BASEBALL NEWS
JACOB MISIOROWSKI, BREWERS OVERPOWER CUBS, GRAB 2-0 SERIES LEAD
MILWAUKEE — Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski, a All-Star this summer after making just five major league starts, lost his way in the second half of the regular season.
He regained his form in a big way on Monday in his postseason debut, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs for a 2-0 lead in the National League Division Series.
Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn each belted a three-run homer to rally the Brewers, who trailed 3-0 after a half-inning. Milwaukee’s William Contreras hit a go-ahead solo shot.
Misiorowski (1-0) got the win with three innings of scoreless relief. He allowed one hit and walked two, striking out four of the 12 batters he faced.
The 23-year-old right-hander was the second of six Brewers relievers who combined to throw 7 1/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball.
“He was one of the keys to the game, and there was a lot of them.” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “This game was in a lot of different parts, but Miz stepped up. You guys get all enthralled with mph. I’m enthralled that he wasn’t giving up free bases, kept his composure with runners and that type of thing.”
Misiorowski hit 100 mph or more with 31 of his 57 pitches, reaching 104.3. It was an impressive display after he went 1-2 with a 5.36 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) following the All-Star break.
“I honestly don’t know,” said Misiorowski, when asked what it was like to throw 104 mph. “I wasn’t really feeling anything. There was so much adrenaline, and I wasn’t really feeling anything. I was just kind of doing it.”
Chourio did the job after entering the day questionable due to a hamstring issue that forced him out of Game 1. He put the Brewers in front 7-3 with a two-out shot to center off Daniel Palencia in the fourth inning. Caleb Durbin, who was hit by a pitch an NL-high 24 times during the regular season, was plunked with one out and Joey Ortiz singled with two outs.
“We made a couple mistakes with multiple runners on base, and after getting off to a great start, those mistakes with two three-run homers,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “You’re not going to win playoff games giving up two three-run homers. That was just too much to overcome.”
After the teams exchanged three-run blasts in the first inning, Contreras put the Brewers up 4-3 with a two-out solo homer in the third off starter Shota Imanaga (0-1).
“If you have different ways to win, if you just rely on one thing, it’s harder to win,” Murphy said. “I’m really pleased we did. Vaughn’s home run and then Contreras and Chourio’s homers was the difference in the game. But you don’t see that from the Brewers very often. But it was great it did (happen).”
The Cubs felt great after the top of the first inning. Nico Hoerner singled with one out before Kyle Tucker walked. Seiya Suzuki then crushed a 1-1 pitch from Milwaukee spot starter Aaron Ashby 440 feet to left to make it 3-0.
The Brewers answered in the bottom half, all after two outs. Contreras and Christian Yelich had back-to-back singles and Vaughn sent a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left for his first homer since Aug. 15.
“We had one hit after the second inning. That’s going to add up to a lot of zeros, and that’s what happened the last seven or eight innings,” Counsell said. “We’ve got to find a way to just create more pressure, and that’s baserunners, hits, walks.”
Game 3 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Wednesday in Chicago.
Milwaukee, which won the NLDS opener 9-3 on Saturday, finished five games ahead of the Cubs in the division during the regular season with a franchise-record 97 victories. The Brewers have the No. 1 overall seed and home-field advantage for the entire postseason.
The Brewers are in the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons but have not won a playoff series since the 2018 NLDS.
FOUR-RUN INNING SENDS DODGERS TO 2-0 NLDS EDGE ON PHILLIES
The Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to make sure they got one victory in Philadelphia during the first two games of the National League Division Series.
Getting two wins just doubled the fun and the odds of advancing.
Blake Snell allowed one hit over six shutout innings and Will Smith delivered a two-run single during a four-run seventh as the Dodgers recorded a 4-3 victory over the host Phillies on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Snell (2-0) struck out nine and walked four in Game 2 for Los Angeles, which will look to complete a three-game sweep at home on Wednesday.
“To play here and get two wins in this environment is special,” Snell said. “The team is clicking right now. It’s a lot of fun.”
Postseason force Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and Roki Sasaki registered the final out as the Dodgers thrived in the intense Philadelphia atmosphere.
“For us to come out here, we were like, ‘Get one,’” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Then obviously when we won two days ago, we were gung-ho about getting two here. This is a hard place to play.
“We obviously put ourselves in a great position entering Wednesday. … To win two in this environment is massive.”
Edmundo Sosa’s soft single to center with two outs in the fifth was Philadelphia’s lone hit off Snell. Nick Castellanos had a two-run double for the Phillies.
Los Angeles reliever Blake Treinen entered in the ninth with the Dodgers leading 4-1, and he didn’t fare well.
Alec Bohm led off with a single to center, and J.T. Realmuto followed with a double to left. Castellanos reached for an outside sweeper and plopped it into left for the double to bring Philadelphia within one.
Alex Vesia entered, and Bryson Stott’s bid for a sacrifice bunt was foiled when Max Muncy threw to third and Mookie Betts tagged out Castellanos. Pinch hitter Harrison Bader followed with a single to left, and then Max Kapler bounced into a fielder’s choice to leave runners on the corners with two outs.
Sasaki replaced Vesia, and he retired Trea Turner on a grounder to second for his second save of the postseason.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson defended his decision to play for the tie, saying his bullpen was in better shape than Los Angeles’.
He also looked at the late-game charge as a positive sign.
“I love the fight in the eighth and ninth inning,” Thomson said. “We fought like hell and hopefully that carries over into Wednesday. This is a resilient group, our backs are against the wall, and we’ll come out fighting.”
Philadelphia’s Jesus Luzardo (0-1) pitched six-plus strong innings and was charged with two runs, three hits and one walk. He struck out five.
Luzardo retired 17 straight Dodgers before running into trouble in the seventh.
Teoscar Hernandez lined a leadoff single to center, and Freeman followed with a well-hit double to right.
Luzardo exited in favor of Orion Kerkering. One out later, Enrique Hernandez hit a grounder to shortstop, and Teoscar Hernandez slid in safely ahead of Turner’s throw to break the scoreless tie.
The bases were loaded with two outs when Smith laced a first-pitch sweeper into left-center to drive in two and make it 3-0.
Matt Strahm was summoned to face Shohei Ohtani, who ripped a single to right to knock in Muncy to complete the four-run uprising.
The Phillies got on the board in the eighth as Kepler hit a one-out triple to right off Emmet Sheehan and scored on Turner’s single to center.
Sheehan struck out Kyle Schwarber and retired Bryce Harper on a fly to center to end the inning.
The top three in the Philadelphia order — Turner, Schwarber and Harper — are struggling in the series. Turner and Harper are both 1-for-7 with three strikeouts and Schwarber is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts.
“I wouldn’t say pressing,” Harper said of the trio’s struggles. “We’re missing pitches over the plate and they’re making good pitches and that’s how baseball works sometimes.”
