcher Christian Vázquez squared up a full-count slider and drove it to the warning track in left-center, but Collins hauled it in just in front of the fence.
The Brewers rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh, an extended affair that included five hits, a walk and a pitching change. Christian Yelich contributed a three-run double in the frame as part of a career-high eight-RBI performance that tied a club record. After that long wait, Misiorowski came out to start the seventh, but he walked Buxton on four pitches to end the perfect game. Then he left a slider over the middle of the plate, and Wallner hit it sky-high down the right-field line, landing it in the flower beds just above the 23-foot high wall to break up the no-hitter and shutout.
Murphy said there was talk of going to the bullpen to start the seventh, but Misiorowski argued his case well.
“He was adamant. He wanted to go out for seven,” said Murphy. “[He said], ‘Yes, I'm getting towards the end, but I want to challenge myself.’ And it was a good time to have him do that.”