MILWAUKEE — Chad Patrick didnâ€t get the lowdown from Brewers manager Pat Murphy on when he might pitch in the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series, or what leverage he could inherit. The same went for Jacob Misiorowski.
“Nothing. I knew nothing,†Misiorowski admitted. “I knew my name was going to get called.â€
The star rookie took a quick beat to correct himself. “I didnâ€t even know that. I knew that when the phone rang [and] Greeny [bullpen coach Charlie Greene] said itâ€s me, then thatâ€s when I go.”
The Brewers started All-Star closer Trevor Megill on Saturday as an opener, but with the season on the line, it was the two rookies who did the heavy lifting. Misiorowski moved away from his fastball to spin four solid innings — while Patrick played the fireman shortly after to pick up five of the most pivotal outs — and the Brewers were able to vanquish the Cubs and advance to the Championship Series with a 3-1 win at American Family Field.
Misiorowski made headlines this year with his blink-and-youâ€ll-miss-it fastball. He leaned on that heater in his first postseason outing in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday.
So with the season on the line in the winner-take-all Game 5, the Brewers†young phenom bombarded the Cubs with more breaking balls than heâ€s thrown in a game his entire rookie season.
On a night where everyone was on call and every pitcherâ€s role — outside of Megill — wasn’t exactly cemented, itâ€s only fitting that the pitch mix was also improvised. Misiorowski entered in the second inning by throwing heat to Seiya Suzuki, but the Cubs†right fielder took a 101.4 mph four-seamer to right field for a game-tying homer on Misiorowski’s second pitch of the evening. From there, it was a healthy diet of breaking stuff, with the righty throwing 23 sliders and 14 curveballs compared to just 17 fastballs.
“They hit the fastball; they were sitting fastball — so letâ€s go breaker,†Misiorowski explained. “It worked out.â€
In the regular season, Misiorowski threw his fastball at least 46.2% of the time in each start. On Saturday, it was just 31.5%. The four-seamer still played, accounting for five of his nine whiffs on the day and two of his three strikeouts. He allowed three hits and the one run over his four innings without surrendering a walk.
And he still brought heat, throwing 10 pitches at least 100 mph and three at least 101 mph. He has thrown 25 pitches at least 101 mph in his two postseason outings, the fourth-most in the postseason since the advent of pitch tracking in 2008, behind Aroldis Chapman (176), Brusdar Graterol (36) and Jhoan Duran (26).
It was the type of performance that almost makes one forget that there was some doubt on if he would even make the Brewers†postseason roster. He struggled down the stretch and was thrown into the bullpen to see if he could contribute in a different way. Murphy didnâ€t want to give him a “soft landing†because he couldnâ€t guarantee him a postseason spot. Misiorowski needed to earn it.
After throwing seven innings, with a solo shot being his lone blemish this series, itâ€s safe to say that he did.
“He’s really proven something to me that sometimes you don’t understand guys when you first know them, their personalities, that type of thing,†Murphy said. “I think he just decided like, ‘Hey, look, I’m going to be the best version of myself for the boys.’
“And that’s what our talk was today before the game. It’s about the boys. Find your focus. There’s a lot of distractions during this time. There’s the pit in our stomach. That means something special can happen. And you do it for the boys. And I think Miz understood, ‘I owe these guys. I’ve got to do it right.’â€
Misiorowski had the faith in himself, he just needed to make sure his team had that same faith in him.
“I think I responded how I needed to,†he said. “Get a ‘W’ for the team, and itâ€s a lot of fun.â€
Itâ€s not too dissimilar from Patrick, who inherited two runners on base from Aaron Ashby with only one out in a 2-1 game. With the go-ahead run on base, Patrick got Suzuki to line out before fanning Ian Happ, and then he struck out two more in a 1-2-3 seventh.
“Theyâ€re moments like [when] youâ€re a kid,†Patrick said. “You watch it on TV — and Iâ€ve watched a lot of baseball throughout my life, from young to now. Those are moments you always envision yourself in and what you would do.â€
Like he probably did plenty of times in his imagination growing up, Patrick passed with flying colors. For someone who was the last pitcher to make the Opening Day roster, was the odd man out midseason and optioned to the Minors, he was the big leverage arm of the night. And his cutters and some well-placed four-seamers carried the bullpen to Abner Uribe, who got the final six outs.
“Any moment is never too big for Chad,†Quinn Priester said. “Heâ€s just ready to come out and throw his stuff as best he can.â€
After six fruitless trips to the postseason, the Brewers won their first postseason series for the first time since 2018 Saturday. They now have a date with the Dodgers set, the final obstacle between them and their first National League pennant.
Who better to get them to the precipice of history than a couple of rookies rising to the moment?
“I think I was giving everything I’ve got,†Misiorowski said, “and I think I left everything out there.â€
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