Misiorowski lasts just 4 innings in NLDS opener before bullpen leads Brewers to 3-2 win over Padres

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski's first career playoff start didn't last nearly as long as he expected.

But the Brewers' bullpen prevented the San Diego Padres from capitalizing on his early exit.

Misiorowski lasted just four innings because the Padres continually fouled off his pitches in Game 1 of their NL Division Series on Saturday night. The Brewers still won 3-2 after five relievers combined to pitch five scoreless innings — with an assist from the American Family Field roof.

“Obviously, not the way I wanted it to go,” Misiorowski said. “I would have liked to go a little deeper for our bullpen. The job still got done. We still got a W at the end of the day."

Misiorowski’s presence is a major reason why the Brewers believe they have a legitimate shot at winning their first World Series title. The Brewers have home-field advantage throughout the postseason after winning a franchise-record 103 games during the regular season.

In his first full season in the big leagues, Misiorowski posted a 1.80 ERA, struck out 252 batters and limited hitters to a .157 batting average to lead the majors in all three categories. The only other pitchers since 1950 to finish a season atop all three of those categories were Sandy Koufax in 1965, J.R. Richard in 1979 and Mike Scott in 1986, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Misiorowski’s 1,115 pitches of 100 mph or more were the most in a season during the tracking era, shattering the prior mark of 673 by Jordan Hicks in 2018.

Sure enough, he started Saturday's game by throwing a 104.8 mph strike to Fernando Tatis Jr. — the fastest postseason pitch since tracking began in 2008.

His next delivery to Tatis was 104.6 mph, the second-fastest of the tracking era.

But the Padres hung tough against the NL Cy Young Award favorite by fouling off 30 of his 88 pitches — 31 if you count Xander Bogaerts' popup that was caught in foul territory.

“We just wanted to compete in the box, and the guys competed really well,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “To limit him to only four innings was a job well done by our offense.”

Misiorowski’s four-inning stint matched the average length of his three postseason relief appearances during the Brewers’ run to the National League Championship Series last year, when he posted a 1.50 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 12 playoff innings.

San Diego took a 2-0 lead by scoring a pair of runs off Misiorowski in the second inning, which marked a giant step forward from the only other time the Padres faced him.

Misiorowski struck out 10 and allowed four hits in seven shutout innings against them on May 13, though San Diego rallied to win that game 3-1 on Gavin Sheets’ three-run homer off Abner Uribe with two outs in the ninth.

Bogaerts, Ethan Salas and Luis Campusano hit consecutive one-out singles, with Campusano’s base hit to right field driving in Bogaerts. Jake Cronenworth then hit a broken-bat grounder, and first baseman Jake Bauers was unable to throw out Salas at the plate.

“Those guys had an approach and they stuck to it,” said Misiorowski, who struck out six and allowed four hits and one walk. “They did their job, and I had to find a way to battle back.”

San Diego could have done even more damage in the second inning, but Manny Machado grounded out to leave the bases loaded. That set the tone on a night when the Padres left 12 men on base and went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

The Padres couldn't get any runs across against Antonio Senzatela, Aaron Ashby, Uribe, DL Hall and Trevor Megill. With a runner on first and one out in the ninth, Ty France hit a long drive off Megill that might have gone over the left-field wall if it hadn't hit a cable on the stadium's roof and then landed in left fielder Jackson Chourio's glove for a very loud second out.

Misiorowski expressed his gratitude toward the bullpen after the game.

“This is the time of year when you've got to get these wins,” Misiorowski said. “I didn't make anything work, and the boys helped me out and got me out of the situation that I wasn't happy with.”